As the Gravity Flipped

by Herschel K. Stroganoff

  Hayao looked on in disbelief.

  "I must insist that we bring forward the vote for Representative Tomas's motion immediately - the urgency and gravity of this situation should not be underestimated by any member of this Assembly."

  "This is unprecedented," Wynn shouted to Akash. "This is utterly--."

  "Be seated, Representative Efans, Secretary Ozu has the floor," Akash said. "Unprecedented it may be, but it is constitutional under the United Solar Charter for the Secretary to use Executive powers to forward an emergency vote."

  Wynn slunk back into his seat, mumbling to himself.

  "Representative Tomas, would you be able to put your motion forward to the Assembly formally?" Akash asked.

  "Certainly Chair, thank you," said Inge, puffing out her chest and smiling. "I would like to put forward the motion to allow United Solar and its Affiliates to manufacture, distribute, and use projectile, ballistic and explosive weapons, and to allow our members to use lethal force in situations where the security of United Solar and its Affiliates are considered to be at risk."

  "Mister Secretary, are you happy to second this and invoke your Executive privilege to call for an immediate vote, foregoing the rights of this Chamber to hold a thorough debate?" Akash asked.

  "I can confirm that," Takeshi said, dipping his head in assent.

  "This is a fucking stitch-up," shouted Wynn. "The Yao would never support--."

  "Order! This will be your final warning Representative Efans, " said Akash, his face growing red. "The motion and call to immediate vote have been accepted. Members, voting will open for thirty seconds from--," Akash paused, "--now."

  An illuminated panel lit up before each Representative - one side emblazoned with the word 'support', the other with the word 'oppose'. Hayao clenched his fists, bristling towards Inge as she made a dramatic gesture of placing her vote.

  "You have ten seconds," said Akash. "Five seconds." After a moment, a loud buzz rattled throughout the Chamber as the voting panels turned dark.

  "Voting is now closed," said Akash. "All votes cast beyond this point will not count. Any votes not cast will be counted as an abstention. A 50 percent majority is required for a motion to pass. In the case of a tie, I will cast the deciding vote as my position dictates."

  Akash thumbed his remote control and looked down to read the results, the light from the screen casting garish shadows across his face. "Of the 300 members of this Assembly, 25 seats are--," he paused for a long moment, groping for the right words, "--as yet unselected. This leaves a total of 275 members present. 137 members voted in support of the motion." A swell of cheers echoed around the Chamber. Hayao's head dropped in relief.

  "Order! Order!" shouted Akash. He glared at the Representatives. "137 members voted in opposition to the motion. There was one abstention."

  "Who was it?" said Wynn, scanning his wild eyes around the Chamber. "Who didn't have the guts to do the right thing?"

  Akash pounded his gavel. "Security, please escort Representative Efans from the Chamber," he said.

  A pair of bulky security officers uniforms emerged from the shadows and walked towards Wynn.

  "I'm going, I'm going," said Wynn. "Shame on you Tomas, and shame on you Ozu.!

  Hayao looked at his hands, tightly clasped and pouring with sweat. He realised, to his horror, that it was he who had not cast the deciding vote.

  Akash cleared his throat as Wynn left the Chamber, averting his gaze from the Representatives. "In these circumstances it falls upon the Chair to cast the deciding vote.

  "It is the convention the Chair vote in support of the tied motion, and I have no intention of breaking convention today. The motion passes. I will now close this session."

  Wide-eyed, Hayao shook his head as Akash turned and exited the Chamber flanked by two guards.

  "You bastard," said Hayao turning to Takeshi. "That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. I cannot work in your Administration. You are a man devoid of honour."

  Without thinking, Hayao swung his fist, striking Takeshi hard on the jaw. The Secretary's knees gave way as he fell unconscious onto the Chamber floor.

  # # #

  Head Yao celebrates third millennia

  Originally published by Venus Argus, 12/11/6,534

  The Union's oldest citizen has celebrated 3,000 years (Lunar) of life at a ceremony on Venus's prestigious V5 Orbiter.

