Alternia Comics

   Jen opened the first file and read aloud. "Minutes for 14 March 2021. Officers Present: Colin Leff, Gerald Stein, Lisa Kossman, Laurinda Selmeyer, Kathleen Corvidae, Nelson MacKenna, Barbara Matheson, Thomas Mason." She paused before reading the last name in the list. "And Jack Marten. Proof, Paul! This is it!" She skimmed ahead a bit as Paul gathered more of the boxes. "Topics covered include status of the colony during a full-scale trial, plans for opening the door, sustainability of the colony based on a week-long resource usage analysis, frequency of future council meetings, and a mysterious radio signal?"
   "Sounds like a busy meeting." Paul set a box down near Jen's feet, then sat next to her. "That's the last of 'em. What were the plans for opening the door?"
   "Looks like this was the first meeting after the door was shut, and it was planned to open again after three months. That was the full-scale trial run." Jen read aloud and Paul closed his eyes, trying to imagine the council meeting.

   "The test will continue until September 18th, then we'll open the door and let everyone go home until this facility is needed, leaving a minimum crew to keep everything operational. Agreed?" Councilman Stein proposed the conclusion of the test. The other council members agreed and the stenographer noted the motion in the log.
   "Moving on," Councilwoman Corvidae segued to the next order of business, "who has the figures from the small scale resource consumption test?"
   Councilman MacKenna spoke up. "After a week's observation, the agricultural department is confident in projecting at least two to five years sustainability with the door closed, making the colony a self-contained system. This should be sufficient for the scenarios we've been given."
   "Only five years at the outside?!" Councilman Marten stood to face MacKenna, "Nelson, we've got to do better than that. What if a worst-case, end of the world type situation arises? Are you telling me after five years we'll all be dead without outside assistance?"
   "Such a doomsday scenario was never in the requirements document for the colony."
   "Like hell it wasn't!" Jack slammed his fist down on the table. "I wrote the damned requirements document and I put in at least a twenty year requirement!"
   "That's not in my document here." Nelson waved a sheaf of papers toward Jack.
   "Fine. Five years. Great. Get your people working on ways to extend that, just in case."
   Councilwoman Matheson, council leader for this session, raised her voice. "The motion has been put forward to research extending the colony's sustainability. All agreed?" Six yeas. "Opposed?" Two nays. "Abstaining?" One abstention. "Motion carries." Matheson's gavel came down hard on the desk. "Be ready for further discussion next time, Councilman MacKenna." She shuffled some paper in front of her. "Next order of business: when is the next joint session? I believe Councilman Mason proposed a monthly session?" Thomas nodded in agreement. "Unless there is an objection, we will reconvene here in one month on 14 April."
   No one objected, and a few council members began packing their note pads, pencils, and other paraphernalia in to their bags and briefcases.
   "There is one last item on the agenda, I believe," Councilwoman Selmeyer spoke, her timid voice rising above the general din and falling again as the noise subsided. "Three days after the door was shut, we in the communications department received a strange signal on the radio. It does not seem to have come from any of our recognized contacts, government or civilian, and so far we have been unable to make any kind of sense of it."
   "Probably just a burst of cosmic noise." Councilman Leff dismissed the signal.
   "I don't think so," Laurinda continued. "There's a definite pattern to it and we believe it to be artificial, perhaps of non-terrestrial origin."
   "A signal from outerspace?" MacKenna seemed incredulous.
   Marten took up the conversation. "Have you informed our government contacts? Astronomers around the world will want to know about this as soon as possible."
   "We've tried, but the signal overloaded our equipment. We haven't been able to transmit or receive anything for almost thirty hours now. Half my team is repairing the transmitter and the other half is working on decoding the signal."
   Matheson ended the conversation. "Very well. Let us know when communications have been restored, and be ready to discuss the signal at greater length next time. For now, let's all go back to our quarters and get some rest. Session adjourned." The gavel came down again with a finality that quashed Laurinda's protests as the others walked out of the room.

   Paul opened his eyes in the silence after Jen finished reading. "Obviously they found a way to extend the life of the colony if we've been here for 40 years.
   "Yeah." Jen closed the folder and reached for the next one. "I wonder what happened with that signal?"