Space Station Acheron

by F Stephan

  She nodded soberly. With them, they could measure the global insalubrity of the area, all the contaminants in the air. And the picture Wilfried saw was scary.

  “Don’t be so dark,” she replied. “Around the road, the newer buildings are in better shape.”

  Everyone seemed crushed by the intense heat of the sun, walking with slumped shoulders.

  “This wasteland only survives because of the spaceport and the strong stubbornness of its inhabitants to remain there,” Wilfried said. “It’s a sad place, Tasha. If we don’t make a difference, it’ll be totally deserted in less than fifty years.”

  In contrast, the United Organization headquarters were dug partially into the hill of a small valley. On the shadowy side, the Federation had dug a protected pool, and an air canal freshened the wind that blew over it. It was a small oasis of green and cool air among the desert. Protesters gathered in front of the entrance – EarthFirst and Gaia Activists here –and a heavy security detachment watched them from behind tanks and heavy shields. Open war, still. Nothing has truly changed down here.

  The cars rushed past the Marines into an underground parking lot, where a small group of people were waiting for them. Wilfried’s heart jumped when he saw Li Bao among them. He stole a quick glance at Tasha, who smiled back, pointing at Leopold. Their usually laughing friend seemed, for once, withdrawn.

  “Welcome!” The voiced echoed loudly in the basement. President Metre was the first to greet them with his booming voice. Behind him, looming like a shadow, was Nashiz’al’Naram, the Envoy, the highest representative of the Federation on the planet. His golden skin revealed him as a native of Alkath.

  “Please, come inside.” Illyam had taken charge of them since the spaceport. He had been riding in the front car with Susanna, who Wilfried had learned was now a famous journalist. She was stunning, probably the most beautiful woman he had ever met. Head of Earth to Space operations. Star of journalists. The other students made quite a place for them in this world while we were away.

  They all moved inside the building, where the air was cooler. Their hosts had prepared a buffet, boasting, at a quick glance, specialties from each of their home countries. This brought Wilfried a smile for the first time since his landing.

  “It smells of home. I missed it!”

  “Don’t rush. They might think we weren’t fed up there.” Tasha’s voice rang merrily in his ears.

  “Pilsner, pretzels, currywurst. My favorite meal. You want some?” Wilfried wouldn’t be rebuked by her irony. Not today.

  Tasha seemed surprised by his sudden proposal. She answered with a discreet, “Yes, please.” He hurried to the main buffet, while she got caught up by the President. They had barely met him, or the Envoy before leaving for Adheek. Formal meals, media shows and no time for real talks. I guess she’ll have to work with the higher-ups from now on.

  At the buffet, a familiar figure waited for him.

  “Hello, Mistress. How are you?”

  Li Bao bowed low, then looked him in the eyes. Her face was still so pale, with dark eyes like pools. Her gaze was focused. “Welcome, honored Pilot. I’m well, thank you. Better, at least. Congratulations, by the way. Pilot, Observer… you earned many titles up there.”

  He bowed in return. If she resented the fact that he was now the one in charge of making sure she didn’t receive any nanites, it didn’t show. “I understand you are now running the Earth Academy? Should I congratulate you as well?”

  A thin smile appeared on her lips. “I’m only the assistant to the director. You might remember him from your years at the Academy. He’s talking right now to the Envoy.” She pointed to a man on the other side of the room. He was slightly overweight, sweated profusely under the heat, and bore a large beard with apparent pride. Images flashed into Wilfried’s mind of the stern man.

  “He looks a lot older than he was.”

  “The strain of managing the station for a year. He was the one before Maricar. He did a great job, but they reassigned him to monitor training at the Academy. I was happy to help him a little when I came back home.”

  A tall man appeared behind her. “Wilfried, don’t let her deceive you. Our dear Li Bao is running daily operations, everything apart from politics and public appearances.”

  She blushed, dismissing the compliment.

