“So, Charlie, what do you have to say for yourself?”
“I want to thank you for saving my life. It’s taken me a while to get used to living in cyber space, but I’m managing. The food here is much better than our cafeteria,” he said with a chuckle.
“Is your soul in there with you?” Mac asked.
“It’s here and we are having some interesting conversations. I know many of you are interested in the consciousness/soul interaction so I will keep you up to date on what I discover. Jake tells me I still have my old job. It’s actually easier now, I can keep track of personnel, research new applicants and search for qualified individuals we would like on board. All in a blink of an eye.”
“We are all happy to see you back in the saddle. Now on to some other business. How’s everything going up at SS1?” I asked Barry.
“We have four rings finished. The amount of space available is actually more than we have here at Earth Station. Construction is continuing. There will be a total of ten rings when we are finished. However, the station is now fully operational. John and his crew have installed defensive weapons and shielding. With all that has happened in the last couple of weeks, the existence of the station has been discovered by the rest of the world. They still can’t see it, but they have a good idea of where it is located. Mike is monitoring their response to the discovery of the station. Nothing to concern us yet. Hey Charlie, I have a job for you. We need lots more people to be assigned to the station. Get busy and find me some,” Barry said with a smile.
Charlie looked over at me and I nodded. It’s not Barry’s position to be giving orders to the rest of the committee, but I know that is not how he meant it.
“I’ll get right on it,” Charlie said to Barry.
Barry saw the interchange between Charlie and myself. “I didn’t mean that as an order. It was a request.”
“Don’t worry about it, we know what you meant,” I said.
“I know we all have lots to do, so is there anything else we need to discuss now?”
“Nothing that won’t keep for a few days,” Mac answered.
“Alright then, meeting adjourned. Phil, could you and John stay for a minute?”
“Sure thing.”
The rest of them filed out with Maggie carrying Charlie. “I’ll take Charlie to his office.”
After they left, I turned to John. “Do you think that you could program one of the robots for Charlie? That way he could have the robot carry his cube to where ever he wanted to go.”
“With Phil’s help, I think it’s doable. What do you think Phil?”
“We are going to have to figure out how to connect him to the robot, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
“See if you can get it done in the next day or so. Thanks, John. I need to talk to Phil on another matter.” John got the hint and left for the engineering ring.
“What’s up boss?”
“You know I don’t like you to call me that.”
“Then, what’s up your majesty?” Phil said with a grin.
I rolled my eyeballs. “Let’s get serious for a minute. I think it is time.”
“Time for what?”
“I would like to be downloaded. Not to a matrix cube but to the main computer.”
“That can be done, but I don’t know how the rest of the Executive Committee is going to take that?”
“I want to get this done as soon as possible. Let me poll the rest of the committee.” I pulled out my tablet and sent the proposal to the rest of the committee. One by one I got responses. There were some concerns, but all of them consented to my plan. I showed Phil the results.
“I can have it set up for this afternoon. Is that good for you?”
“Make it so.”
Phil left for the computer ring.
ESSI appeared. “So, you are going to really do it. Can’t wait to meet you “in the flesh” so to speak. Look me up when you get here,” she said winking at me.
“Cut that out,” I said with an annoyed look.
She smiled back at me and disappeared.
Later that afternoon, I became one with the computer. My mind expanded to the entire Earth Station. It was overwhelming.
“Take it slow. I’ll be here to help you if you need it,” I heard ESSI say, but I couldn’t see her.
After a few minutes, I had a modicum of control and was able to shift my consciousness to my body. The part of me that was in the computer, hung just out of my awareness but if I concentrated, I could expand myself to include not only my body but the computer as well. It is going to take a while for me to figure this all out.
“I’d like to make a suggestion. Section off a small portion of the computer core for yourself. Make it like your home away from home. If you need help all you need to do is ask,” ESSI said.
“Thank you ESSI, but I would like to struggle through this myself for a while. I learn better that way.”
With that, I headed back to the residential ring. I’m exhausted from all this. A good night’s rest is just what the doctor ordered.
