Earth Station (Station Series Book 1)

by Martin Schroth

  No one objected. I walked over to the door as it opened and beckoned the clergy to come in.

  “Thank you for coming. You are probably wondering why you were called here. I would like you to keep an open mind about what you are going to hear. Turn your attention to the monitors on the wall.” I played the recording that was shown to the rest of the committee earlier.

  “That is sheer blasphemy. It is the devil’s work,” the fundamentalist preacher said with conviction.

  The others just looked stunned. I am sure they really didn’t know what to make of all this.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have sent all our findings to your tablets. I would like you to go over all the information. I have also given you clearance to go to the computer ring so you can talk to Carlos. At this point, since we have very little information from which to draw conclusions, I would ask that you not tell anyone about this. Our committee has a meeting every morning. We would like you to come back in two days time and give us your thoughts on all this. I remind you, this is considered top secret at the moment.”

  “Do you really believe that you talked to God?” our Catholic priest asked.

  “I don’t know. Considering all the things that we have accomplished at Earth Station, this is one of the most intriguing. You are more in tune with this realm than any of us, that is why I asked you here. After you digest all this, I actually will be asking you that question.”

  “I have invited the rest of the religious leaders of Bodhi to come here. They should all be here by the end of the day. I have provided accommodations for them and you can meet here in the conference room,” Charlie added.

  “Thank you. We will try to figure this out and make our recommendations to the committee at the meeting you have scheduled. We have formed a loosely knit clergy organization here at Bodhi. I was elected to head this organization,” the catholic priest informed us. “By the way, I am father Murry O’Neil.”

  “I know this is a startling discovery and I believe that you and your fellow clergy will be invaluable to resolving this. Thank you for coming. I have provided an office down the hall if you wish to get started.” With that, the clergy filed out of the conference room and headed toward the office that I indicated they could use.

  “I believe that this could be the most profound discovery for mankind. We can talk more about this tomorrow, after we get more information from Carlos and Phil. I am going to send Barry and Paul everything we have right after this meeting. They may want to come back here for our meeting with the clergy. Mac and Mike, could you stay after? I have some other business that I need to discuss with you that has nothing to do with this God business.” With that the meeting was adjourned.

  ….

  “I’d like to tie up loose ends before anything happens with the US. What’s going on with our mole?”

  “He has tried to contact his handler, for lack of a better word, several times. He has not gotten a response. I believe they have written him off,” Mac said.

  “Has he done any damage?”

  “We released the 3D food processor to the rest of the world and they are mostly grateful. We had to step in a few times where despots have tried to use the processor to control their people. We were able to make them see the error of their ways. That really is the only thing that our mole was able to leak to the US, but by releasing the processor to the world, we were able to get ahead of any damage that the mole would have done by his actions,” Mike answered.

  “Get this guy up here now. I want to end this.”

  Mac made a call on his com. “He will be notified and be here in a few minutes. To change the subject; so, our emperor has talked to God?” Mac asked raising one of his eyebrows.

  “I really don’t think so. It is, however, a fascinating development. I don’t have any experience in this realm. At the House we were basically agnostic. The existence of God was brought to our attention but there was no organized religion at the House. We were told to make up our own minds about our faith or lack of it. I believe our group of clergy will be able to unravel this revelation. What do you guys think?”

  “I’m a devout Christian and this epiphany seems to be very troubling. I don’t know what to make of it,” Mike volunteered.

  “I believe in God but I’m not a follower of any organized religion. This discovery could be of major importance to the world. It could prove the existence of God that would satisfy scientific inquiry. That would be something!” Mac exclaimed.

  “It looks like our guest has arrived. Mike, you’re closest to the door; invite him in.”

  Our mole walked in and bowed in my direction. “What can I do for you your highness?”

  “Do you know why you are here?”

  “No.”

  I like to confront people with video evidence so I played the surveillance we had of him giving up the 3D food processor plans to his contact in the US. After, he was very quiet and started to sweat.

  “This is what we are going to do. You are guilty of treason. If you were anywhere else, you would be executed. We don’t do that here. I will give you one hour to get all your stuff together, and then you will be taken to a city of your choice. I realize that people make mistakes, I have made some myself. But that doesn’t mean you do not have to deal with the consequences. I will make sure that you have a partial severance, so that you are not put out into the streets. However, you will be considered a persona non grata. If you ever show your face anywhere in Bodhi, you will be arrested and you will spend the rest of your life in a highly secure detention facility. Do I make myself clear?” He nodded his head. “Now get out of my sight and present yourself to ESSC in one hour.” I waved him off and looked back down at some paperwork for effect. He turned and walked out of the door.

  “Nice job boss. I couldn’t have done it better myself!” Mike exclaimed.

  “Mac, he has a chip implanted. I want him monitored for the foreseeable future. If anything comes up, I want him apprehended and dealt with. That’s about it. You guys can get back to work. Thank you.” Mike and Mac walked out and I leaned back in my chair contemplating what happened today.