  “Mathias? Why didn’t we see you earlier?” Mathias was a fellow compatriot from the European Confederacy and had been assistant to the Earth ambassador on Adheek before flying back to Earth as a chaperone to Li Bao.

  He winced at the question. “Someone attacked the Academy net. It happens often, but the intrusion was stronger than usual. I was asked to take a quick look.” Judging by his expression, it had been particularly bad.

  “Do you have a lot of those?” Wilfried asked conversationally.

  “Yes, it spikes from time to time. Activists, spies, kids playing, scammers and hackers. The usual crowd.” Behind the casual words, Wilfried sensed the lassitude of the geek. What had happened today had left a strain on Mathias and this meant it had been extremely fierce. My friend, are you taking too much weight on your shoulders? Just like the director over there.

  Wilfried heard a cough. “Can I join?” asked Leopold.

  “Yes, come. Wilfried, I baked most of this myself. Let me show you what I prepared!” Mathias took him by the arm, leaving Li Bao bowing to Leopold. While he chose some food, he saw them murmuring quietly together. Mathias nodded to him, and they walked back to where Anaru was talking to Tasha.

  “So, in short, you’ve got a month leave to visit your family while we assemble your crew. We weren’t sure of your exact arrival date and we aren’t ready yet. So, enjoy the coming weeks! We’ll meet again in the meantime to work on the station. Reach out to me when you’re ready.”

  “Thank you, sir. How do we reach you?” Tasha was facing him, head high.

  “Your Marine bodyguard will share my direct link with you,” Nashiz interjected. “He’ll remain with you at all times.”

  It surprised Wilfried; they hadn’t needed bodyguards on Adheek.

  The President saw his reaction. “We still have activists against the Federation.”

  Wilfried felt the shadow of the past fall over him. Before they had left, many had resented the selection process and the future pilots, and the situation had ended in days of riots. It was stupid, as the pilots had had no choice in that matter, pressed into service in the planet's interest. They had hidden in the Academy, protected by the Marines, listening to any news they could get from their families. The Federation and the governments had tried to evacuate all of their relatives, wherever they could be found, but they had the entire world to cover. They had arrived late in many places, finding wounded and dead. Li Bao’s parents had died during those days.

  “We would appreciate if you accepted this protection until we understand how everyone reacts to your presence,” asked Anaru in his sweet fatherly and diplomatic voice.

  Wilfried tensed and Tasha put her hand on his arm. She nodded. “We understand. No issue there.” As the daughter of a conglomerate leader, she had grown up all her life with bodyguards. So had Wilfried, even if many would call them thugs. This world has changed in three years, and we have changed too. Can we adapt? Again?

  Leopold

  South African Protectorate, Cape Town, July 22, 2140

  Night had fallen over Cape Town. Leopold was lying in his bed, thinking over the last few weeks. It had been hectic traveling by electromagnetic train from New Mexico to New Miami, then by solar boat to Cape Town. A century ago, it would have taken twenty hours. Now, a full, slow week, with a tempest on the Atlantic reducing the boat to a crawl. But it’s sustainable transportation, he added to himself. Fifty years earlier, drastic measures had been taken to reduce the carbon impact of transportation, forbidding any unsustainable means of transportation, and it had slowed down the entire world. After a century of mass transport, every nation had fallen back upon itself. People no longe
r left their homes to see other countries. But slowly, gathering ideas from the Federation Core Database, the knowledge base shared among all planets, new vehicles appeared. Sturdier dirigibles, more efficient trains. The solar boat was the latest creation, based on a new Federation design from Alkath, and the cruiser once again connected the South African Protectorate to the Noram main cities.

  Before leaving, Leopold had been a champion in virtual gaming. Known, maybe, but not a celebrity. Now, he had to face celebrations in every town he passed through. Smiling and laughing with all those strangers who talked like old friends and who understood nothing of the trials he had faced with the nanites. Even the South African Protector had received him in his palace, talking as if they were old friends.

  There was a knock at his door. He pushed himself up to open it. “Yes?”

  “Can I join you?” asked his father in a subdued voice, remaining on the doorstep.

