Three Containers Before Dawn

The operation began in the early hours at Macquarie Wharf, when the port was dark and the shift crew was thin. Mick Davies led Jarod James and Tom Walters to a row of twenty-foot containers he had identified during his earlier reconnaissance — idle units in serviceable condition, positioned far enough from the security office that a truck could reach them without passing through camera coverage. The fake lease paperwork was already filed. On the port's administrative system, the containers were being legitimately collected by a short-term lessee whose business existed only on paper.

Tom Walters reversed the flatbed trailer into position alongside the first container. He worked the hydraulic lift with ease, engaging the arms beneath the container's frame and raising it clear of the ground in a single controlled motion. The container swayed once as it settled onto the trailer bed. Tom secured it with chain binders, checked the load balance, and stepped clear.

Jarod climbed into the cab. The Portal opened ahead of the truck — a vertical aperture that cast a glow of rainbow light, yet made no sound. He drove the flatbed through at walking speed and emerged instantly into the dust and darkness of Bixbus.

On the other side, Adrian Pafistis and Nial Triffett were waiting at the portal alongside Noah Smith and Paul Smith. Adrian directed the unloading at the Drop Zone — he and Nial working the hydraulic lift from the trailer's controls, lowering the container onto the ground that Noah had designated. The process was slower without Tom's familiarity with the equipment, but Adrian read the machinery with a builder's intuition and Nial steadied the load as it descended. The container touched down with a low metallic groan and settled into the dirt.

Jarod drove the empty flatbed back through the Portal and was standing at Macquarie Wharf again within minutes. Tom had already positioned the second container for loading.

The second run followed the same sequence. Load, secure, drive through, unload, return. The Bixbus crew had the rhythm of it now — Adrian operating the lift with more confidence, Nial anticipating the load's centre of gravity before it shifted, Noah directing the second container to a position adjacent to the first. Paul helped where an extra pair of hands was needed and stayed out of the way where it wasn't.

The third container came through and was lowered beside the other two. One had been earmarked for the Learning Grove — it would need to be moved to the cleared site and fitted out with windows, ventilation, and interior modifications before it could serve as a classroom. The other two would remain at the Drop Zone as general storage, usable immediately without modification.

It was after the third unloading that the problem became obvious. The containers sat where they had been dropped, and without the flatbed they would stay there. Nothing else in the settlement could move a twenty-foot steel box. The truck was the only vehicle capable of repositioning the containers once they were on the ground — and it was needed on Earth for the next delivery run.

Jarod made the calculation quickly. The truck was more useful in Bixbus between runs than it was sitting in Tom Walters's yard. He left the flatbed at the Drop Zone and walked back through the Portal on foot, arriving at Macquarie Wharf to find Tom and Mick packing up. He told Tom he needed to keep the truck and that he would pay for its continued use. Tom named a figure. Jarod counted out the cash without argument.

The arrangement gave Bixbus its first working vehicle and established the pattern for every delivery that followed. The truck would remain in the settlement, available for moving containers and materials wherever they were needed. When the next run came, Jarod would drive it back through the Portal to Macquarie Wharf, load fresh containers, and bring it through again. The flatbed became as much a part of the settlement's infrastructure as the containers it carried.