A Planet with No Name Read online

  A Planet with No Name

  Books by Alan Black

  SCIENCE FICTION

  Steel Walls & Dirt Drops

  Chewing Rocks

  Titanium Texicans

  Empty Space

  Larry Goes to Space

  Metal Boxes (book one)

  Metal Boxes: Trapped Outside (book two)

  Metal Boxes: Rusty Hinges (book three)

  Metal Boxes: At the Edge (book four)

  with D.E. Black

  A Planet with No Name

  FANTASY

  Quest for the White Wind

  CONTEMPORARY FICTION

  Chasing Harpo

  WESTERN

  A Cold Winter

  CHRISTIAN HISTORICAL FICTION

  (An Ozark Mountain Series: 1920 Trilogy)

  The Friendship Stones

  The Granite Heart

  The Heaviest Rock

  (An Ozark Mountain Series: 1925 Trilogy)

  The Inconvenient Pebble

  The Jasper’s Courage

  The Kings Rock

  NONFICTION

  How to Start Write, and Finish your First Novel

  A Planet with No Name

  Alan Black

  with D.E. Black

  A PLANET WITH NO NAME

  Published by arrangement with the author

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or a used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The Publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2013 by Alan Black

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright registration: 1-4094197371

  ISBN-13: 978-1539634133

  ISBN-10: 1539634132

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed, electronic or digital form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Cover Layout and Design by The Cover Collection at

  https://www.thecovercollection.com

  Cover Photo by

  First printing: February 2019

  Dedicated to Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey, who wrote wonderful westerns that live in my memory as clearly as Robert Heinlein’s science fiction works.

  —Alan Black

  Dedicated to my best friend whose love, patience, and understanding changed my life.

  —D.E. Black

  Chapter One

  Veronica stood in the middle of Peaceful Junction’s muddy main street. Heavy raindrops plummeted into jumbo-sized puddles splashing murky water onto her ankle length dress. The rain washed away her tears as she stared down at Cal laying dead in the mud. The Halberd brothers shot Cal and left him where he lay. The townspeople refused to lift a finger to help her move his body. She and Cal were ignored like they did not exist.

  She was five feet nine inches tall, strong, and healthy. Years of working out in the gym on Earth had strengthened her, and the past year of farm labor on this planet with no name had toughened her in body and spirit. Still, she would never be able to move an object as heavy as Cal’s cold, unmoving body without help. One recalcitrant strand of hair refused to stay trapped within her single long braid. She absently brushed the wet strand of mousy brown hair behind her ear where the drenching rain plastered it into place.

  Her sadness fueled her frustration; her frustration fueled her tears, and everything about Cal’s death fueled her rising, burning anger. How dare he get himself killed now! How dare Mister Jackson stop me from leaving the store to rescue him! How dare Jackson close and lock the store door behind me when he did finally let me go!

  Dozens of people silently witnessed the Halberd brothers shoot Cal. It happened at noon on Saturday, in the middle of a busy street. Now, no one would look in her direction.

  The Halberd brothers’ actions were criminal in any town, on any planet. They shot Cal to get at her, to drive her off her property and force her to leave the territory. She was not going anywhere. The Halberds were going to pay. The town was going to pay.

  “You gonna move that thing, Veronica?” Sheriff Eustace asked.

  “It’s Mrs. Smith to you, Sheriff.” The driving rain prevented Veronica from hearing him slog through the mud behind her. She managed to keep her voice calm in spite of her tears. “Where were you when Dillon and Maine Halberd shot my robot?”

  Eustace kicked Cal in the side with the toe of his boot generating a flat echo. The rain and mud muffled the clang from Cal’s metal body. The farm robot was heavy. He was ten feet tall and half as wide. His design was roughly humanoid with two legs, two arms, and a bump for a head. There was a built-in saddle on his back capable of carrying two passengers.

  Veronica never liked the sheriff. He bought his position as a small town sheriff before their colony ship left Earth. She believed he lived up to his nickname, “Useless” Eustace. He was almost useless outside of his jurisdiction. He was worse than useless in town, unlike most law enforcement professionals. He was not shy about soliciting bribes and promoting extortion couched as fines and safety fees. The settlers could do little about him as long as he stayed within the established Pioneer Compact rules. Unfortunately, the compact designers failed to list extortion as illegal.

  Most settlers breaking new ground on this world were anxious to get away from Earth’s oppressive laws, decrees, edicts, executive orders, rules, procedures, and directives. They were eager to escape the never-ending cycle of wars and rumors of war. In their haste and anxiety to leave, they deliberately formed a simple Pioneer Compact. It was long on colonists’ freedom and liberty, but short on personal protections. It prevented settlers from impaneling a legislative council to form new laws for the initial five years. The inhabitants of Peaceful Junction could not establish any city ordinances for another four years.