  Yao Huizhong was joined by Yao members and Representatives from across the eight provinces at the invitation-only event.

  Attendees were given a full tour of the Orbiter and served an eight-course meal culminating a beef steak medley for the main course.

  During her speech, Yao Huizhong thanked well-wishers from across the Union. She said: "Today has been very special. I hope that I will see our Union flourish again in my lifetime."

  She was later heard joking that she wanted to beat her late-sister Yao Yin's 3,312-year lifespan.

  Lunar Secretary Elect Takeshi Ozu made his first public appearance at the event since his landslide election victory last month.

  He said: "It's a great honour for us all to attend this historic event. I hope that Representatives will join me in reaching out a hand of peace, friendship and renewal to Huizhong and her sisters, with the hope that we can move beyond the mistakes of the past.

  "Your family has been an important and continued factor in all of our lives, and I hope that we can begin a new era."

  Born on Lunar in 3,534, Yao Huizhong rose to prominence for her innovations in extraction technologies.

  She is best known for her involvement in establishing the V5 Orbiter in 4,263. She continues to reside there today.

  # # #

  Chapter Two

  Chao-xing: The Occulto, Saturn region

  08/11/6,541, 08:23 (IST)

  Chao-xing sat up in her bunk. Her brown coveralls had been cleaned and lay folded on a bedside table to her right. She switched on her ceiling lamp and wrinkled her nose at the smell of her own sweat, sharp and acrid. Her quarters were cramped. The walls were the same dirty white as her bed sheets.

  She turned to see Armand Gul leaning in her doorway with folded arms. He wore a black tunic made of light fabric, grey leggings and sturdy boots. His hair was black and cropped.

  "How long have I been asleep?" Chao-xing asked.

  "I couldn't find the memory chip, did you have time to get anything useful?" asked Armand.

  She pulled the rough woollen blanket up over an exposed body and crossed her legs. "How long?" she repeated.

  "Four, maybe five days." Armand shrugged. "We need to know if your mission was worth it."

  "It was."

  He waited, his arms still folded.

  "I got exactly what I was looking for." Chao-xing paused. "Everything."

  Armand raised his eyebrows and sat on the end of Chao-xing's bunk.

  "I only had time to look at fragments before those men came. The files don't make a lot of sense without the patches, but I'm sure it's everything," she said.

  He gave a nervous smile. "I went through your clothes and found nothing."

  Chao-xing frowned. "I wish you hadn't," she said.

  "What did you expect? You were out. I didn't know if you were going to wake up. You got a pretty nasty bump on the back of your head. Lucky for you, you're a fast healer."

  She winced with pain as she drew her hand across an egg-sized bump bulging from the back of her head. "Do we know who those men were?"

  "They could have been working for the Yao, but--" Armand narrowed his eyes for several seconds, then made a dismissive gesture with his hands. "You know that bump was much bigger a few days ago."

  A dull, dizzying pain spread through her body. Her head throbbed with every heartbeat. "Oh Armand, it was horrible," she said. "I thought. For a moment--."

  "Focus Chao-xing, where is the data chip?"

  Chao-xing opened her mouth wide and pointed inside. "As soon as I realised I was being tailed, I swallowed it," she sa
id with a brief smile. "I need a drink; will you get me some water?" She rubbed the back of her head again. "And some pain meds?"

  Armand stepped out the room as Chao-xing held back sobs. To cave in during her first interrogation - she had convinced herself she was stronger than that. The sensation of being trapped, of being helpless, was flooding back as her hands trembled.

  Armand returned a few minutes later with a cup of water. She took the cup as he handed her a small vial of meds from a breast pocket.

  "Thanks," she whispered. She took a long swig from the vial and followed it with a sip of water. "I'll need to get some food in me if we're going to get this data chip out," she said. "Hopefully, it won't take too long to work through."

  "Oh," said Armand.

  "I hope you don't mind doing a bit a digging," she said with a wolfish grin.

