Aberrant: Dead Rising - Search for the promised land. [Complete]

[Mr Fox]

Tues. May 15th.

Several things had been on his mind recently. The raid on 'paradise' which had been a hell on earth had really tested his faith in humanity. Another was his trip to Alaska. It had been a strange thing not having to worry about zombies being any where near. The down side with Alaska was that the very short summers. Over the last couple days he'd been trying to think of places where he could more easily ensure the safety of the people of the Refuge, but try as he might he just couldn't think of any place that would work. He had three nukes but even if he used them to level Dallas and wiped out all the zombies there, more would just filter in eventually. Besides no one wanted to live in a radioactive pile of rubble anyway. So what did that leave?

He had poured over maps in the HQ until the answer had finally come to him. Hawaii. Its population was relatively small to start with so wiping out all the zombies would be a terrible task, but not impossible. It was thousands of miles from the mainland in any direction so no zombies would just wander in. Plus, with the lack of modern infrastructure it would be very difficult for the RUS to attack with troops. It was also very fertile and could support crops for a small population.

It wasn't perfect, he'd have to spend a lot of time opening warps for people to go scavenging and such, but that was acceptable if it meant safety for the people. Even so it was still in the idea phase. What he wanted now was a second opinion and some scouting to see what the conditions there were like right now.

He had sent messengers out to find Dan and James and Jules and now he needed to wait and see what they would say and if they would go scouting with him. They might find that the place was a hell hole now, or have some reasons Fox hadn't thought of why it wouldn't be a good place. Either way he was interested to see what their opinions were.

[Courier]

James showed up and said, "What's up Morgan? Runner said you needed to see me for some meeting?"

[Mr Fox]

"Yeah, I called Dan and Jules too. Lets give them a few minutes to arrive before I begin." It was apparent from the tables in the room that maps were on Morgan's mind. There were maps everywhere, tacked to bulletin boards, on tables, on his desk, even on the floor in places.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan showed up, dressed in his usual non-com attire of coveralls over a tee-shirt and shorts. "Alright Morgan, whatcha got? I assume it's pretty major if you're pulling us away from our areas. He had Two trucks down with bad carbeurators, another three need complete overhauls of the suspension. It was enough work to keep five mechanics busy for a good while, and unfortunately he was one of only a few who were actually good enough to work on the big rigs.

He was however thankful to be out of the heat, Even though it wasn't june yet, it was still damn warm out.

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

Jules came in last. She'd been putting in some hard hours lately; perhaps too many. She'd gotten her check up from Myf and passed with flying colors, but as Morgan had feared, Paradise had changed her. She'd been way too quiet - withdrawn and thoughtful.

"What's up, Morgan?" she asked quietly, glancing around the room.

[Mr Fox]

"Hey guys, sorry to drag you all away from other things, but this whole making gateways thing has got me to thinking. There's really no place in the world that we can't go and still be a few steps away from anyplace else. Right now we're afraid of attack from the RUS, and we always have to worry about zombie hordes showing up. So I was thinking where could we go that would actually be safer, but still be a nice place to live."

Seeing everyone's faces he added, "That's not to say we 'need' to move or 'have' to move, we can stay right here and try to rebuild civilization, but what if there were someplace safer with fewer zombies to kill?"

He was on his feet now and moving to the table that was spread with one of the largest maps, it was a military map with a great deal of detail and it was of the Hawaiian islands. He pointed to one of the islands. "Here's what I was thinking... Hawaii is defensible against the RUS. Here they can launch a helicopter attack against us any time. There the only way they'd have to get at us is ship or airplane and those are so easy to conceal. Another advantage is that some of the islands had less than 100,000 residents, which means many fewer zombies to clear out and then we'd have a land free of the dead. Don't know if Zombies can cross the ocean or not but if we kept lookouts they shouldn't be able to get ashore without us knowing and hordes aren't very likely. The climate is great, and we'd be able to grow food year round."

He paused for a moment to let all that sink in the finished, "I even have an idea on clearing them out, but I was thinking maybe you three would like to go scouting with me. At the very least you guys can tell me what you think the downsides are."

[Courier]

James frowned and thought. Clearly he hadn't realized this was even an option.