  “Yes, come in, please.” Since when did his father stop at the door of his room?

  His father took some time to walk toward him, limping and leaning upon his cane. Then he looked at the posters and the consoles, relics of Leopold’s youth, before settling on the main chair.

  “How are you doing, son?” The question was direct, a trademark of Leopold’s rough father, a veteran of the Southern Wars.

  “Well. Very fit. I could probably wrestle you without nanites now.”

  His father laughed, a strange sound. “Yes, you probably could.” He had been a strong competitor in the national team in his youth and unbeatable by the scrawny gamer. Then he nodded. “But how do you feel being back here with us? You’ve been where I can’t imagine and you’re back. How do you really feel behind the facade?”

  Trust Dad to go to the core of things. Leopold’s father had been a commando in one of the bloodiest wars of the last decades. It had left some marks, such as his limp, but Leopold could now perceive he had also gone somewhere no one could understand.

  “Not so good.” Leopold had never talked to his father much before, preferring, if needed, his mother and sisters.

  “Leopold, when you’re not laughing, trouble is brewing.” His father looked at him, waiting for more.

  “No one here knows what it was like there. No one knows what those nanites do to you.”

  “They see the superpowers?” his father asked quietly.

  “Yes, they see that.” Leopold nodded grimly. “They don’t feel that every waking minute, they gnaw at you, they try to take control over you. You’ve got to fight them hour by hour, day by day. And you’re never entirely safe.”

  “But, now, you are in control.”

  The quiet confidence of his father surprised him. They hadn’t parted trusting each other. “Yes, I am.”

  “So, they don’t see all you’ve been through to reach this… safety? Is that the right word? Is there more? You’ve returned home. You’re safe.”

  “Yes and no.” A dam broke inside him, releasing all the anger and fear and frustration he had felt during those years away from his family. “I don’t have a clue on how to run a business in the stars. Tasha might have some ideas, but I don’t. Wilfried has a mission against smugglers. I have no idea how I fit in up there.” He pointed at the window, to the stars, the station invisible against the moon. “And down here… I don’t know anyone here anymore. I can’t play either. Without nanites, I get crushed in a minute. With nanites, I’m so fast, they think I’m a robot and they exclude me from the competition. I don’t have a place anymore.”

  “Not in the gaming world, perhaps. You left it six years ago. That’s a long time in competition terms. So, you’ve got to build a new place, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, Pa. I don’t know where to begin.”

  Suddenly, his father smiled, flashing white teeth in the starlight. This smile was an echo of Leopold’s own, he knew. He felt the wall behind his father’s façade opening a little. “This one is easy. You begin with the family. We don’t have any clue of what you’ve faced. But we don’t need to understand it. We’re here as your anchor. This is what my father and your mother did for me years ago.”

  “Thanks, Da.” Leopold was touched by the words. He had barely known his grandfather, hadn’t known the details of the return from war. He had been too young then.

  “Then you got the neighborhood. We’re not the best in Cape Town but not the worst either. Walk the streets, meet the people. They know you. You can tell them, like you told me. Simply what you’re doing.”

  “Yes. But…” There was a last hurt he had to face.

  “You’ve got to go and meet her?” His father seemed to read his thoughts better than he could himself. “I was young once, and I saw the reports from your trip. I can still add one and one.” He paused and smiled, letting the words sink in.

  Leopold was amazed. His father had never liked to connect to the networks, never looked at anything beyond his small shop.

  “You’ve got to know where you stand before you can move on,” his father continued. “And I can help you with your first step. Your friend is at the Academy in Sydney?”

  “Yes… How…” Leopold was stunned into near silence. His father had never shown he cared, or that he listened.

  His father seemed to read his thoughts. “We read the little we could find on your stay on Adheek.” The words were simple but there was an intensity behind them. He read every single piece of info he could lay his hands on. “I found a freighter departing in six days. I booked a berth for you. Just in case you might want to go.”

