Ancient Astronauts

Filler and Character Introduction ;)

The ensign drove carefully. The paths they drove down couldn't exactly be called "roads." They were little more than compacted gravel, hewn and ground from a quarry nearby. The rock formations on Proxima-B were similar to those on Earth. Although the astro-geology team was still categorizing many of them with official names, most could be recognized as similar to sandstone, quartz, obsidian, slate, and several additional types of metamorphic rock. They had appropriated some form of the last to lay down the makeshift roads.

It made the ride just shy of even, and Ensign Matthews kept having to slow down for laborers, civilians, and soldiers swarming everywhere getting the settlement built and a utility grid set up. He kept casting worried little glances at Alyonna, though they rarely found her face.

After passing the 2nd Residential District, the only district between the administrative district and the fort, Alyonna finally had enough.

"My eyes are up here, Ensign Matthews, though I'd prefer you kept yours on the road."

There was no malice in her voice. She figured there was some other reason for the man's behavior. She just wanted to rattle him and get the facts.

It worked. Matthews shifted his eyes back to the road, cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am, the governor made me aware of your condition, and asked that I take care."

Alyonna relaxed a little. "Your driving is excellent, Ensign Matthews." She smiled impishly, "I promise, I'm not going to fly out of the seat the moment you take your eyes off me."

The youngster flushed a deeper shade of red, "Yes, ma'am."

"It seems like you'll be assigned to me for a while, Ensign Matthews. You may as well get used to calling me Aly."

"Yes, ma– ah, Aly. I'm Derrick, Derrick Matthews," he stumbled, then added, stammering, "4-4th Infantry Regiment, Skyha-hawk Platoon...um, those are the guys stationed outside the Hill House, er, your house."

Aly took pity on him, "Thank you Derrick. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all, ma–ah, Aly. I'm nineteen."

Nineteen! He was a lot younger than she'd taken him to be.

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"Babe?"

"Hmm?" Kathy sighed sleepily.

"How is it going with the judiciary?"

Kathy's eyes flicked open and she rolled her eyes, "Seriously?"

"What?"

"Oh that's such a romantic topic babe. Here I am savoring the feeling of being expertly ravaged, and you're over there thinking about politics!"

Shooby turned to look at his wife. She pulled a corner of the blanket halfway down her breast and smiled lustfully at him.

"If I pleasure you again can we talk about the judiciary?"

"Huff," Kathy lay back down and covered herself, "Fine what is it?"

"I already–"

"Specifically," each synonym was enunciated softly and accompanied by a smile at the end of the word.

Kathy was no stranger to her husband's ramblings. He tended to do that a lot. On Earth they'd called it ADHD, but she was sure it was nothing like that. Shooby was just smarter than pretty much everyone, including people twice his thirty-five years of age.

"I need to know when the courts will be ready to hear proceedings on the establishment of a currency."

"Why?" Kathy asked.

"Because we're three months in and we're still using this Contribution Credit system. Which is clunky. It's difficult to establish or plan long term for any sort of enterprise without a fiat currency system. I'd much prefer something like the US dollar which is debt backed, but there's no basis for it here. We need something that stands in for money and isn't linked to how much time you put in helping out."

"I know babe," Kathy sighed. "They'll be ready to hold hearings as soon as the governor confirms the appointment of two more judges."

"Which will happen when?"

Kathy looked at him, "He's already shot down nearly every candidate I've thrown at him. I even surreptitiously threw him a curve ball by having Miriam suggest to Aly that I might be a good fit, being a lawyer and all. Aly thought it was a great idea, given how I helped her with the military tribunal...but Hans shot that one down too. So far he's put a librarian, a bricklayer, an author, and a small business owner up there. Have you ever seen such an assortment!?"

"Seriously?" Shooby asked.

"Yes, it's like he's got something against people who know what they're doing or something."

"...or rich people," Shooby muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Shooby replied. He could actually understand the governor's logic and knew for a fact that the judges would be advised by a group of attorneys, including his wife, but the decision making process was up to his gaggle of judges.

"All the better," Kathy sighed, "People who haven't learned to think for themselves are easy to manipulate."

"That's...extremely classist of you," Shooby said.

"Enough politics," Kathy said softly. He felt her leg sliding up his own. Smiling he rolled on top of her, no forearm support needed. He wasn't a monster like Hans.