After a moment he said, "The problem I see are that you're almost taking us out of the game. We couldn't lose, but we also couldn't win. RUS and/or the others would consolidate and eventually they'd be too strong for us to deal with. Also we still get people showing up here wanting to join."

James continued, "But the benefits sound pretty huge. We almost have to do it."

Originally Posted By: Dawn, OOC

JoAnna sat down and took his hand. "James, I know you want kids," she said. "Part of me does too, but that's the same part that can't handle the thought of getting and loving some precious, helpless children, and then losing them. I see woman out there all the time that have lost their kids, and it kills something in them." She shook her head. "I'm keeping that door shut, at least until the zombies are gone." She looked him in the eye. "That's my only requirement for children, James. No more zombies."

James corrected himself enthusiastically, "No we HAVE to do this. There's some details to work out but I'm all for it."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nodded. "It's a plausible, workable idea, but do you know how long it will take to clean off even one of the major Islands? Also Morgan, there's the matter of Electricity."

He shakes his head. "That would be a major undertaking. We could try solar, wind, or tidal but each of those would require immense resources to make happen quickly."

"We could only build them if the zombies were already gone."

"I agree that the RUS would be allowed to consolidate, but would they become truly imperialistic, or would they bee content with AMerica?"

[Courier]

James thought back and tried to remember what he about Hawaii.

He said, "Electricity is less of an issue since there's more usable daylight and less need for heat. There were several big islands, but only one had a serious population and population density."

"100,000 people translates into... I don't know? Thirty thousand? Fifty? It wasn't gun country so they would have had problems. Zoms coming in from the ocean might be less of an issue than we think, the slope in up from the ocean is huge, I remember a topography map. They're underwater mountains."

James continued, "At the very least we need to check it out... and it'd be best if we kept the move as quiet as possible. Ideally the entire compound would just up and disappear one day and leave RUS nothing to follow even if they want to."

"Then we could maintain this base with minimal personnel."

[Mr Fox]

Morgan looked to Jules, "You haven't said anything yet. Are there any big obvious holes in my logic I'm missing, or should we at least check it out?"

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

"There is a major one, Morgan - you." Jules looked up at him, her dark eyes hard to read. There was a tension in her face, though, hardness to her jawline that was barely noticeable. "We'd be dependent on your warps to get back to the mainland for anything we couldn't find or manufacture. The issues with that are... if something happens to you, and you can't warp anymore or are dead. And then there's the power imbalance. It's already bad enough, but if you put people in a situation where they can't leave on top of feeling like it's dangerous to leave, and you've opened up more resentment."

She sighed and dropped into a chair, that same distant look in her beautiful eyes. "Then there's the running. We've got something here... are we going to keep running forever? And why not the Bahamas? That way, if people needed to try for the mainland, they could and would have a better chance of making it." She paused and shook her head. "Running feels wrong. Maybe that's because I spent most of my first six months after z-day on the run. I don't know."

Jules shrugged and met Morgan's eyes once. "Just my two cents." After a moment, they slipped away, going distant again.

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded, "Bahamas would be fine by me, but they gets hit with big hurricanes every few years. We'd have to construct pretty strong buildings." He shrugged uncomfortably, "Look, I'm not thinking of this as running, but we just tripled out population and right now we don't have enough housing to go around. We've got quick fixes in place but winters can get pretty nasty around here. It's not as bad as up north but keeping everyone warm in tents and trailers and RVs isn't going to be easy come winter. Someplace a bit more tropical might mean the difference between surviving and thriving. It would also mean much easier defense against zombies. Once the island were clear we wouldn't have much to worry about on that count."

He looked around at the people in the room, "If you guys don't think it's a good idea then it won't happen, I'm just trying to think of options to fix our problems."

[Courier]

James thought a moment then said, "Single point of failure is a big problem. I'm not entirely sure resentment is. It's not like we're talking about being stuck on Gilligan's island. There was room for hundreds of thousands to millions of people, compared to being stuck on a base, a good sized tropical island is a serious improvement."

"The Bahamas didn't have a lot of industry for us to loot as I recall. Puerto Rico might work better although they had more people. The big concern will be getting an island high enough above the water that zombies can't just pounce from the ocean."

[Dan Hawkins]

"It will also take time to clear it of Zombies and reestablish basic infrastructure; power, water, sewage and the like. Any Island we go to will hve isolation working for and against us. If we're far from the mainland that means we must travel a good ways to keep pace with happenings in the world. It makes us more secure, but it makes Fox's warp ability our only way to replenish supplies we can't manufacture."

