Empyrean Rises

by Spencer Pierson

  “Hardy har har, Tad,” Piper said, taking note of Nabhitha’s shocked look. “Seriously, bad timing since I just told Nabs about our experiments. Do you really want her pulling your central core modules? Remember, you’re the one outside of the ship this time.”

  “Yes, Dave. Sorry, Dave,” Tad answered, in a cool calm voice that sounded just like HAL from 2001. He resumed in his normal tone, honestly sounding a little apologetic. “But seriously, I’m sorry Nabhitha. I’ve been enjoying humor, especially sarcasm, and sometimes it gets away from me. I’ll gleefully blame Piper because it’s her humor I have the most exposure to, but if you ever want to talk, just let me know.”

  Nabhitha swallowed, not sure how to respond to what amounted to a machine having a heart to heart with her, but decided that it shouldn’t matter. Tad sounded like he was apologetic, so he deserved an equally polite response. “That’s okay, Tad. I understand, and I’ll take you up on your offer once we’re back down on Earth.”

  “It’s a date! See how slick I am?” Tad said even as they watched the control panel float back into view, guided by yet another tentacle. “I’ve attached a small transmitter that will let us know if a launch command is ever sent, and at the same time interrupt that signal. Those missiles won’t ever fire again unless they send a spaceship up to tinker with the satellite. Boy, I wish I could see their faces when they figure that out.”

  The picture of the satellite began to recede as Tad moved away, and a moment later it rotated off the screen. “On my way to number two. Hopefully, she falls for my charms as easily as number one.”

  Piper and Nabhitha both rolled their eyes at the DPA’s humor.

  Chapter 11

  Time: August 22, 2030

  Location: Sea Base Atlantis, One hundred miles west of Empyrean Island, Pacific Ocean

  Nathan grunted, swinging his arm close to his body and catching the fast-moving elbow from his opponent. She was strong and fast, pushing back from him far enough to avoid a return punch, but not quick enough to prevent the short kick he leveraged at the side of her leg, catching it before it had a chance to plant. He grinned as she wobbled, staying on her feet but taking a few precious moments to keep from falling. Long enough for Nathan to move close, and grip her desperate return punch, pulling her over his hip and sending her into a roll on the mat.

  Typically, he would have pursued, not giving her a chance to gain her feet, but in this case, he was trying to show her the move, and why it was working on her.

  “Dammit,” Samantha said, punching the mat. “I thought I had it that time. How do you keep doing that?”

  Nathan chuckled, reaching forward and helping her to her feet. Her skin was a shade darker than his own, and her muscles were leaner, but the determination in her eyes was the same. It was one of the things he looked for in people that wanted to be on his team, and Samantha had it in spades. “You do see what you’re doing, right? You need to take smaller steps so you can settle your weight faster. Keep your feet within your shoulder width. Those big steps you like to take will work on less-skilled opponents, but the good opponents will knock you on your ass.”

  “Yeah, I see what you’re saying. It’s one of the reasons I’m glad you established these training facilities. It’s been nice to get solid workouts, though I have to admit, it kind of feels like I’m back in the Rangers.”

  “Is that a problem, Gonzales?” Nathan asked. He knew when he began increasing the scope and capabilities of his teams; it might raise some eyebrows. It wasn’t a bad thing. He didn’t want people on his team that wouldn’t care if they were turning into some crazy military organization. It was a delicate balancing point, and one he constantly evaluated with everyone that Empyrean employed.

  “Maybe?” Samantha shrugged. “I don’t get the idea we’re about to become a bunch of armed assholes, but it’s a good thing for you to know that if we did, I’d bail.”

  “That’s the right answer, Gonzales. I can’t promise we won’t ever be asked to do some hard shit, but I don’t want drones on my team. You see the same things I do. This company we’re working for is doing things I’ve never seen before, and we’re going places that will require more than just rent-a-cop stuff. Far more. You know we’ll be the first combatants in space, right? Just imagine shooting some asshole in zero-g. You can’t just do that with a pistol and wearing a skirt.”

  He watched as Samantha paced back and forth with her hands on her hips, digesting what he’d just told her. Finally, she looked up, and Nathan was happy to see that glint of determination hadn’t left her eyes. If anything, it had increased.

  “I can get into that, as long as we’re the good guys,” she said.

  “That’s the goal, Gonzales. Be the good guys and not be assholes doing it,” Nathan said before turning around and gesturing around to the large training area. There were several more mats, weight sets, sparring bags, and doors to other training areas where a wide variety of other personnel were honing their skills. “Now, go practice what I taught you on some of these other goons. I need to go to a meeting up on the corporate levels.”

  Samantha nodded before trotting off, punching a large, hulking ex-marine in the shoulder before gesturing out onto the mat. The man grinned and followed her before both began to circle. Nathan would have liked to watch, but he hadn’t been lying. He needed to get cleaned up and meet with Piper and Alex about the two rogue satellites they had identified. He had read her report, but they needed to talk about it. If someone was playing with weapons up there, they had to respond, and that would likely create some serious waves far beyond Empyrean.

