Ascendancy: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  Zeke had figured he was in trouble and he pretty well knew it when he saw the reaction on her face. Yep, definitely in trouble, as she followed through with a mental message, “We are going to talk about this one!”

  So he continued. “And it appears I am now in big trouble. As Lady Catherine obviously foresaw, I received my injury because of my actions protecting Julie, but she is ok and that’s all I care about.”

  “He was shot!” Julie exclaimed. “And I was terrified for him until I knew he was going to be ok.”

  The First Lady spoke up. “As everyone now knows, I saw a strong vision of the events we’re discussing. Tell me this, Julie. Would you have stopped him from going if you had known what would happen?” Lady Catherine seemed to have a knack for getting to the bottom of things.

  “Yes, of course I would have stopped him.” She would never willingly allow Zeke to be placed in danger, especially if it was because of her. She wished he would stop doing that!

  “And where would we all be now?” The First Lady let that question hang for a moment. “You know how my visions work. I see possibilities, and the results of those possibilities. All the other possibilities led to a much darker future.” She paused a moment to let her point sink in. “But the truth is I was completely surprised when Ed told me that both of you would be coming. My vision was clear enough that if Zeke followed my instructions, I knew he would take serious injury, but I knew he would survive. Zeke, I must say that I’m rather surprised to see you doing so well.”

  “My nanites have completely healed me. Ask Julie. She somehow took charge of them and told them what to do.”

  “I have no idea what I did. I was just terrified and did whatever it took to make sure you were going to be ok.” Julie had been so distraught, she barely remembered what she had done. Somehow, she had triggered something in the nanites to put them in ultra heal mode.

  “Well, you two have something pretty special. So you’ll probably want to take it easy on Zeke.” The last was said with a knowing smile. Julie might pretend to take him to task, but she loved him too much to push it very hard.

  “Yes,” Julie gave him a smile and touched his hand. “I did promise to marry him as soon as I go get my father in a month. So maybe we can have the wedding in six weeks. You still want it here?”

  The First Lady’s eyes lit up. “Yes! That’s going to be such fun. I’ll start planning it tomorrow.”

  The President just groaned. When his wife turned to look at him, he didn’t say a word. He knew she would enjoy it more than anything else.

  Smiling, she went on, “Julie, it’s your wedding, but I’ll try to take care of all the hard parts, just leaving the important decisions to you.”

  Julie smiled too. It was like having one of the best wedding planners available for free. “That works for me. The only two things that really matter to me are Zeke and that we have my father here, but I know it won’t be that simple. I’ll count on your excellent taste for most of it though.”

  The President looked at their guests. “My wife is going to be very busy the next few weeks, thanks to you two. At least she won’t be able to complain about me working too much during that time.”

  “You always work too much.”

  “Hazard of the job.”

  The rest of the breakfast was spent in quiet enjoyment. As they were finishing their food, the First Lady signaled the staff so that a server came in with fresh coffee, refilling the ladies’ cups. Zeke waved them off, as did the President, who on seeing that told Zeke, “Let’s you and I go take a look at your new AI. The ladies will want to talk about the wedding over their coffee, so we should get out of their way.” He kissed his wife and rose from the table.

  “Yes, sir. I think that’s an excellent idea.” Zeke didn’t run, but he moved pretty fast for someone who was supposed to take it easy.

  The ladies laughed, but it wasn’t long before they were quite seriously down to business. They did talk about the wedding, Julie quickly realizing what a treasure she had. Not that she didn’t already know. She still missed her real mother, but she was so glad she had met Catherine. Their relationship was becoming more and more like a mother-daughter one.

  Unfortunately, the wedding was not their only business. Just before she left, Lady Catherine told Julie, “I need to tell you a little more about my latest vision. It involves your flight home. Most of this one I haven’t been able to tell my husband, because anything he would do in reaction to it would only make things worse. I only told him the part about you bringing your new corvette, which I noticed you understood and followed.”

  Julie nodded. “I’m not really surprised to hear it, I’ve had my own premonitions telling me pretty much the same thing. I knew I needed to be ready for anything and my new ship will let me do that. How much can you tell me?”

  Lady Catherine smiled. “This one I can tell you all.” She went on to give Julie the details, including who was really behind it and what effect the outcome might have on the near future beyond the immediate results that the First Lady could see directly. They speculated that it might even affect the Presidential office for several terms, something both of them considered a good thing.

  Before she left, Julie hugged her tightly, surprised at how close she had grown to her in such a short time..

  #

  A few minutes later, Julie joined the others in the working conference room. Like the rest of the home it was beautifully decorated. Doctor Jim Vincent, the Presidential Science Advisor, had joined them, as well as their new companion, Doctor Hollingsworth, who seemed to be quite at home with the rest of them. Julie again thought about what a treasure he was. She hoped what she said next worked out.

  Julie addressed them all. “Doctor Hollingsworth, in his interview yesterday, has pretty much described our position on this issue. My agreement to his terms also constrains any agreement we might make today.” She looked around the room, more than a little apprehensive, but no one disagreed with that statement.