  August 1st, 2112

  Our meeting this morning is to wrap up some loose ends. “So, what do we have to decide today?” I asked the group

  Barry stayed at the space station but Paul came back. “The space station is way ahead of schedule. The command ring is done. We have a crew on station that is getting things organized. ESSI has been uploaded and she is a major reason that the space station is ahead of schedule. She has been able to optimize our construction crew’s efforts. I would like to propose that we call the station SS1. I know that we have plans to build several other stations so it stands to reason that this should be SS1.”

  “I agree. SS1 It is. Anybody else have something?”

  “The clergy are busy. They have gotten together several times since yesterday and are going to talk to Carlos today. We should have their opinion on all this by tomorrow. This is some real philosophical stuff that I find hard to wrap my head around,” Charlie added.

  “The matrix cubes we have developed for downloading individuals have been upgraded. With the revelations about the soul, we have increased the capacity by fifty percent and have added a holo projector to the cube. Carlos has agreed to be copied to a cube and we are in the process of doing that now. Testing will be done in a few days. We also have plenty of volunteers now to be downloaded. Before we download anyone else, I will present the dossiers of the volunteers to the committee to make decisions on who to download. That’s about it,” Phil volunteered.

  “Thank you, Phil”., I turned to face the entire group. Plan on spending a good amount of time tomorrow at our meeting. There will be a lot of information and discussion. Anything else for today?” No one spoke up. “Meeting is adjourned. I want to make sure that you are all prepared for tomorrow’s meeting. The file on Carlos and his soul has been updated to the latest info so make sure you read it. See you to
morrow.” With that, the committee filed out.

  ….

  I sat at my desk doing the dreaded paperwork when my com beeped. Mike appeared on my wall. “The defense secretary is on the line and wishes to speak to you.”

  “Come to my office so that I can have your counsel when I talk to him When you get here, you can patch him through.”

  A few minutes later, Mike showed up and was soon followed by Mac and Maggie. “I guess I need more counsel than I thought,” I said looking at them with a smile. “Okay, Mike, patch him through.”

  “Good morning Mr. Secretary, what can I do for you?”

  “I would like to inform you that no matter what you think, you and your country are a podunk backwater entity and you cannot possibly deal with the might of the US military establishment. If you do not give up Mary Parker, you will regret it.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way Mr. Secretary. We have no intention of giving up Mary. No matter how backwater you think we are, we can defeat you. Our intelligence is lightyears ahead of yours. For example, I see you on my com screen, but I also know there are three other people in your office, two of whom are security guards and the other is your assistant.”

  The secretary leaned forward and shut down the video. “How about now, your majesty,” the secretary asked with contempt in his voice.

  “Your assistant just walked out of your office and she is headed to security. Would you like me to tell you what is happening in your security office? Oh, I see she has arrived and is questioning your security chief. Your security chief is telling her they have swept the entire facility for bugs and have found none. So, then, Mr. Secretary, how am I able to see what is happening at your end? This is just a small example of what we are capable of. Let me make myself completely clear. Mary is not coming back. And on another note, your mole has been discovered and is no longer an employee or for that matter a citizen of Bodhi. Goodbye Mr. Secretary.” With that, I ended the conversation.

  I looked up at Mike. He was looking at his tablet. “He is royally pissed. I think it is just a matter of time before he orders an attack. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “I feel he will mount an attack on us soon. We need to be ready,” Maggie said.

  “I’ve got the squints and geeks working overtime on building up our defense system. They also have some offensive toys in the works. Paul is training his militia to handle the situation. I have total confidence in those guys.”

  “What about the rest of Bodhi? They could attack one of the towns and hold them hostage,” Mac added.

  “Paul has sent a contingent of his militia to each of the towns and is doing flyovers with defensive shuttles around the clock. Just let them try to attack one of our towns, they will be in for a rude awakening. We are getting stronger and stronger as each day passes. I believe that we can repel any incursion at present. Give Paul a few more days and it won’t just be a belief, it will be fact.”

  “I really need to keep up with my daily briefings. I guess I am a little preoccupied,” Mac said with a smile as he looked at Maggie.

  “Alright you two, just get a room. This is some serious shit that we are dealing with. Try to remain focused,” I said with a smirk. “I’m just playing with you guys. But not really.”

  “Don’t worry Jake, you can count on us to be at 100%,” Mac said

  “I know, I’m just giving you a hard time. What do you think of these two Mike?”

  Mike just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I’ve got a priest I know who could take care of this situation. What do you say Mac?”

  Mac turned red. “He hasn’t asked me yet,” Maggie said with a smile on her face and giving Mac a punch on the shoulder. “I can wait, but not too long,” she said frowning at Mac.

  “Enough with the romance shit. Get back to work.” With that, they all walked out of my office.

  “ESSI, how are you handling being here and on SS1?”

