by F Stephan
He moved away. “Now, could we review a few other items? I prepared a list before leaving and shared it with you.” He called a virtual screen with a flick of his hand and they both isolated themselves. Their assistants filtered requests of assistance from all over the planet, and they prioritized their answers, allocating what means they could find. Nashiz would also check for other options, based on the Federation resources and ideas.
During the travel, they managed to find local solutions for all the matters at hand. Anaru breathed better with that outcome. Every time they went fishing for a Federation solution, they needed to find the Federation money to cover the costs, and they had little enough of it as it was, especially with the problem of the bees to handle.
At last, they reached their destination. Nashiz was the first to spot the station, and he promptly pointed it out to Anaru. The structure glistened with the circle of solar panels around it and was an impressive sight with the dark of space behind it.
“Where is our ship? Shouldn’t it be here already?” Anaru didn’t want to think too much about shifts in gravity yet.
“The Charon will be back tomorrow morning for the inauguration of the station. Leopold has made a quick run to the belt. I promise you’ll love it. Your Susanna will be awed by the sight.”
“Let’s pray she is. So soon back to the belt?” Anaru had left the organization of the station to Natalya, after his first meeting with her, and suddenly felt he needed more information.
“There were a lot of accumulated spares in the station and rare earth nuggets in the belt. Bringing them back will relieve your economy a lot quicker and provide visible results for the station.” Nashiz paused thoughtfully. “Yes, this puts a lot of strain on the ship. But until you find another ship, you don’t have much choice”.
“What are the risks?” Anaru was so unsettled by the lack of gravity, any new fear had more of an effect on him than he liked.
“Breakdowns will occur from time to time. You will have to allow regular maintenance trips to Volpre. And hope you don’t hit real bad luck.” Anaru knew about the maintenance station for Adheek’s sector, nearly two weeks travel away. “Your ship hasn’t flown in eons. It’s bound to have glitches from time to time.”
“Any other good news today?” I hate when he is so smug, with all the trouble facing us. Nashiz’s planet, Alkath, had faced it all before, but that didn’t give him any right to rub Anaru’s face in their success.
“Look, Anaru. You have to face reality. My aim is to help you understand it, not to cushion you from it. You need this station and this ship to trade with the Federation. I will do my best to help you along this path.”
Anaru didn’t want to acknowledge the point. Looking outside the shuttle, he noticed the station had almost stopped moving. “Nashiz, look! It’s not moving anymore,” he called out, pointing. “We’ve got a problem.”
Nashiz laughed. “No, it’s rather good. We are adjusting our rotation to their speed.” Looking sternly at Anaru, he added, “They still rotate to maintain their gravity. Now, we are just turning almost as fast as they are. Hang on.”
For the next few minutes Anaru waited for the crash that would occur when they reached the station. Finally, he heard a series of small clangs as the magnetic hooks anchored the small shuttle.
“I’ll unstrap first.” Nashiz told him while unbuckling his harness. “Please wait for Angelo. He’ll prepare you for the spacewalk.”
Babysitting is beneath you, dear Envoy, thought Anaru. It’ll be the worst part of my day. Anaru knew it. But at least there would be a semblance of gravity on the other side. He pulled himself together, and ten horrible minutes later he was safe in the station, having being led by Angelo through the awful interstellar emptiness.
After pressurization ended, the door opened. Tasha was waiting for them. She was dressed in a shapeless gray uniform, her hair tied up in a knot – a stark contrast to her businesslike appearance on Earth.
She beamed at them. “Mister President, Envoy, Angelo, welcome on board station Acheron. We’ve prepared some refreshments for you, and then a tour of the infrastructure. Our other guests are waiting in the main lobby.” Her voice was formal and official, with just a small amount of mischievousness.
“With pleasure. Let’s go.” Anaru’s head throbbed weirdly and he lost balance. Tasha caught him by the arm and steadied him.