  He jogged out of the workout section and into the shower area, getting cleaned up and into a new set of clothes that were waiting for him. He was still amazed at the 3D printing technology that allowed someone to either order a standard uniform or design their own clothes with all manner of patterns or structures. He was fine with tried-and-true designs, but he’d seen some fashion statements in off-duty personnel up on the promenade that made him scratch his head.

  Dressed, he grabbed one of Helen’s specialized drinks and headed up the elevator shafts, sipping it as he went. The fast-moving lift passed quickly upwards depositing him on one of the many corporate levels that held several work and meeting rooms that overlooked the brightly-lit ocean floor. Usually, it would be pitch black at these depths, but Empyrean had decided long ago that a view was important for the isolated sea base. They had also decided to include lights that could encourage photosynthesis.

  As such, the constant light had attracted a strange biome of light-loving fish, and the occasional deep-sea visitor that would come to inspect the unexpected sight. Nathan still remembered when a giant squid had ghosted out of the darkness, passing right beside the tube he was moving through and giving him a fright. He was a brave man, but when something thirty feet long swims by from behind, he didn’t feel bad about jumping away from the window. He still remembered the saucer-shaped eye watching him as it sailed by.

  Piper and Alex were already present, discussing some family business when Nathan arrived. Both of their DPA’s were floating nearby, with Piper’s apparently having some sort of conniption fit behind Piper’s head, while Aristotle simply floated there. The big Australian frowned when he saw Tad and his antics, more than aware of Piper’s experiment. Nathan was far from being a big dumb jock and had understood the potential risks.

  “What the heck is that contraption doing now? Don’t tell me you turned him into a margarita mixer,” Nathan said as he sat down at the table.

  Piper shook her head. “Nope. He’s working on learning how to dance, though he’s got a ways to go. Right now I think he looks like a broken washing machine.”

  “Hey! You humans have no idea how difficult it is to get a rhythm. Give me a break,” Tad snapped though he didn’t stop dancing. Instead, the irritable DPA spun around, presumably to put its back to the room.

  “Well, no matter how he dances, that was good work up in orbit, Tad. Thank
you.” Nathan said, eyeing the machine.

  Tad stopped, turning around and paused for a long moment. His voice sounded uncertain as he spoke. “You’re welcome, Nathan. I did my best. It’s good to be appreciated.”

  Piper snorted, shaking her head. “Don’t act like no one ever thanks you, Tad. I thank you all the time.”

  “You also call me terrible names. Besides, I prefer to be nice to people who can destroy me with a flick of their finger,” Tad answered, turning back around and beginning to shake and rattle again, signaling he was done with the conversation.

  Nathan and Alex both watched the interaction with amusement. Once Tad began to ignore them, Alex leaned forward, signaling a start to the meeting.

  “So, we have two potentially hostile satellites targeting Gateway?” Alex asked to the room.

  Piper nodded, pulling up a holographic image of both satellites over the table. “Yes. One is definitely Chinese, but the other one was originally launched as a simple communication satellite. Something significantly smaller than what is actually floating there.”

  “Seems like it should be easy to trace who sent it up,” Nathan mused, studying the two images.

  “You’d think that, right? But no, someone went to a lot of trouble to hide their tracks, as well. It wasn’t hard to find out who sent it up. It was India, about four years ago, but the record of it has been messed with. Actually, there were several satellites sent up on the same rocket, and all of their records were altered to cover the size of this little baby.”

  “Were you able to find anything about it when you hacked into it?” Alex asked.

  “Some,” Piper said. “The programming was fairly sophisticated but heavily encrypted. I’ve got my computers chewing on it, but it could be weeks before they break through, if ever. However, the hardware was interesting. We couldn’t get pictures of everything, but it was very high end. I’d say it’s the same friends who fired those missiles at the Brokkr when it launched. I see some of the same quality.”

  Nathan gave Alex a long look, frowning. He had hoped it wasn’t the case, but he wasn’t surprised either. It was just more evidence that someone was moving against them from many different avenues. Someone with significant resources. “Can we take a look at their weapon systems?”

  Sure,” Piper said, flicking the hologram to another set of files. One was clearly a missile system, with Chinese lettering on the side, but the other looked like a strange set of lenses. Piper pointed to the missiles first. “These are HQ37’s, anti-satellite missiles. I think they’re equipped with kinetic kill vehicles, not explosives, so as to avoid detection. However, this is what has me more worried.” Piper zoomed in on the set of lenses, expanding them to show more details.

  “It looks like a laser,” Nathan said, though something was wrong. Despite the advances various militaries had made in laser weaponry, they still required a large amount of energy. For something working from space, the satellite would have to have a significant power generator, and Nathan didn't see evidence of that. “I don’t see how it could fire more than once, however? Where’s the power generation?”

  “Smart man!” Piper said. “It’s not a laser. It’s a focus array. It’s designed to catch a laser from the surface and redirect it toward a target. It’s a stealth weapon, to be sure. Unless you have some sort of detector in line with the beam, there’s no way to tell if something was fired. At least with the missiles, we’ll have all the proof in the world that we were attacked. This is something their mysterious opponents could fire and probably avoid anyone knowing they were behind it. At least, if we hadn’t broken into their satellite.” Piper smirked.