  # # #

  Ajay: The Segrado on approach to L2 platform, Lunar

  12/05/6,544, 08:34 (IST)

  Ajay Johar tapped at his console as he waited for a response from customs. A series of monitors showing multiple views from the Segrado's exterior cast a cool glow over Ajay's sharp features as he tugged at his black ponytail.

  He wore a simple black suit adorned with leather thongs about the wrists and ankles and the high collared shirt favoured by mid-level professionals across the Union.

  "Go ahead," a voice said, crackling through the console's commendation panel.

  "Yes, this is the Philboyd requesting permission to dock," he said.

  L2 was one of several elevator platforms that extended like spokes from Lunar's surface. The console estimated its diameter to be sixty kilometres across. A white spot overlaid part the visual display, highlighting L2's docking bay.

  Ajay waited for a response.

  "We didn't detect your approach. Please state your business," the voice said. "Are you an Affiliate?"

  "I'm an independent trader carrying art objects from Mars." Ajay's calm voice belied his impatience.

  There was something about this situation that didn't feel right. He wondered if the long delays between communications were because he had been betrayed.

  Scanning his dark eyes over the bank of monitors, Ajay looked for signs of movement outside. He was probably being paranoid, but he wasn't willing to sacrifice everything for carelessness. As a precaution, he keyed in the emergency escape programme to his console and began to count down from thirty seconds. He told himself that if he reached zero, he would turn the Segrado around and get away from L2 as quickly as possible. Thirty. Twenty-five. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten. Five. Four.

  "Permission granted to dock," the voice said, hazy though the static. "There will be a docking tax of fifteen Sols."

  "Yes. Thank you." Ajay leaned back into his seat, exhaling with relief. He'd never had problems before with docking, but there was always that thought in the back of Ajay's mind that he had played his luck one too many times.

  "Please approach the central dock and we'll guide you in," the voice said.

  Ajay moved the Segrado closer to the docking bay. As he brought the Segrado to halt, to a halt, Ajay saw three guiding cables tentacle out on a direct route toward him. He waited for the cables to take hold.

  The Segrado wobbled as the cables hit their mark and began to pull the ship into the docking bay, the station's metal doors sliding open, then closing like a giant maw as Ajay passed through

  # # #

  Hayao: Judiciary holding cells, Insularum 1, Lunar

  08/06/6,544, 18:33 (IST)

  Hayao kissed his daughter, picking her up as she beamed. "You shouldn't have brought her here," he told Natsuki. His tone was reproachful, his expression woeful. He gestured with his free hand around the cold, bare concrete walls of the holding cell.

  "I needed to see you, Hayao. Riko has been asking for you."

  Hayao regarded Natsuki for a long moment, her small eyes and cropped hair, her plain dress, her simple shoes.

  "What were you thinking?" Natsuki tilted her head, her eyes closing to thin lines as she considered her husband.

  "I don't know," he said, his shoulders hunched.

  "What will happen now?"

  Hayao shuffled, lifting Riko to his opposite hip. This wasn't a question he was able to answer, nor one that he wanted to consider. He wanted to be at home - he wanted the whole mess to go away.

  "I don't know," he said. "I may be charged. I just don't know."

  He placed Riko down onto the tiled floor, a chequered blue and white pattern, scratched, faded and stained by the countless inmates that had waited to hear their fate.

  Hayao smiled as Riko ran to the bunk and pounced onto the mattress, her legs scrambling for traction as she climbed.

  "You look silly, Daddy. Your clothes are funny," Riko said with a slight lisp. Her expression was triumphant as she stood tall on the bunk. Her dark grey tunic flapped as she bounced up and down, causing the thin mattress to creak and shake.

  "Takeshi will drop the charges," Natsuki said, assured, confident. "You two have been friends for too long for him to hold this over you."

  "This is exactly the type of thing he'd hold over me." He paused, looking down at the yellow ill-fitting coveralls that made him itch and smelled its previous wearers. "Takeshi's changed," he said. "Something's got to him - greed, power." Hayao shook his head. "I don't know. We used to be friends, but now he sees me an obstacle." He sat down on the bunk.

  "I'm hiding Daddy!" said Riko.