“Mister President, a few words of caution. Your body will need a couple of days to adjust. The gravity you feel at your feet and in your head are different to one another. Your body won’t like it. Move slowly and adjust. You will be fine – everyone is.” She took his helmet, crossed to the door, and hung it on the rack.
“Shouldn’t we keep our suits on?” Anaru was loath to leave the damned contraption.
“Not really, sir. If there is a problem that would require the helmet, we would all die in seconds. You don’t need cumbersome gear that cannot save you. You need to trust the structure and the team. Welcome to space!” she said, then laughed at the sight of his horrified face. “But probabilities remain extremely low. Don’t worry. We will send you back in one piece.”
“Don’t let her tease you, sir,” came a deep voice from the corridor. “Or she won’t stop. By the way, she’s right.” Wilfried appeared to accompany them on their trip to the cafeteria. “We have one cafeteria per module on the station, each linked to its own separate farms and water recyclers. Here, we will go to the tropical garden.”
The cafeteria was a large room of two hundred square yards with small partitions creating alcoves. All of the walls were covered with hydroponic flower pots. Windows showing Earth beneath were spread out on the ceiling. The smell was strong and musty, but Anaru liked it. Li Bao and Kris were already waiting for them. Kris sweated profusely in the heat but didn’t seem to mind. Li Bao was impeccable, bearing the strain without effort.
They spent the next several hours conducting public relation activities, visiting all sections of the station. Anaru made sure he talked informally to all crew members he met. He also looked at the different stages of the construction, a collection of pictures Li Bao and Wilfried had gathered since the beginning. By the end of the day, Anaru was nauseous from the different gravities, and he lay in his hammock fighting successive fits.
Susanna
Space station Acheron, October 8, 2140
The following day, Susanna arrived at the station. She had never liked space since her only apprenticeship in the shuttle, but she couldn’t resist a good show. When she left the shuttle, two of her drones specifically configured to work in null gee filmed her crossing the void.
Over their radio link, Lord Burroughs asked, “Military drones? Quite expensive, aren’t they?”
She smiled and answered with a languorous sigh. “I do have a few admirers. There were concerned for my safety.”
Maricar welcomed her at the main airlock where Susanna replaced her cumbersome spacesuit with a new, shining jumpsuit. She made sure to thank the stewardess as befitted her lower rank. Lord Burroughs had arrived in a traditional kimono. How did he fit such a garment into a spacesuit? Susanna had been delighted by his choice, as it would be grand on the show. She hadn’t expected him to join her on the station but their first talks in the shuttle had been promising. He had been interested in her project, her vision of the world, listening intently. He could become a powerful ally.
Lord Burroughs seemed genuinely delighted to be up in space and in the station and saluted everyone with ceremonious bows. At this speed, we won’t finish until next year. Susanna left him to discover the station. She was a wisp of wind, moving all the time, interviewing people, and shooting daily life in orbit. She dazzled the whole crew, asking tiny details about the operations. She used Li Bao continually as a guide. She could see Anaru holding his breath, fearing what she would find and how she would exploit it. And the little Russian brat as well, damn her. For all her efforts, Susanna found nothing that might cause a scandal. Still, the views were s
tupendous, and the show would be amazing. I can twist this later.
At last, the sirens honked with the prearranged signal. “Emergence in ten minutes. Everyone suited in the shelters. I repeat…”
The visitors proceeded, slowly and with caution, to the main lobby, their designated shelter during all arrival and departure procedures.
A large screen had opened in the middle of the room, relaying the images shot by the drones deployed outside the station. Susanna took her mike for the grand live opening. “This is Susanna Loewre, live from Acheron. This is the most expensive achievement Earth has realized in space so far. Will it be worth it? Ever? You, my audience, will judge from what you see! With what we spent here, we could have replanted a quarter of the Amazonian forest or stabilized half of the Russian tundra. Instead, we chose to build this metal link to the stars.” She could see everyone grit their teeth. I do as I wish, my dears. My audience gives me full freedom. “Dear watchers, get ready to see our own ship coming back from the stars.”