He nods. "It can be done, but if It is to happen I will need a team of engineers, and We should allocate at least a week to clear off whatever Island we decide."

[Mr Fox]

"Question is should we do it or focus our efforts here with what we've already started." He looked at the trio and considered, "If you all think it's a decent idea then we will scout locations and then if it looks feasible we can bring it up to others for consideration." He paused a moment then added, "The other thing is that I can only make my gateways to places I've been before. I've been a lot of places because of my position in the Special Forces, but not any islands in the Caribbean, so I'd have to get there somehow first the old fashioned way, by air or boat. That shouldn't be too much of a problem. We've got a couple pilots among the ex-military types I believe and finding planes or helicopters shouldn't be a problem. I've been to Miami and that's a close hop to most of the islands."

[Courier]

Doug said, "Most Air planes aren't going to fit through the gate. That implies you're going to find something and fix it on the other side. Similarly for this kind of thing you want a flier and not a leaper, at least until you're scouting out land again."

[Dan Hawkins]

"I can fly you to the Islands from Miami. That wouldn't be much of a stretch, It would take a day or so to scout out for suitable settlement areas, and their resource level."

He sighs. "Also their's Cuba, it does have industry, just very centralized. Also, a much large population."

He shakes his head. "Any community in the Caribbean is also bound to Myfwany's assistance. Consider the whole sea is a spawning ground for hurricanes and the like, also it's alot more prone to contract many diseases there you wouldn't on the mainland."

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded, "Yeah, we'd definitely need Myfwany's buy-in on this. In fact why don't we ask her to join us before we go scouting. She might have arguments that would make scouting certain places a moot point, could save us a lot of effort. Anyone else you guys think might have good input?"

[z016]

A soft knocking sounded from the door, shortly followed by a slightly louder knocking. A moment after it became obvious that the person wasn't going to just walk in, Morgan called out, "Come in!"

Gabrielle opened the door and padded in, still looking tired but at least up and about from the exertions of the past couple of days. Behind her were a few members of her enclave including, as always, her everpresent shadow, Caleb. The others were an older look man and woman, dressed simply and looking nearly as tired as Gabrielle.

She smiled at the room, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. We'd heard that Mr. Fox was here, along with a couple other of the leaders of the Refuge, and we were hoping to speak with you. Is this a good time or should we come back later?"

[Mr Fox]

"Not at all come in. We were just about to take a break anyway while we waited for the doctor to join us."

He walked back over to his desk and picked up a walkie, "Ger, this is Fox. Please send someone to ask the doctor to join us in the HQ."

Not wanting to continue the previous discussion until the doctor arrived he looked back at Gabrielle, "I haven't had a chance to thank you for all you've done the last couple days here. Your presence was a godsend. But tell, me what can I do for you while we wait?"

[z016]

She ducked her head at the praise, blushing a little as the others with her murmured demurs. "Well, it's actually about all the people here, both the old and new refugees. We've been doing what we can to help, but honestly a military base like this just isn't equipped to handle five hundred people. Really even on a short-term basis. And on a long term basis I think it will quickly become disastrous for more than a dozen or so to try to stay here."

"I wanted to offer a possibility," she bit her lip, looking concerned and sincere. "Fort Hayes University, where we've built our compound, was a college for over two thousand students. There is ample living space, a good amount of stored food, medical, and other supplies, a library...all sorts of things that mean just more than surviving. We've managed to clear out the power plant there and convert it over to use wood, so we've got hot running water and limited electricity. But we're small. We're never going to be able to keep going as anything other than scavengers without more people. And with the infrastructure that we have, we can be a civilization, a center of learning and culture and living above base necessities."

She paced a little as she spoke, fiddling with her fingers from nervousness. "This refuge has people, far more than it can handle even now. Merging the two groups gives everyone a much higher chance of survival, as well as much higher quality of living. I want to offer the option to anyone here that would want to go, and I wanted to start with you." She stopped and turned towards Fox, her eyes large with hope and trepidation. "Would this be something you would support?"