  Hayao turned slowly to his right to see her curling up into a ball at the corner of the bunk, her bottom in the air and her hands covering her eyes.

  Hayao looked around the cell in mock astonishment, his eyes wide and mouth agape. "Where's Riko gone Mummy?" he asked. "I can't see her, can you?"

  Riko giggled as she peeked through her fingers.

  "I thought she was with you, Daddy," Natsuki said with inflection.

  Dramatically, Riko turned to reveal that she'd been there all along.

  "There she is!" Hayao called, clearing a lump in his throat. He leaned across and picked Riko up beneath her shoulders, scooping her up and spinning her around in the air. For that brief moment, he was happy.

  Hayao frowned as a knock at the cell door signalled the visit was over. Looking down at Natsuki's pregnant belly, he cupped her hands. "You know I didn't mean for this - things just got a bit..."

  "I know." Natsuki forced a smile. "Come on Riko, come down from there. We need to go home and get you ready for bed."

  "Are you coming, Daddy?" Riko asked, sliding from Hayao's grip. She ran to her mother, pigtails bouncing.

  "Not this time. Soon, I promise." But it wasn't a promise he could make or keep. His destiny lay with the Judiciary. He could be released without charge, imprisoned for assault or air-locked for treason. He would most likely be imprisoned, perhaps for as long as a year, forced to work on the cotton farms on the other side of Lunar, or on a mining platform along the Martian Band. Being away from his daughter for so long filled Hayao with a feeling of dread.

  "You go with Mummy," he said.

  "No Daddy!" Riko stomped her feet, her face a scrunched-up scowl. "I said you will come home now!" She threw herself onto her father and gripped her arms around his legs.

  Hayao trembled as Riko begged him with her tiny tear-filled eyes, her mouth arching as if pulled down by hooks. She began to wail - a heartbreaking, ear-splitting wail, that cut through him like wire through clay.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered, shaking his head, eyes downcast.

  Helpless, Hayao looked on as Natsuki picked Riko up, his daughter thrashing and screaming in an uncontrollable rage. "I love you," she mouthed as Hayao watched her leaving the cell, its door closing with a dull thud behind her.

  # # #

  Janis: Sleeping Quarters, Titan Orbiter, Saturn

  08/06/6,544, 02:37 (IST)

  Janis woke to the sound of a light metallic knock at her door.

  "Janis." She recognised Mataes's voice as he whispered throu
gh a crack in the door. "Janis, are you awake?"

  "Mat?" Janis rolled over in her bunk and rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the gloom. "Come in. Do you know what time it is?" Janis yawned as Mataes sat on the end of her bunk.

  "I've brought you some food," he whispered as he pulled a wrapped up half-loaf of black bread from his coveralls.

  Janis sat up and grabbed the bread and took a large bite. "Where did you get this?" she asked.

  "I stole it from the higher-ups' mess. They're hoarding food."

  "Thank you." The bread was dry in her mouth, but she savoured each mouthful as she chewed, letting the bread soften on her tongue before swallowing. "Sorry, would you like some," she asked, holding the loaf out to Mataes.

  "No thanks, why do you think it's only half a loaf? I've already eaten my fill."

  "You are amazing," she said. "If there's any way I can repay you?"

  "There is."

  "Oh." Janis fell silent and stopped chewing. "What is it?"

  "A few of us--." Mataes hesitated as he brushed his hand over his scalp, then scratched at the back of his neck. "You want what's best for everyone don't you?"

  "Everyone? Who's everyone?" Janis brushed crumbs from her bedclothes as she swallowed her last mouthful of bread.

  "All of us workers. We're starving while the higher-ups are sitting on supplies. We're still getting bills for power and water - what are you going to pay them with? None of us have been paid. It's only a matter of time before things start getting violent. You don't want that do you?"

  Janis gave a doleful frown. "I see."

  "A few of us have got a plan, but we need people we can trust to help us. I can trust you Janis - you're a good person."

  "Is this 'few of us' Arfo?"

  "Has he spoken to you already?"