Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores by David Buck

could hear her asking the girls to grab their packs and favourite toys as she then replied.
    ‘Gavin, don’t worry as I am leaving. I will drop the keys off for the service house with the quartermaster when I get to the airport. I love you.’
    Gavin responded with the same sentiment as he reached the airport control post. Major Donaldson looked flustered and in a hurry as he turned to regard him and return his salute.
    ‘Gavin, it good to see you again and no doubt you have reassured your wife. Your two men injured earlier are in stable condition in hospital and will be okay. Now have you though about my request for you to lead the squadron off world?’
    Gavin had no trouble in agreeing with the request, and he noted the relief in the attitude of the Major. He knew that the Major had a disabled son that required a lot of medical care so no doubt he would not have wanted to go off world for that reason alone. His thoughts were interrupted by Major Donaldson as he spoke again.
    ‘Gavin, have you managed to find the other gate ways off world? There have been helicopter and Maveen sightings, so they cannot be too far apart.’
    Gavin looked at the new maps that he had of the Australian gateways that were obviously some distance apart. He then looked at the new map data that had been supplied via reports that had come through from several other gate ways. He turned the series of maps and spotted a couple of strong trends in terrain as he gave his reply.
    ‘Sir, we are all well west of a big line of ridges that must be the spine of a continent. I did manage to earlier speak with the Paris site to our north. I assume we are anywhere from two hundred to three hundred kilometres apart in roughly similar terrain.’
    The major looked at the maps and voiced an agreement, as additional messages came through from a sergeant that saluted as he walked into the command tent.
    ‘Sir we have just had reports from an American UAV and it has found the Barede end point for the Sydney gateway. It is roughly two hundred and forty kilometres south of the American position for the San Francisco gateway.’
    Gavin turned over an unrelated map of Western Australia and began a quick sketch of their relative positions as further news about the London gateway being south from the Perth gateway arrived and was added to the sketch.
    Gavin looked at the Major with a sense of relief for a moment as yet another message was relayed inside the command tent.
    ‘Major another UAV from the San Francisco gateway has found the Beijing gateway to their north, and they seem to be delayed in the setup of their camp.’
    The major also looked relieved as he turned to speak to Gavin and shake his hand.
    ‘You best be getting back now Gavin. I will update your maps as we receive further data. I will send through Cindy and the girls when they arrive, and the best of luck to you all.’
    Gavin returned the major’s sentiment first and the salute next, and he quickly walked back to the gateway. In minutes he had hitched a ride on a truck that immediately went through the gateway back to his new command.
     
                                                                ***
     
    Steve drove the runabout back to the island in the still morning and Ian had time to consider the unique problems presented by the new colony. The key one from what he could tell from the first reports was there was no fossil fuels like oil and coal present on the relatively young Barede world. He knew that these problems the colony now faced would require assistance from both the Traders and the Maveen.
    Ian Ridge stepped from the rails of the runabout into the ankle deep water and walked up to the Traders to formally greet them with a polite bow. He could see several Maveen probes resting quietly at their usual location on the island. By agreed with Steve earlier, they had arranged for Ian to take the lead in the day’s meeting with