  ESSI’s hologram appeared. “It’s not a problem. The FTL com that Dr. Skrimov developed has been modified to link me with myself on the station. The transmission is instantaneous and it feels like I am there as well as here. It’s actually pretty cool being in two places that far apart.”

  “Have you contacted Carlos yet?”

  “Only verbally. Phil is setting up a firewall so I can communicate with Carlos digitally without giving him access to the outside. If more people are downloaded, we will have to put security measures in place to secure the central computer. I believe Phil and his geeks are working on it as we speak.”

  “Let’s make sure that we have security in place and thoroughly tested, before we download anyone else.”

  “I’ll be monitoring the situation and let you know when we are ready for more downloads. Meanwhile, we can download individuals to the matrix cubes, if necessary. They are totally separated from the central computer.”

  “Sounds good. Anything else?”

  “When are you going to download yourself?” ESSI asked with a strange look on her face.

  “Believe me, I have thought about it. I don’t think that I am ready quite yet. Let’s get this whole process to the point where it is ‘run of the mill’. Then I might consider it.”

  “I hear that they are going to start having football games at the sports complex. Are you going to go to the games?”

  “The players are hacks. They are worse than a high school team but what the heck, it’s all new to them. They’ll get better. Can you believe it, they built a special box seating area for the emperor and guests? I don’t want to disappoint them, so I will be attending even though the games will be terrible.”

  “Do you mind if I tag along as one of your guests?”

  “Absolutely not, it would be a pleasure to have you there. The first game is tonight at 7. I’ll expect you.”

  “Thanks for the invite. See you at the game.” With that ESSI disappeared.

  ESSI has become quite the confidante, advisor and counselor. I have become reliant on her and it would be very difficult without her not to mention that the rest of the staff also relies on her.

  August 12, 2112

  It’s been two weeks since Carlos died. The clergy have concluded that the universal consciousness is not God himself but a manifestation of God in our universe. There still is some controversy about what the soul is but most agree it is a form of guidance for an individual. The soul acts like a moral compass that the universal consciousness has put into humans. They believe all living things are connected to the universal consciousness in some way or another. This relationship will definitely be studied and prodded for many years to come. Who knows, we may never be able to fully understand how it is all put together.

  “Good morning everybody. Let’s start with Phil. What’s new?”

  “Firewalls are up and running. They have been thoroughly tested. Carlos can now interact with ESSI digitally. I really don’t know what that will accomplish, but it’s set up. Ten others have been downloaded to matrix cubes. Three of them are Bodhi citizens that were terminal. None of them has died yet. The other seven are member of our staff; three from the computer ring, two from ESSC and two others from research. Preliminary results indicate the matrix allows the downloaded staff to work much faster. They have already come up with some brilliant ideas which we are going to be implementing soon. I’ll send all of you information on their progress.”

  “Thank you, Phil. What have you got for us Paul?”

  “Our militia is one hundred fifty strong. We also have twenty-five pilots ready to go. Nik has been a true asset in training them. He has a gift. I have made him the Commander of Bodhi Air and Space Command. Congratulations to you Mike, you raised a fine son.”

  “Thanks Paul. He makes me proud.”

  “To continue, all our shuttles are now combat ready. They have our knockout beam, the EMP weapon, and several projectile launchers. The squints have also come up with a defensive shield that can stop small to medium projectiles and it can dissipate beam
weapons. They’re not indestructible, but almost. We also have all the launch tubes protected. We are ready.”

  “That’s good to hear. What’s going on with SS1?”

  “The progress up there is nothing short of phenomenal. They have already finished two rings and the hangar deck. One of the rings is research and engineering. There are several squints up there already busy at work. Dr. Skrimov and Marc Levi have been up to the station and are busy deciding who on their staff will be moved to the station. There has been no shortage of volunteers. It seems they all want to go. They are going to have to set up some kind of rotation so that everyone gets a chance to serve on SS1. I am also, with the help of Nik, setting up an aerospace command at SS1. There are currently two fully equipped shuttles on the station. We hope to eventually have ten to twelve shuttles permanently assigned to the station. There is lots more going on up there but those are the highlights. I have sent a report on the progress at SS1 to all your tablets. You will be receiving updates every day. That’s all I have for now.”

  “That’s very exciting news. I would now like to introduce someone to you that you already know.” I spoke into my com and the door to the conference room opened. Mary walked in. “I know that most of you have met Mary. Dr. Skinner tells me that she is now fully aware and accepting of her circumstance and I agree. I have appointed her Advisor to the Emperor. Welcome Mom.”

  They all applauded, but I notice the worried looks on Mike and Mac’s faces. I need to speak with them after this meeting to hopefully alleviate their fears.

  Mary bowed. “I know some of you still have reservations about me but I can assure you that I can be trusted and will be loyal. That’s easy to say, and I know I will have to prove myself with actions. I will not disappoint you.”