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moved in this morning to begin the forced relocation. Roads were blocked and citizens were instructed to gather at select points to hear announcements from the Government. There were no announcements. The gathered populations were loaded onto transports and sent to the spaceport. The special forces troops already learned the hard way that if you give people time to organized they will retaliate in force. Keep them confused and disorganized and they will follow you like sheep.
     
    The confused and now angry citizens were given basic clothing and supplies and assigned berths on board the ships. In some cases, whole families were broken up to separate out the troublemakers. This was not received well by the families and several riots broke out in the terminal. Shock troops moved in and shot the potential colonists out of hand. It had been decided to use stunner's or low powered pulse rifles to subdue the colonists rather than projectile weapons which would kill. The now unconscious family members were loaded on board the ship and placed in the brig until lift off.
     
    Up on the bridge I climbed into my suit. It was like climbing back into my artificial womb. My suit was filled with the same artificial Perfluorochemical liquid that had grown my small body. The liquid filled suit would lessen the chaotic effect that the jump engines could have on the human body. The very old or the very young were at the most risk from the jarring effects. I looked around the small compact bridge. To my right was the co-pilot Johann 009. In front of us were the navigator and the ship's engineer, Charles 0485 and Jacob 0479. Down below in the crew compartments were our marine forces and some standard crewmen. All of these people were donning the same suits as us. Earth trained personnel were too precious to lose accidentally.
     
    My ship, the Precious Jewel, was headed out past the 'known' galaxy toward what Earth was calling the Botany Bay sector. Long range surveys had show high concentrations of elements needed on Earth. We were to set up mining colonies and begin sending minerals home. The holds of the ships were filled with what we would need. The other ships were to follow us until we reached the new sector then split up. The grand adventure was about to begin.
     
    I turned to my right. "Johann start the countdown please."
     
    "10...9...8....7...6..."
     
    "Jacob, seal all hatches and lock the ship down."
     
    "All hatches are secure and the ship is locked down."
     
    ...5...4...3...2...1..."
     
    "All hands standby for launch." I pressed the big red button on the console. Someone, most likely Jacob, had written the word 'Easy' on it's surface.
     
    With a roar the ship lurched from the shipyard bay. When we reached the edge of the solar system I would engage the jump engines. On my ships pilot screen I could see the other four ships launching, as well.

Chapter 8
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Our first jump out of Earth's solar system was the worst feeling in my life. I can't imagine what it must have felt like for someone NOT in a liquid filled suit. As it was my heart was beating at an accelerated rate. I was dizzy, and everything looked foggy for a few moments. Most human bodies are not built to handle that kind of stress, not even my upgraded one.
     
    "Status report! All sections report in!"
     
    "Engineering status is green. We had a few circuit breakers short out but they have already been replaced."
     
    "Life support is green, no problems to report."
     
    "Security status is nominal, we are conducting a sector search. An injury and death report to follow."
     
    "Medical status is orange. We are receiving casualties."
     
    "Medical, stand by, ships auxiliaries are en-route to you." I turned to my right. "Johann? Get with the security and the emergency response crew. See if they can send help down to medical. This is going to be a long day."
     
    It took two days to get the ship settled down. We lost about 3% of the colonists to the