“Emergence in five, four, three, two, one. And go.” Wilfried’s voice was steady. Susanna gasped as stars suddenly disappeared in a portion of space beyond the station. The singularity manifested itself – first by pure blackness, then by multiple shades of colors that changed every second. At last, a shape emerged a few light seconds away from the station in the midst of the swirl of colors that marked the jump point. And in an instant, the stars reappeared, surrounding a spaceship, the singularity vanishing behind it.
“Emergence confirmed, speed as expected. Welcome home, Charon!”
Another trip of Earth’s ship had been completed successfully. The ship had brought back iron for the station and rare metals that would fly back to Earth with the shuttle. Somewhere inside Susanna, the dream that had made her go to the Academy awakened again at the sight. It was incredible. But it was too late. She had been rejected too many times. She quashed the little voice inside her as fast as it had arrived.
Tasha
Space station Acheron, October 10, 2140
Two days later, Susanna flew back to New Mexico, leaving an exhausted crew behind her. Tasha was glad to be rid of the obnoxious diva who seemed to have caught every broken piece of equipment on video. And she even dined with Wilfried. Bitch. Yet, when the journalist had offered to bring Li Bao and Kris back with her team, Tasha had suddenly relented, wishing for other alternatives. She felt Susanna had other plans, and she hoped Li Bao wouldn’t suffer.
She was relaxing in her hammock after the tiresome work of unloading the ship and another of the committee’s meetings. Tension was high on Earth, with costs increasing and popular support falling steadily. Tasha had untied her hair, letting it flow around her. Mentally, she added a note to the never-ending list in her bracelet, a new design for the center of the wheel with a hangar for loading and unloading the ship. She had seen images of similar design on Ullem and Baol and other planets within the Federation, and it now made more sense. She would ask Leopold to take care of it, using the iron the ship had brought back from the asteroid belt and the 3D printers that would soon reach the station. It’s going to be a lot of work. But it will work.
Wilfried had flown Charon that morning on another hop to the asteroid belt. The departure had been as stupendous as the arrival and had awed even the blasé Susanna. Tasha missed his help, but he would bring back the last of the prepared rare earth nuggets.
Tasha was now preparing a small cargo to Kilet Namek on Adheek, the Pilot Guild Master and another to the Tourims, as had been requested by Don Mariano. She hoped it would bring more trade to Earth. She would also send a series of messages to friends on Adheek and a few to Brian and Emily, alone on Alkath. It was funny – on Adheek, she had thought all the time of flying back to Earth. And now, she was longing for the faraway planet, and the people there now seemed closer to her than her compatriots at home.
Since she had a few hours to go before the departure of the President and the Envoy, and to change her mood, she looked at the incoming messages from her brother in the Baikal Complex, hoping for good news. Ten minutes later, she called Anaru and Nashiz, waking them up from their sleep.
“What’s happening? Why are you waking us up?” Anaru was draped in a large toga and seemed grouchy.
“The latest generation of bees have become unstable. Again. Your plan didn’t work.” Her voice was somber. She knew the Envoy and the President had worked night and day on this issue for the last two months.
Nashiz was checking the dispatch from Nikolai. He looked at her. “Are you sure of this report?”
“Nikolai has requested results from different labs. The numbers seem reliable. Your last attempt has failed.”
Anaru appeared crestfallen. “We need another option.”
“One minute, please. I’ve prepared for this specific data entry,” answered Nashiz. A 3D index appeared in front of him. “We’ve confirmed two options within the Federation. The insect I can find with the best compatibility is on Dupner, on the other side of the Federation. There’s another one with low compatibility in Nelom in the Adheek sector. Other options would require too much travel without any significant value.”
Anaru remained calm and businesslike. “How much time would the Nelom option buy us?”
“Ten years. Fifteen at best. The compatibility is not good enough.” He doesn’t believe it.