[Dan Hawkins]

"We aren't talking about uprooting the refuge right this second, unless I've missed the gist of this conversation. We're simply exploring options. A major problem is of course security against the Zombies, but we've managed to handle that well. The boogieman so to say is the RUS. If we were to come to blows with them, it wouldn't be mindless or semi-intelligent zombies, it would be other human beings, extremely well armed, and equipped. The Islands offer greater security than virtually anything shy of the NORAD base in the Rockies due to general breakdown of all services."

He looks to Fox. "We could simply be overestimating their threat we could try to establish a dialog."

"Although they'd probably register you and I as AWOL military personnel and try to inter us."

He looks to Gabbrielle. The idea of going back there wasn't something he considered pleasant. It was clear from his stance he preferred the setup of Fox's refuge.

"Thank you for the offer Gabrielle, but for now I at least am more comfortable here at the Refuge."

[Mr Fox]

"Gabrielle, it is a very generous offer and it's something I'll be happy to consider, but I am concerned with the threat from the RUS. Like Dan mentioned they are a major threat and very well armed from the intelligence we've gathered. Moving the Refuge's people up to your enclave would be putting us even closer to them than we are here. From what we've heard they capture people with unusual abilities and 'detain' them. We haven't been able to find out anything more yet about what detaining them means, but I'm not too eager to find out from first hand experience. Merging our two groups might well server our people well. Would you consider relocating to a more secure location? There are other universities on various islands."

He smiled and gestured for her and her people to take a seat. "I was actually just speaking with Dan, Jules and James here about the idea of moving the Refuge to a safer place, but it is just idle talk for the moment. We've put so much effort into what we've already built here that moving somewhere else wouldn't be very attractive to us unless it was to be someplace more secure. Besides I think when you were here recently you heard discussion of forming a government, would your people be willing to participate in that government process? It's important for our people to have a voice. That also means that whether we join with you or all move someplace safe will require a vote either way."

[z016]

"Island?" She took the offered seat and motioned for the others to do the same.

The older looking woman spoke up, "What do you mean by an island? We're in the middle of the country. How would we get there?"

"And with the distance and cities between us and the coastline seems a more dangerous proposition than just fortifying somewhere we already have." The man looked thoughtful but concerned, "And who or what is the RUS? Sounds like something from Princess Bride." He grinned at that, taking about ten years off his age.

[Mr Fox]

Fox chuckled at the movie reference. He'd thought the same thing the first time he'd heard the name. "RUS stands for Reclaimed United States. They have secured a portion of the Eastern Seaboard down into Tennesse. The down side is they are apparently ruthless killers, or at least some of their leadership is. There was an enclave about 50 miles north of here that was destroyed by them. They attacked with a helicopter gunship and then lured in a zombie horde to had the fact of what they had done. We ended up capturing the Colonel in charge of the raid. There were only three survivors from that entire enclave. What little we know makes them sound like a nasty bunch."

"As for Islands, I was suggesting Hawaii, but islands in the Bahamas or Caribbean would be decent too and closer in case anyone needed to return to the mainland. Islands would also have the upside of being much easier to defend against zombies once it was cleared out. Not too many hordes are going to wander past. And the reason why is this..." He turned to the side and gestures and a hole appeared in mid air and on the other side could be seen a view of a black sand Hawaiian beach.

"Opening holes like that is a trick I learned since the last time we saw each other. It opens up a lot of possibilities. It was pointed out that Caribbean islands would be better since it would put us someplace safer and more defensible but still within reach of the mainland should something unfortunate happen to me. I'm not married to the idea, not even sure I'd want to leave here in fact, but I am concerned for our defense here since we know we are in striking distance of the RUS. Tropical islands also mean much milder winters and long growing seasons for crops."

[SalmonMax]

At that point the man Fox had sent out returned, with Myfwany in tow. The red-headed doctor looked a bit tired but her eyes were clear and focused as she nodded at each of the people present and then turned her attention to Fox.

"I'm late to the party again. We need to get email up and running, Fox, I seem to keep missing your invitations." Her smile was light, but she was a bit worried about why she'd been called in, and it showed in the crinkle around her eyes.

[z016]

Gabrielle nodded to Myf as she came but, frowned as she focused back on Fox. "My concerns about a move to an island would be that there would be much less infrastructure generally available, as well as the confinement that the loss of you for any reason would put the general population in. We won't have vehicles or transportation like we're used to much longer, and an ocean voyage at limited technology and resources, not to mention experience, isn't something that many would want to make if there was a need to leave the island."