  Leopold held his breath. Travel was so expensive. Instead, most people used the immersive console, like the one he hadn’t yet touched in the corner of his room. Real travel?

  “You can’t afford…”

  His father held him by his hands. “I had a few favors to call in, for old time’s sake. The captain found a solution for you and your bodyguard. And you’ll have to work to pay for your passage.”

  “The Federation could…”

  “…do nothing down here so far from their secure compound. Nor could the United Organization. And you shouldn’t let them run your life for you.” His father laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, before leaving him in his room.

  For the first time since he had landed, Leopold found sleep.

  Tasha

  Reborn Russia, Urals Complex, July 24, 2140

  Tasha, wearing a blue traditional Russian gown, waved at the crowd, perched on top of a heavy dark-grey four-wheeler, whooping in delight. The Urals Complex erupted in cheers under the clear blue sky.

  Beside her, Wilfried, dressed in a dark grey suit, nudged her softly. “You promised a quiet homecoming.”

  She shushed him. “Spoilsport. Just a few friends saying hello. Nothing more.” She laughed and jumped into the crowd, hugging people as she moved toward the reception hall and the banquet awaiting them. She hadn’t been sure they would wait for her after all this time. She had wondered about their reaction since the landing in New Mexico and she was now delighted by it.

  When she reached the hall, she turned back, checking if Wilfried was following her. Roman, the big-boned head of security of the Podorovski family, was moving him along, introducing him to people in the crowd. She relaxed and focused on her clan. Roman would take care of her friend. The two Federation Marines were following behind them, on guard as always.

  She had grown up here, and suddenly she understood how much she had missed her people while in space. She entered the vast common hall and saw a tall blue-eyed young man, on the lanky side, talking animatedly. She barely recognized him, he had grown so much in the past years. She yelled, “Nikolai!”

  Her brother rushed to meet her, shouting as well, and the crowd cheered again. Tasha saw her mother, dressed in a black robe and looking at them. Tasha made a discreet gesture and the old woman nodded. There would be time to face her later.

  In the next few hours, Tasha talked herself hoarse, shaking hands with everyone and renewing relations w
ith all her acquaintances. She barely had time to check on Wilfried. She had felt uneasy leaving him alone in a crowd who had known her as a kid, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

  At last, they moved to the main banquet.

  “And now… I’ll propose a toast!” Nikolai roared over the crowd. “To Natalya, sister and oligarch!”

  “To Natalya!” The answer came with a single voice. They all drank and threw their glasses behind them, resulting in a loud crash. Tasha winced. On quiet Adheek, she had forgotten the drinking habits of the Complex. Fortunately for her, she could use her nanites to process the alcohol into energy.

  She heard a sharp whisper from Roman. “Tasha, I need Nikolai and you, now!”

  The urgency jolted her out of the happy mood. She pushed her chair back and rose, turning toward her advisor. Nikolai was already at his side.

  “Yes?” Her voice was firm, as her father has trained her. Here, in the banquet hall, his presence hung over her, a comforting shadow.

  “Tigroids have crossed the Baikal limit. Our scouts counted at least fifteen individuals.” His steel-grey eyes fixed upon her, awaiting her decision. Memories came back in a flash. Tigroids were genetically modified tigers that had been reintroduced around the Baikal by the Russian government, in the last century after the Siberian tigers had disappeared. But when the economy had collapsed under the ecological pressure, they had been left unchecked. In that interlude, they had evolved further than anyone had planned. They had become an intelligent species, working in bands and extremely dangerous. During the rainy season two years earlier, the Complex had flooded, forcing its evacuation. But it had also forced the tigers from their land. In the confrontation that followed, Tasha’s father and most of the Spetznatz detachment died.

  Tasha inhaled sharply and shot a glance at her brother. “You’re in charge here now; I don’t want to intrude.” Deep inside her, a fear of the predator had awakened.

  Nikolai responded with a thin smile. “No, big sister. You’re back home and you’re the eldest. Today, they’ll expect you to lead. And tomorrow, they’ll feel better trusting both of us to protect them.”