Ascendancy: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  “I have watched the results of our action today with horror as I know many of you have. More so because I had to make the decision to launch this terrible weapon. It is a very bad thing to have to strike against your neighbor, but I could not allow that evil Organization to continue their practices of terror.

  “Many of you are afraid. I understand that. I tell you now that I will only use these weapons as a last resort. But I will use them if you threaten my way of life, that of the many people that work for Space Tech, and that of the many people that benefit from our products and the improvement of their way of life. The Organization threatened all of them.

  “I’m going to answer questions from this distinguished gentleman, who is our sole representative from the media here today. Sir, if you will, introduce yourself to our audience.”

  “I am Doctor James Hollingsworth, CISI News. I was lucky enough to already be up here doing a feature documentary on the advancements Space Tech is making in materials research for future sale on earth. Amazing things coming, but right now none of you care about that.” He paused a moment, looking directly at the VR camera.

  “I would also like to lead with a statement of my own. As Ms. Randolph refers to, the decision the US made years ago was a difficult one. How many men would have died if they had to fight to the bitter end? And yes, the dropping of those bombs was horrific. My very own grandfather was on a ship in the Pacific, so I don’t know if I would be here today if they had taken the other route.

  “The weapon that our friends at Space Tech have deployed is also horrific. There is absolutely no question about it. What we need to understand today is that the genie is out of the bottle. We need to do everything in our power to ensure that they don’t ever need to use it again.

  “I haven’t been given any details about the system that they have deployed, and I don’t expect to be told. But I have a very strong technical background, so I have a very good idea of what they without a doubt have at their control. With modern AI technology, any target on the earth will be within pinpoint range of this weapon. I imagine that they can hit an object the size of a car exactly dead center if they want to do so. And there is absolutely no defense against this weapon. None.”

  James stopped for a moment to let that sink in. “The other thing I will tell you is this. Space Tech is ready and willing to defend themselves. I have made a number of friends among the Space Tech people who work on this station, and many have been talking about the new defenses that they have brought online. Some of those same people had to stop in the middle of our last meal, rushing away to man their stations. At the time I thought it was a drill, but now I know better. So don’t think you can send a few missiles up here as a possible solution.

  “So yes, you are afraid, and you should be. But this young lady, who is about the same age as my daughter in college, is someone we need to learn about and trust. That way she won’t need to do any more terrible things like what was done today.

  “So my only question is this. Will you, Ms. Randolph, swear to do everything to the best of your ability to make this weapon a weapon of last resort? And also by this I mean, will you keep it safely away from others like our governments, who often fight for selfish and petty reasons? Will you safeguard it with all your being?”

  Julie looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I do so swear.” Zeke sent her a mental prompt, causing her to go on. “I and my family do so swear.”

  James had a few tears in his own eyes. “Then I believe the world is in very safe hands. Only those that represent evil should be worried, and I personally hope that they are very worried.”

  Mr. Janson quietly stepped in. Julie had given him the subtle signal they had arranged. “That concludes our broadcast. Any additional questions should be addressed to Space Tech media.”

  The display switched to showing the Space Tech logo. Almost immediately, the Space Tech media center became deluged with requests, but Julie knew she would have to ignore them. “Let me know if the President contacts you. Anybody else, tell them no comment.”

  Turning to James, Julie told him, “Doctor Hollingsworth, you should go down in history as one of the best peacekeepers ever. If I have anything to do with the recording of that history, you certainly will.”

  “Call me Professor. Everyone else does. I just told them the truth. Fortunately for them, our President, whom I have gone on record before extolling his virtues, is also a smart man who believes in peace. I assume that’s why you’re waiting on a call from him.”

  “Yes, we’re going to meet him tomorrow morning at his summer home to negotiate the US response.”

  Julie looked at him intensely for a moment. “I have a proposal for you. I believe you should come with us tomorrow to cover the news conference that we’ll have afterwards. This will be our second visit there and I’m looking forward to it.”

  “I wondered how you had brokered the deal on the new power systems. Although I bet the whole deal was yours and he just agreed to it. I suspected someone else was behind it the whole time. Too practical to have come from a politician.”

  “Pretty well. I think the First Lady had a hand in his easy acceptance of our plan.” A very big hand. Julie still remembered that meeting in extreme detail. And the prophecy the First Lady had given them. “You two are going to change the world, and your child will do it even more!”

  Totally unaware of the thoughts going through her head, James just laughed. “Like I said, smart man.”

  “We’ll give you a ride there, if you promise not to write about the details of our transport.” Julie couldn’t hide the twinkle in her eyes. If he loved science, he was in for a big treat.

  “This is getting more and more interesting. I accept. What time are we leaving?” James had been hooked from the first.

  “We’re supposed to be there at 7. I hope you’re an early riser. We’ll probably leave here a little after 6, although it really won’t take us that long to get there.”

  “Early morning is fine with me. I wouldn’t miss that ride for anything. I’ve had my suspicions about what you were up to out at the research station. I think I’m going to enjoy seeing the results.” He had an eager smile. He looked like he was ready to leave now.