  Veronica powered on her data-patch by tapping her left wrist. The skintight patch generated a small display in the wet air near her left hand. Grabbing the screen with her right hand, she dragged it to a comfortable location in front of her face and locked it in place. Her preferred display mode was semi-transparent so she could readily see activity beyond the screen. From all other angles, it appeared as a black square hovering near her.

  She tapped the device’s scan mode to assess Cal’s schematics and overlaid them on the damage done by the Halberds. The scan results were devastating. The information curbed her common sense, causing frustration and anger. Her brain’s synapses fired, sending her thoughts on the revenge-programmed path toward a blood feud. Cal had no blood, but having spent the past year with him, he was family, like her blood kin.

  She expected numerous replacement parts for Cal to be available on the planet. On Earth, his model was as common as horse flies on muddy Missouri mules, but on this planet with no name, if you did not bring it, you did not have it. It never occurred to her to bring along central processors for her farm robot. Cal was virtually indestructible according to the sales representative back in Phoenix, Arizona. The man claimed Cal would last longer than Veronica would live. Jackson’s General Store in Peaceful Junction did not stock parts for Cal’s model, however, they had a sign posted claiming they could order any part for any tool.

  Veronica fired off an email to Tri-D Imaging in Landing City. She attached Cal’s schematics and the scan showing his damage. Tri-D Imaging could produce a copy of just about anything from a working human heart to a six-slice toaster. The response she received was imme
diate and final. They could copy Cal’s broken parts, but the price was staggering, far beyond her ability to pay. The time required to build the replacement parts was equally distressing. Even if they stocked a central processing unit for Cal’s model, they could not deliver it instantly. She could not replace the part and get Cal moved out of the street today.

  The sheriff said, “The question still stands, Mrs. Smith. Are you going to move this junk out of the road or do I need to cite you for littering?”

  “Cite me?” She was beyond furious. She took a breath and forced herself to maintain a conversational tone to her voice. “What about citing the Halberds for the destruction of private property? Or shooting off their firearms inside city limits? Or even citing them for littering since they’re the ones who put Cal down?” Her tears began to dry as her anger escalated.

  Eustace gave her a lazy shrug, “Did you see Dillon or Maine Halberd pull the trigger on your robot?”

  “I didn’t see them pull their triggers, but I did see them standing over Cal with smoking guns in their hands.” She realized her voice had lost some of its conversational tone.

  Eustace shrugged. “I didn’t see anybody pull a trigger and I don’t see any other witnesses stepping forward. I’ll ask Dillon, but if he doesn’t confess, that’ll be the end of it. No sense in asking Maine, he’ll only say what Dillon tells him to say.”

  Veronica’s tears dried up by the time the rain stopped. She hated Eustace’s little shrug.

  “Listen, you useless fat turd, everyone in this dung heap of a town knows those Halberd morons destroyed Cal. Everyone with half a brain knows they did it because they want to drive me off my land. You’re supposed to be the sheriff. Investigate, dammit!”

  Veronica had the right to request a federal marshal investigate Cal’s shooting, but the nearest federal marshal was about 313 light years away. The chance of a marshal coming was somewhere between a fraction of less than slim, to nil. No federal marshal had ever volunteered to depart Earth. Every trip through an Einstein-Rosen Bridge was one-way.

  Eustace looked up at the sky. “Huh, rain quit. Meteorologists in Landing City said that’s all the rain we’re gonna get for about nine months, until the next wet season.”

  “Rain? What the—look at Cal—those morons deliberately shot him through the central node processor! He’s useless scrap. How am I supposed to get my crops in without a robot?”

  “Well, you could get yourself a real husband instead of that spouse you claimed on paper. Maine Halberd is single since Missy hung herself a while back, and I hear there are a few new widowers in Landing City. You could go get one there, too. You’d get help with your crops and get laid to boot. Might take the edge off a bit, if you know what I mean.”

  Veronica grit her teeth. She may be the least liked woman in Peaceful Junction—the whole planet for that matter. The issue of her emigrating to this world alone started before the voyage began and flared up at almost every opportunity since. The Pioneer Compact required participating colonists to be married couples, with or without children.

  Veronica and her husband Elias decided to leave Earth before the discovery of this unnamed planet.

  Throughout history, humans moved into isolated areas; growing and expanding wherever they went. Once the A1634T-2 Einstein-Rosen Bridge successfully completed tests and was configured for transporting colony ships, the human exodus from Earth began. Ships departed for newly discovered planets every few months. Earth could not wait for the development of terraforming technology; its crowded population was ready to move.

  Planets authorized for colonization met three requirements: proof of liquid water, a breathable atmosphere, and evidence of plant life. This unnamed planet was one of those marvelous heavenly bodies situated within the Goldilocks zone or habitable zone of the star it was orbiting where the temperature was just right. It had liquid water, its gravity was within five percent of Earth standards, and it came with a breathable atmosphere. Life sprouted on this world, but no animal life, including birds, insects, or fish in the sea; they found only plant life. This world’s indigenous plantlife evolved without the benefit of bees, butterflies, or worms for pollination. The initial macro-telescopic survey estimated the plant life was non-toxic and based on its color and chlorophyll expectation, current planetary conditions would be tolerant of most Earth plant varieties.