The older woman spoke up again, "Also, if the RUS is evil, then running from it isn't what we should do. It will only make them that much more powerful once they finally find us, not to mention leaving anyone that's still here at their mercy." She shook her head, "I don't like that idea of the island, not with hurricanes and earthquakes and so many other natural disasters that could happen there. I can't fly or make holes or anything like that. I wouldn't want to always be dependent on those who could. It's not fair to me, or to them."

[Mr Fox]

"I understand." Fox nodded understanding to Emma's comments. "Valid points. I was looking for ideas on safer places for us to be in the event we do have issues with the RUS, or perhaps be far enough away that they wouldn't occur at all. I'm open to suggestions, but as I said, the only reason I would likely consider moving would be to a safer location, one we could more easily defend and less likely to be within striking range of the RUS. Also, natural disasters are everywhere, here we get tornadoes, the West Coast gets Earthquakes, the Ring of fire has Volcanos. Can't escape mother nature no matter where you are. I'm worried about zombies and people."

Looking to Mwfwany, "Hey there. Not exactly a meeting. I was chatting with Jules, Dan and James and thought your opinion might be very valuable from a medical perspective. Gabrielle and the others just wandered by at an opportune time. We're discussing ideas on whether other places might be safer than here, such as an isolated tropical island, and it's not a formal meeting at all. Any thoughts are welcome. Gabrielle brought up the idea of merging our two enclaves."

[Davenrell]

Father Abraham approached the door. As he lifted his hand to knock he stopped as he listened to Gabrielle's words. Moving to an island? That did seem like a good idea. He also saw the problem with the lack of infrastructure she mentioned. Knocking softly on the door he waited for permission to enter. When he did he gave everyone a kind smile and nod.

"Sorry to interrupt I was seeking Gabrielle to make sure she was doing alright. I overheard a bit of what was said. If I may I believe you all have forgotten the proverb of teaching a man to fish. We are so use to having specialist to do everything for us. The fact is our cars are going to die out and possibly before gas is truly a problem. We will need to relearn how to raise horses. If you discuss an island with the ability to teleport or not people will need to learn to build ships and sail them again.

We as a race survived for thousands of years without modern technology and it seems rather unlikely we can not learn to do so again. However if you are looking for security and infrastructure you may want to consider another possibility. The Vatican. The building is practically a fortress on to it self and has its own means of providing power and water. Also it would most likely only take a hand full of us with abilities to clear the actually compound out and make sure the zombies can not get in. Then we simply have to let the zombies of the city gather at our doors and burn them down."

[SalmonMax]

Myf opened and closed her mouth, momentarily overwhelmed.

Move to an island?

Merge enclaves?

What about the Vatican? And who was that?

She held up a hand, trying to get people to stop piling things for her to react to on top of each other.

"Okay, everyone hold on a second and let me catch up."

She pointed at Fox. "Bad idea."

Then Gabrielle, "Merge how?"

Finally Myf looked at Father Abraham and asked, "What about the Vatican, and who are you?"

[Mr Fox]

Fox frowned at the Doctor, "Let me rephrase myself, 'constructive' thoughts are welcome. I did not say moving was a good idea, we discussing if finding a safer place might be an option, and we are tossing ideas around that is all. We know for a fact that we are within striking distance of the RUS here, they struck and destroyed a fortified enclave only 50 miles north of here less than a month ago leaving only 3 survivors out of over 200, and they struck with at least one helicopter gunship. Welcome to our impromptu informal discussion."

[SalmonMax]

"These are some pretty heavy things for an informal discussion," Myfwany pointed out. "But okay, what others have said notwithstanding...largely because I didn't hear any of it...there are health issues with moving to an island. Significant ones, if probably not insurmountable. We'd be exposing people to a totally different environment, which means they'd be more vulnerable to whatever disease strains were there, and it'd also result in allergic reactions. Now I can see where you're probably coming from too. Not many zombies...warm weather...not much competition...but it also cuts us off from trade and resupply. I mean, other than your gate things."

She shakes her head. "If we're really in danger here, real imminent danger, then I guess we'll have to move. But I think an island is going too far. If something went wrong, we'd have no place to run."