  “You’re like a kid in a candy store.” Julie told him with a laugh. “And lucky for you, we have plenty in stock.”

  “Pretty much describes me with anything associated with science and space. In fact, those are the main subjects I teach as a professor.”

  “See you in the morning.” Julie told him as she headed out the door. This man was going to be perfect for the role they needed. Someone who would write about the upcoming events, which Julie knew he would report accurately for the future history books. She suspected he would have his career set if he played his cards right. She smiled. She might even give him that second interview promised years ago.

  #

  Julie’s family and friends were still in the conference room where Julie had gathered them earlier. When Julie looked in on them, the group seemed to have settled down. Carla, Emily and Caitlyn were off to the side whispering animatedly amongst themselves and Uncle Ted was busy working on his VR. The rest were talking quietly or reading.

  Zeke hurried over to the door to give Julie a hug. She asked him quietly, “Is everyone ok now?”

  “I think so. They’ve all had time to process it now, I think. Even your uncle seems ok. Watching the VR briefing probably helped. That went better than we could have possibly imagined. Where did you find the doctor? He was just about perfect.”

  “Pure luck, karma, or something like that. I had nothing to do with it. Although I knew him from a couple of years ago when he did an interview with me.”

  “Ohh! I’ll have to go look for that. I bet it was interesting.”

  “Zeke, you’ll do no such thing. I was a very different person back then, and I’m not entirely proud of that girl. Much too naive and way too spoiled. You want an interview, you can interview me late
r this evening.”

  Zeke quickly caught her drift. “You’re on. Just as soon as all this settles down. Although, since everyone here is ok, we need to go see the doc who put me in this chair. I’m going to need to be more mobile for our trip tomorrow.”

  “You were shot just a couple of days ago, bud. You don’t need to go running around.”

  “Maybe not, but check my nanites,” Zeke told her. “This thing we have. It would be amazing if all we had was just the nanites. I feel absolutely fine. I think that I’m almost completely healed.”

  Julie looked at him then. Really looked at him using her other sight. His aura seemed to be completely whole, if she only knew how to read what she saw. She really needed to find another teacher. She sighed. “Ok, you’re right. And that’s unbelievable.” She sent him a mental thought. “But we both know that this is even more amazing. Feeling you with me when I was in the news conference saved me. I was terrified I would screw something up, and we’d have to do what we just did a second time. But you kept me calm. You and Doctor Hollingsworth. The oath he asked of us was exactly what we were thinking, but now we’re on the hook for it.”

  Julie remembered her earlier decision. She went back to speaking out loud. “By the way, I invited the Professor, as he is calling himself, to come with us tomorrow. I was thinking about what you said about how history would record things. I can’t think of anyone better to do that than him.”

  “I certainly would go along with that. He was very knowledgable and at the same time quite practical in his approach. I get this feeling he also will tell the truth without any bias. You’re right. I don’t believe we could ask for anything better than that.” Zeke grabbed her arm. “Come on, let’s go see that doc.”

  Doctor Adams was extremely skeptical when Zeke came in to see him, anticipating that Zeke would continue to need the support of the chair for at least a couple of days. But he did the exam. He could hardly believe it when he checked Zeke over; he’d never had a patient heal this fast.

  “You’re right,” he finally said. “You’re almost completely healed. The key word is almost, and we don’t know what all is involved with that healing, especially with your nanites. I want you to go eat a really good meal. I suspect your nanites will need the extra energy after all the work they’ve been expending to heal you.” He looked Zeke right in the eyes. “And take it extremely easy until I can check you out again.”

  When Zeke nodded, he turned to leave with a smile, but he stopped to look at Julie. “I believe you have a big interest in this young man and his well-being. I expect you to make sure he takes care of himself.”

  “I will,” Julie told him. “I’ll make sure he behaves. Thanks to you though, I guess I’ll have to take him out for dinner now, or I’ll never hear the last of it.”

  The doctor just shook his head, laughing as he left. As he turned the corner, he mumbled something that with Julie and Zeke’s hearing they easily heard. “I’ve never seen a pair quite like those two, or as much trouble.”

  Julie laughed too. The man had no idea just how interesting the two of them could be. But they also didn’t go around looking for trouble. It just seemed to keep finding them.

  Zeke interrupted Julie’s wool-gathering. “You heard the doc,” he told her as he pushed the “chair” back into its storage area. “Let’s go find some dinner, and you can baby me while we eat. That should make you feel better.”

  Julie smiled. He would like that. But she led the way to the little food court that was often the center of things on the station, the only place you could get real food, at least until her asteroid farms started producing. Luckily that wouldn’t be much longer.

  Babying Zeke a little did help her feel better. Being in the food court also meant that they wound up spending a good part of the evening talking with the many people who came by. Although not everyone agreed with what they had done, everyone that talked to her still gave her their support. She felt their sincerity and that helped heal her soul a little bit.

  After their time in the common area, Julie and Zeke spent some time in the little chapel that they had on the space station. The chapel very much reminded her of the time when she had visited the one at Space Tech Corporate a few weeks ago. That had been after her emotional trip to Kinza, where she had had to first use her skills to kill, and had been trying to deal with that.