  Beyond a few microbes and bacteria, scientists had not discovered life beyond Earth’s solar system. Enrico Fermi once asked, “Where is everybody?” Scientists are still searching for an answer. Our galaxy has billions of stars with thousands of confirmed planets outside of Earth’s solar system—untold numbers of which exist in the habitable zone of a sun—yet most are simply arid balls of rock and dust. There should be worlds with higher life forms than plants, but so far, none have been found.

  Emigrating from Earth was a simple process. Perspective colonists signed a contract, called a pioneer compact, with a like-minded group that offered agreeable terms. The Smiths’ felt comfortable with a group forming on the North American continent. They signed the Pioneer Compact then paid various government emigration charges, mandatory compact settlement fees, and all shipping costs. While waiting for the discovery of a viable planet they planned their departure.

  Veronica and Elias were Arizona State University professors. They both held doctorates, hers in history and his in education. Their love of nurturing young minds spurred their decision to become teachers. Over the years, they became discouraged with teaching government-mandated courses to students who should not have graduated high school, much less be enrolled in university-level courses. Now, they loved the idea of building a new university on a new planet.

  As city dwellers, they had an unhealthy fantasy life about getting back to the land. The lure of living life on the bounty of the soil filled their dreams and planning. Their grand vision of paradise was to become gentleman farmers on the weekends and educators during the week.

  The decision to leave Earth changed their lives. They studied all phases of pioneering throughout human history. They rigorously defined what they needed—not only to survive, but to flourish on a new world. They purchased all types of hand tools; located seeds for planting and stored them in airtight bins; collected and downloaded manuals on everything from building log cabins to making musical instruments; purchased solar panels and generators; and bought four young cows along with vials of bull semen for impregnating them once they reached their new home. They wanted two field robots, but cashing in their retirement accounts provided only enough funds to buy Cal. They did not buy horses because Cal’s attached saddle could carry them with ease.

  Weight was not a significant issue when going through an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, but there was only so much space available on a colony ship having 100,000 signatories. The Smith’s purchased a data cube and filled it with electronic copies of every book in the university library and every other educational text they could locate, to conserve space. E-readers were standard and most people emigrating took their own, but they purchased a couple of cases of readers specifically tagged to their data cube. They spent a lot of their spare time designing curriculums specifically for a new world education.

  They were eager to have children—or so Veronica thought. She was in her early thirties and healthy. Elias was older but had no family history of disease or chronic illnesses. Whatever the general topic, having children always entered into their discussions. They decided to hold off having children until reaching their new home so their offspring would be natives of their new world.

  One week before liftoff, Elias backed out. He decided to move in with a graduate student instead, a man much prettier than Veronica. Veronica was shocked. When confronted, Elias admitted he could not leave the university. He had not become an educator because he loved teaching children, but because he feared the world outside of the classroom.

  Members of the Pioneer Compact complained and a large group of settlers tried to remove Veronica f
rom the company before the ship left Earth. She considered backing out, but the complaints against her strengthened her resolve. She was determined to go—she had to go—she would be too embarrassed to stay. She met all the requirements because she and Elias were married at the time they signed the Compact. Her husband just decided not to accompany her.

  The Pioneer Compact lost their argument against her during speedy arbitration. The arbitration decision included a warning to the compact organizers that went unheeded—their poorly written compact was inadequate. They refused to refund Elias’s fees with a lack of good grace.

  Veronica’s predicament was not of her doing, yet there was virtually no sympathy or understanding from the other settlers. She was the least liked woman on the colony ship. One year after landing on this planet with no name, she was the least liked woman in Peaceful Junction.

  Every discovered planet approved for settlement became planets without names giving the settlers the opportunity to name their new world in due time. Signing a compact for a new world meant colonists agreed to wait five years before formally naming their planet. Five years seemed like a short time compared with living on a planet called Bob because Bob was on telescope duty at the time of the planet’s discovery. Until then, colonists were stuck living on a planet with no name.

  “My marital status has nothing to do with Cal being killed,” Veronica looked at Sheriff Eustace with disgust. Is he just being lazy or is he working up the guts to ask me for bribe money for his help?

  “Well, I ain’t sure you could say he was killed,” said Eustace. “He’s been rendered nonfunctional, I’ll grant you that, but he can’t be killed if he wasn’t alive to begin with. However, I do have jurisdiction on littering, so I could check ballistics on the Halberd boys’ guns to see if they did the littering. Now, it seems to me that without witnesses I don’t have probable cause to gather bullet samples from Dillon or Maine. For all I know their smoking guns came from shooting at raindrops and that ain’t illegal in Peaceful Junction.”