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

"And I agree with the doctor," Jules said softly, "on those points and more." She'd been so quiet, it was a little startling to hear her talk now. Her eyes weren't distant at the moment; she looked around the room meeting the eyes of everyone there, save Morgan. Her eyes skittered past him like nervous butterflies, afraid to land on lovely, sweet flowers.

Leaning forward, she said, "If we run from RUS, we allow them to consolidate further. We isolate ourselves, and we stagnant, while RUS swallows more and more. There's a peom that covers this." She paused, clearly gathering her thoughts.

" 'First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out.' It's not quite the same, but the basic idea is there. Sooner or later, we'll have to deal with RUS. Better sooner than later, right? Because the longer we wait, the worse it'll be."

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded appreciatively at Mwfwany, "Thank you Doctor, that was precisely why we value your input. So, I think that means we can rule out an island altogether."

At hearing Jules' comment Morgan got a very thoughtful look on his face. "Jules, you've got a great point. Defense means you are always reactionary and that's just not good tactics. It's the thing that's been bothering me the most about our current situation." Fox's look at Jules was complicated, but there was definite approval in it and something more.

He glanced back to the Doctor, "Doc, I think you're right, this discussion is starting to go a bit far for just some friends tossing around ideas. Gabrielle has made a proposal that we should formally consider and that means we need more than just us doing the considering. This involves the community's future so it should be more than just us."

He looked back to Gabrielle and her friends, "So, we are in the process of forming a government. Would your people be willing to join that process? That's the only way I can see this working. Then as an entire group we could decide where to live and what to do about the RUS?"

[z016]

Gabrielle nodded and glanced at the other two with her, who nodded as well. "That sounds like a great idea. We've been getting along fine so far without much of a formal governance structure, but that's not hard when all you have is fifty or so people. Five hundred is a completely different matter. How do you want to go about this? We could try having like a town hall style meeting, so everyone would have a chance to talk. It would probably take quite a few of them to get everything ironed out, but everyone could be heard and it would show us a lot of the natural groups and cliques that already exist."

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

"It'll need to be outside," Jules said, rubbing the back of her neck as she tilted her head up to stare at the ceiling. She'd felt Morgan's eyes on her, and she didn't know what to do or say about that. Going back to Paradise had changed something, and she still wasn't sure what. Mommy, what do we do now?

Repressing a shudder, she added in a flat voice, "I don't think we have enough room anywhere indoors. Wonder if we're due for some rain." She glanced at Morgan and Gabrielle, very quickly. "When should we do this?"

[Mr Fox]

"The sooner we get started the sooner we'll be done. I don't imagine this will be a quick or painless process. Everyone's sure to have an opinion and want to voice it and many issues will probably be contentious. That main thing is that it will need to be fair to everyone. A strong bill of rights will be importatnt. Why don't we make an announcemet that we'll do this tomorrow and that way everyone can have a chance to get ideas ready and carry a lawn chair out to the field. We can erect a platform and those speaking can step up to be heard by all?"

He tought for a second and shook his head, "Actually, we've got some flatbed trucks, we'll just pull one out into the field and park it and use that for the platform."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nodded. If you think now is the time to do this, then so be it."

[Courier]

James said, "I think a government is a good idea... but there is something else about that island idea too. We really should have a fall back. I mean... say we get word there's ten thousand military guys raiding the place tomorrow, or a million zombies show up on the horizon headed our way."

"We as a community have nowhere to flee to. I, personally, could grab my gals and leap away. I've got stashes hidden here and there I could go to. But if we think we're going to lose the base to overwhelming odds, even if we have the time to run, although we've got a way to run we've got nowhere to go."

"All our eggs are in one basket here. Morgan should have somewhere other than a zombie infested army base where he can dump a thousand people with six hours notice. We should have a half assed base in Hawaii or somewhere with some seed stock so if we have to leave we don't lose 'everything', and we don't have people dying of thirst a day later."

[Mr Fox]

Fox waited for anyone to respond to the suggestion but when no one did he spoke, "I'm in agreement with James that we should have a safe fallback, however, I think we need to take care of first things first and that means getting a real government in place so that we can speak with one voice when it comes to dealing with the RUS and moving or staying."

"Unless anyone has an objection I will call everyone together this afternoon and make the announcement and we'll have the big meeting tomorrow."