  This chaplain was just as helpful in counseling Julie to deal with the situation as the one on earth had been. When they left, a little more of their burden was gone. As before, to Julie the little chapel made her feel just a little closer to God. In this case, with the vacuum of space just outside the wall and the glory of stars visible out the virtual viewport, she felt it even more strongly. To her mind’s eye, out in the grand and glorious view of the universe, the subspace fabric was a little more accessible, which to her was like the fingerprint of God. At least another reminder of why she did the things she did.

  #

  Alone in her quarters late that evening, Julie felt like she had her emotions more in control than earlier in the day. But she still saw in her head the tremendous destruction that had been done by her and wondered if that would ever leave her. She never wanted to forget it so she wouldn’t be tempted to use it again, but it was still a burden to carry around. Thinking to try some meditation to see if it helped, she had just settled down on her bed in the lotus position when she got a VR call on her private connection. She quickly answered when she saw it was the Master monk from the island. Theoretically he worked for her now, but to her, he would always be the Master.

  “Master,” she said. “I should have known you would call me in my time of need.”

  “Yes, dear one. I know what you had to do today, and I know you’re still seeing it in your head. The burden you carry is much too hard for you alone to handle. Yet you need to be able to remember how bad it was so it doesn’t happen again unless absolutely necessary. So I’m going to give you an exercise to help you with it for now. When you come to the island in a few weeks, I’ll be able to help more.”

  He must have seen the look in her eyes because he went on, “And before you say you cannot come, you should know that young Master John is going to attempt the swim between the islands at the next seasonal low tide period. We both know that he will make it, and thus reach very high monk status. He will want you to be there, and I know you will want to come.”

  Julie’s attitude had completely changed with that last bit of information. No matter how busy she was, she would have to make the time. Brother John, as she still thought of him, had been a big help to her when she was training on the island. He had been a true friend to her when many on the island had been decidedly unfriendly. She quickly queried her AI to determine when the next low tide would be for the island. “Yes, Master, I’ll be there. You’re right, I need to be there for my friend.”

  The Master looked at her for a moment, a sense of sadness and understanding flowing from him. “Until then, to deal with your burden, I need you to do the following exercise. Drop into a deep meditative state for a few minutes to clear your mind. Then I want you to visualize your burden as something you can hold in your hand. Then you need to see yourself placing that burden in a box and then putting it up on a shelf. It will still be there, and you can take it out to look at it whenever you want to do so, but it can sit on that shelf until you need it.”

  “You must do this tonight, and as many more times as you need to do so, until you no longer continue to see this in your head. You’ll also need to share this with your Zeke. I also expect you to bring him when you come to the island.”

  “That’s good, Master. He probably wouldn’t let me come without him. He’s much too protective of me.”

  “As he should be. As we all should be. I’ll talk to you again soon, dear one.”

  Julie did the exercise as he had described. After several minutes of meditation, she began the exercise with the burden she felt for being the instrument of so much death and d
estruction, that no matter the necessity was still a horrific thing to her, and visualized a big box that she placed it in. In her mind, she placed that box on a shelf in a virtual closet and closed the door. She breathed to herself. Wow. That’s so much better. I know it’s still there, but I don’t have to see it in my head constantly. I really do have to tell Zeke. I know he’s struggling to deal with it too.

  “Zeke,” she sent quietly. “I’m going to send you something that the Master just shared with me. It will help you to deal with the burden that you and I are carrying.”

  Julie sent him the mental image of what she had done. A few minutes later, she got back a sense of peace from Zeke. “Thanks, love. It’s still there, but at least I don’t have to hold on to it or carry it around. I couldn’t get the picture of the explosion out of my head. I know it’s still there but I don’t have to keep looking at it now. Tell the Master thanks for both of us when you talk to him again.”

  “He knows. I don’t know what he’s had to do in his past, but he’s been there too. Maybe someday he’ll tell us.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  More Breakfast

  Up early the next day, Julie and Zeke spent a few minutes talking before they left. Zeke had picked up on Julie’s emotions, which were still raw. Getting them both a cup of coffee and taking her hand in his, he asked her, “Are you ok?”

  Julie knew what he really wanted to know. “I don’t think I can say that I’m ok, Zeke. I know we’ll never be the same, but we have to go on. I still believe that we didn’t have a choice.” Working hard to keep the tears away, Julie stood, “But we have to finish it, plus we have to do our part to make sure Space Tech and our family members are safe. I guess I’m as ready as I’m going to be.” She quickly finished her coffee, leading the way to the space dock where her attack corvette sat waiting.

  When they got to the space dock, Doctor Hollingsworth was already there. He was staring out the viewport at their little ship in obvious fascination. Of course, he’d heard the rumors about her ship and how fast it could fly, but he’d been unable to get details on how it all worked, so he wasn’t sure he believed the rumors. As a reporter, he dealt in facts. Although Julie had said he couldn’t write about the details of how her ship worked, he suspected he would be finding out quite a few interesting facts that she would let him write about.