  “I know you have the Chinese satellite wired so it won’t fire. What did you do to stop this laser from firing?” Alex asked.

  “It was Nabhitha’s idea,” Piper said, grinning. “She had Tad squirt some of his lubricants onto each of the lenses.”

  “Oh, my god,” Alex said. “You made Tad pee on the satellite?”

  Nathan and Piper both blinked, then burst into peals of laughter.

  “Yes, that is it exactly. The lubricant will dissolve the film of the mirrors and render them completely useless for firing. In fact, it will probably destroy the satellite due to the heat generated. A win-win for us.” Nabhitha said.

  “I want to find out who these people are,” Alex said, suddenly serious. “They have attacked us at least once that we know of, and now they are prepared to attack us again. Whoever is doing this has some pretty serious resources. This is a high priority. What country is doing it?”

  “Are you sure it’s a country?” Nathan asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, it may not be a country at all though you are right, the resources it would take would be considerable and I agree it is most likely a country, but we can’t limit ourselves. We need to look at all the angles, just in case.”

  “Do what you think is best, Nathan. You are the security guy. You have my permission to use any resources we have. Find them before they kill people,” Alex said grimly.

  Chapter 12

  Time: September 5, 2030

  Location: United Nations Building, NYC

  “Thank you for coming and Welcome back Doctor Drake,” Jamal said in his reverberating voice. Alex noted that the man looked irritated, though he didn’t feel it was directed at him. Looking around at the rest of the representatives, Alex noted that most of them seemed impassive, but Akihiko Fushima and Li Cheng seemed to be pleased with something. He suspected it boded ill for Empyrean.

  “It’s my pleasure,” Alex said, taking the same seat he had just over a month ago. Aristotle hovered silently behind him, gathering not a few glances in his direction. “I see it took a little longer than a week to evaluate the information we provided. Are there further questions for us?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Jamal said, his voice hesitant. He glanced toward the rest of the panel before looking back. “There have been several concerns raised. The rules you’ve provided, on initial review, seem quite complete and satisfactory. However, there is no oversite body or group independent from your company that could enforce them.”

  “For the most part, we’ve followed the same rules and regulations that other commercial enterprises have done, applying through the FAA and receiving a launch license for each payload.” The attorney, Richard Williams said. “Every single one has been approved.”

  “Correct, but you are talking about more than simply releasing satellites into space. You have a space station, which already out masses the ISS by almost two-fold. It’s also expanding quickly,” Mr. Fushima half-growled. “Despite your rules, this has caused a lot of consternation amongst the international community, Doctor Drake. We, as a body, feel we need to take this slowly before another launch is authorized.”

  Alex frowned as he leaned forward. “What do you mean another launch? Are you talking about rockets or our Skylark orbitals?”

  “We mean everything,” Mr. Fushima said, a slight smile toying at the edges of his mouth. It was clear the man was enjoying the bad news.

  “Impossible!” Alex said. “We have personnel up there, and we have ongoing activities that cannot be stopped without costing us significant time and resources.”

  Jamal frowned, tapping a gavel against a slab of wood. “Please, gentlemen, let us not yell at each other. Doctor Drake, we understand that this is a sensitive matter and an inconvenience. We will allow you to take your personnel off of your station, and secure whatever needs to be secured.”

  “With supervision,” Li Sheng interjected.

  “With limited supervision,” Jamal corrected, glaring at the Chinese man.

  Alex and Richard exchanged glances, neither of them was happy with what they were being told. “So how long will this review take? And what will be required?” Alex asked.

  Jamal looked down at his hands before pulling a file from beside him and passing it to Richard who quickly opened it and began perusing the contents w
ithin view of Alex. As they read, both of them became angrier until finally, Alex looked up, slapping his hand down on the table.

  “This is ridiculous! Half of this would require us giving you our technology schematics, and the other half requires several layers of approval for even a basic launch. Have some of these agencies even been established?” Alex growled, stabbing his finger onto the paper at some names he didn’t recognize.

  “Not as of yet,” Jamal said, sounding almost sick. Yuri Novogrod, the Russian representative, looked almost as livid as Alex felt.

  Alex stared at Richard for a long moment before speaking, his voice low and difficult to hear. “And if we do not agree to these… requirements? If we continue to launch and build our station?”

  Jamal swallowed, sliding another file across the table to Alex and his lawyer. “This is the list of potential sanctions, depending on the level of your refusal. Up to and including seizure of assets by countries in support of this document.”

  Alex didn’t even open the file this time. He forced himself to calm down and met each of the representative's eyes, studying their faces to see how each of them felt. It was clear that Jamal and Yuri were both against the whole thing. They didn’t want to punish Empyrean, but how far would their countries go to enforce the UN sanctions? The representatives from Japan, China, and Brazil, were clearly hostile, but America and Saudi Arabia were harder to read. At least one of them had to have voted for the sanctions, but which one? He didn’t know.

  Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Jamal.” How long do we have to respond?

  “One month,” Jamal said, “Though we are flexible on time. As long as no new launches are made, we can work within those constraints.”