“And for a longer time?”
“You need to go to Dupner for a permanent solution.” A long, expensive flight, one Earth couldn’t afford.
“How do we get there?”
Nashiz checked a few figures in front of him and then ran a series of simulations. “Today, you can’t. Even if I pull some tricks or call in favors. Yet, you have to fly there quickly if you want Earth to make it through. It will take time to adapt the Dupner species and get its population to the needed numbers.”
Tasha wasn’t going to let it go. “Any options to get the help from the Federation?”
“What do we need to agree to?” Anaru asked in a resigned voice. Tasha knew how hopeless the situation had become over the last eighty years, and they were now at the end of their course.
“Five more years of Emily and Brian as Federation starpilots. And an authorization to assign them to special missions.” The Envoy didn’t look them in the eyes.
Tasha felt Anaru didn’t like much the conditions that had been set. “I cannot commit our two pilots without consulting them,” he objected.
“Yes, you can. Under the Federation Charter, you are entitled to. They agreed to it when they flew to Alkath. If you remember, I explained it then.”
“OK. I will give you an answer within five days.” Tasha saw Anaru looking down. “If I give the go-ahead, who should we send? You, Tasha?”
“We can’t send Leopold, Wilfried or myself. We have too much work here.”
Nashiz wasn’t looking at them. “Maybe Mathias? His talents are wasted here as a chaperone to Li Bao.”
“Can we trust her not to use nanites again”? Tasha didn’t like leaving her alone again. If she used a nanite drug again, she would die. Since then, Mathias had been her guardian.
“She needs to stand by herself. She won’t be able to hide in his shadow forever. Maybe you can ask Wilfried to check on her while Mathias is on the move. It’s within his job as an observer,” continued Nashiz, still not looking at them.
“You’re adding a lot of pressure on Wilfried. He’ll be far from her.” Anaru didn’t like the idea either.
“Can you suggest another name?” Nashiz’s voice had an edge of finality.
We don’t have a choice. Tasha cursed softly under her breath.
When Anaru and Nashiz left her office to resume their sleep, she began to draw up an agenda with the different ships passing through. According to the tables, a scout would pass in two months. The Charon would have to move fast to catch it. She began the list of everything he had to do before the departure of Mathias. One ally less on Earth.
Josh
Josh had been badly bruised after his escape. His ruse had fooled the Marines, who didn’t have time for deep analysis. The CPC wasn’t fooled, though. It launched a hunt across the whole continent. He had reached Mangochi on the Swamp Malawi by that time, in time to see police forces setting up an ambush at the home of his contact, an arms dealer with whom he had often worked in the past. He hadn’t expected such a quick reaction.
He continued onward without stopping, without money or weapons. That night, he found an old settlement, and pretended to have been robbed and left for dead on the main road. They were brave people who shared the little they had and took him in for the night. He left the next morning before dawn, after hearing an old copter overhead. Only police could afford those. The village wouldn’t talk. They had long ago learned to distrust authorities.
Later, Josh found a group of swamp peddlers and was hired as a simple crewman, pushing their barge. His coughing fits worsened, and he knew he had to hurry to headquarters. Yet, crossing the Malawi took five long days, isolated from all networks and communications. In Karonga, he discovered the CPC had decided to check all mercenaries in the whole continent. You don’t believe in small measures, don’t you Chief Iakoubi? But if you’re doing that, it means you don’t have a clear description of me, do you?
He continued onward with a caravan heading north, passing off as an Afrikaner en route to see his exiled family in Malakal. He carried no weapons, posing as a simple tourist traveling the old road. It was a classic trek for many, a well-traveled road. He went through many checkpoints, nodding respectfully at the police forces. They checked him several times, but his false identity held up to their scrutiny.
Yes, I am scared, officer. I went into the border wars with my dad when I turned twenty. Now, I am a simple nurse at the bush hospital of Komani.