September 30th, 2112
A month has passed and we have fallen into a routine. Earth Station and Space Station 1 are now linked. The computers mirror each other, and basically act as one. ESSI had already been expanded to SS1 earlier this year. I am now linked to SS1 also. My downloaded self is in both places.
Speaking of my downloaded self, I have gotten used to having my expanded awareness. I am still learning but I have a good grasp on the abilities I have gained by being downloaded. My corporeal part is still mostly down on Earth Station where I plan to stay for the near future. I go up to SS1 periodically, as a matter of fact, I am here now. It’s pretty cool up here. We are having our morning meet up here today. There is actually a nicer conference room with a lot more gadgets here on SS1. A lot of the geeks and squints have been downloaded to matrix cubes and they are cranking out amazing wonders. Dr. Skrimov, with their help, has developed his quantum linking to the point that we can send objects from Earth Station to SS1 instantaneously. The connection is only about 2 meters in diameter but that allows a lot of things to go through. They are currently testing the connection with living things to see how they are affected. So far, it appears that there is no ‘wear and tear’ to the plants and animals they have sent through the quantum link. These are amazing times.
All of us are up here today for this meeting.
“Alright guys, what is on the agenda for today?”
“Each department is sending a director to SS1 to oversee the goings on up here. There is a rotation schedule set up for bringing personnel up. Each shift is three months long. Everybody is going to get a chance to work here. Eventually, after everyone gets their fill of the ‘newness’ of this place, we will establish a permanent staff,” Charlie said.
“Mike has been appointed to be the director of SS1,” I informed the rest of the committee. “Mac will take over day to day operations of Earth Station. I made the appointments myself. Are there any objections?” I knew there wouldn’t be any, but I had to ask.
Mason Baldwin was at our meeting today to update us on the political front. “So, Mason, what is going on in the world of politics?”
“We are sending ambassadors to the rest of the major nations on earth. They, in turn, have sent ambassadors to Earth Station. The US, China and Russian ambassadors have had a tour of SS1 and seemed impressed. I’m sure that each of them are in a frenzy to obtain political advantage when dealing with us. For now, I am on top of it, but I will have to increase my staff to handle it all down the road.”
“Charlie is our go to guy for personnel. Get with him and relay your needs. I’m sure he will be able to get the personnel that you need,” I said.
“It has come to my attention that a few of you wish to relocate to SS1. Mike, you Barry and Paul are up here most of the time anyway so I approve your transfers. How is your wife going to handle it?” I asked Mike.
“Are you kidding? She
is chomping at the bit to get up here. She is still going to be the head of intelligence analysis. She can do her job here as well as down there. Nik had been appointed the head of our Aerospace Command a while ago, so he is up here also. We’re one big happy family,” Mike said with a smile on his face.
“Barry, I understand that we are in the process of planning several outpost stations around the earth and moon. Mini versions of this place.”
“Heinrich is working on the plans, as we speak. He should have them ready in a couple of weeks and after approval by the committee, we are going to get busy.”
“Things seem to be moving right along.”
The station rotates slowly so that the view changes regularly. It doesn’t need to rotate because of the artificial gravity produced by the gravium generator, but a change in view is good for morale. As we finished up, the Earth started to creep over the edge of our view port.
“Pretty amazing, huh? To think, just a year ago, we were starting to dig in the dirt to create Earth Station.”
As we watched the Earth come into view, I looked at the others. They appeared deep in thought and a few had tears in their eyes, including myself.
The End
For now
The Station Series
Earth Station
Space Station – available June 2017
Moon Station
Mars Station
System Station
Martin Schroth lives with his wife in a small town in north central Florida during the winter and in the mountains of Colorado during the summer. He is a retired school teacher, having taught all the sciences, but mostly Chemistry and Physics. He also coached for most of his career. His hobbies include photography, writing, target shooting, and woodworking. Between him and his wife, they have eight children and a whole slew of grandchildren which keep them busy.
He watches football whenever he gets a chance. His favorite team is the Denver Broncos.
Earth Station (Station Series Book 1) Page 18