  Since no one spoke up, Julie continued, “This is what I am proposing. Doctor Hollingsworth will be given a permanent assignment as the US Special Envoy to Space Tech International, the division of Space Tech that controls the space station. He will serve in that position until such date he personally requests release from the position. In that circumstance, the US and Space Tech would jointly determine his successor. His responsibility will be to communicate with regard to any activity regarding the Space Tech Kinetic Weapons platforms and to any other action of Space Tech that would potentially affect the United States and the world. In no way are we agreeing that we will be required to obtain approval from the US government to use the weapon system, and in no way are we agreeing to use the weapon system at the US government’s request.”

  That last statement didn’t get the same amount of consensus as the rest, but Julie could tell that everyone was still trying to think it through. So she went on, “The US government guarantees that all Space Tech employees and their families will keep all their rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution, and that they will not attempt to circumvent the said constitutional rights as a result of the actions of the previous day.”

  The President looked at all of them. “First, let me say that I totally agree with the last statement. You know how I feel about our government of the past few decades and their excesses against our freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. But I’m not sure about the rest of it. You’re really only agreeing to allow us a special envoy with access to you for communication, but no real ability to affect your actions, and we’re basically agreeing to take no other action,” the President said.

  Julie smiled sadly. “Sir, I really don’t want to be in opposition to my country and especially with you. You know my feelings on this. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my own, but surely we can find a way to work this out together.”

  The President sighed. “I’m not disagreeing with you so much as I’m just not sure how to convince everyone to g
o along. This is such a political hot potato right now, and there are a lot of politicians looking for any excuse to get this administration out. Our work to clean up the US government has stepped on a lot of toes and shut down more than one empire built up by some of those same politicians.”

  Doctor Vincent thought he could help with that. “Sir, perhaps you need to take a look at the polls that came out this morning. Those polls say that over 70% are telling us we need to leave Space Tech alone. To them, what Miss Randolph is proposing is exactly what you need, and you can count on any politician that matters having already decided he doesn’t want to buck that poll. They’re not going to become our friends, but they’re not going to be able to use this one against us.”

  The President sighed. “I hope you’re right, Jim.” He looked across the table. “Doctor Hollingsworth, we haven’t even asked you if you want to do this. We would set you up to be paid the salary of an ambassador, so you would be compensated. Are you willing to accept the position?”

  Doctor Hollingsworth nodded. “Yes, sir.” He looked at Julie. “I would be willing to accept the position you have described because of the oath that you swore to me and because I know you meant every word of it.” He turned back to the President. “I don’t know why fate has put me here, but I know that I have to play the part that I’ve been given.”

  The President smiled. “I often feel that way myself, believe it or not. So I guess that’s our plan. We just need to figure out the exact wording.” He laughed. “I don’t even know why I show up at these. This young lady seems to be in charge anyway.”

  Jim replied quietly to that one. “Sir, you’re lucky we don’t have your wife here too. At least you did get to say a thing or two.”

  “So true. Fortunately the rest of the world doesn’t know that.”

  They all laughed, but Julie couldn’t laugh very hard. She was the one that was really glad that the First Lady wasn’t there. Julie’s negotiations would have been a lot harder. Only the fact that Julie’s foremost thought was in protecting her future daughter would have given her a chance.

  #

  It didn’t take the President’s staff long to come up with the final wording. It had quite a bit of legalese and wherefore clauses, but it said basically the same thing as she had originally proposed. Once that was worked out, the preparations for the news briefing were quickly completed.

  Since a lot of the plans had been completed in advance, the briefing started a few minutes later. Because this was such a big event, the President had a number of staff present, including the Presidential Chief of Staff, who started off the conference by reading a brief statement to the press. Julie was impressed with the man’s obvious dedication to his President as he turned the briefing over to his boss. She also had a feeling about him that she just couldn’t quite place.

  The President looked straight into the VR cameras. “Thank you for your attendance today. It was with mixed emotions that we have watched the destruction of the Organization camp yesterday. It was a terrible thing to see, but the Organization was an evil that we all knew needed to be dealt with. I know many of you have expressed your concern and my administration has been talking with Space Tech about what we can do to allay your fears.”

  The President had in his hand a special gilded document with a ribbon attached to it. He handed it to Doctor Hollingsworth as he continued his speech. “It is my privilege today to be able to appoint as a Special Envoy to Space Tech International the esteemed Doctor James Hollingsworth. This is the gentleman you all met yesterday who spoke in such an eloquent and passionate manner, and he is the one responsible for the oath that we all witnessed from Miss Randolph. We believe in his same commitment to work to protect the world and our country. Doctor Hollingsworth will be our contact with Space Tech for any and all future actions regarding this technology and any others that we believe will have an impact on the world.

  “In addition, the US government understands that we cannot require Space Tech to obtain approval from the US government to use the weapon system, and we agree that we will have no right to demand that Space Tech use the weapon system at our request. The US government guarantees any personnel that are employed by Space Tech and their families will keep all their rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution, and that we will not attempt to circumvent the said constitutional rights. After all, those same freedoms are guaranteed for all our citizens and our administration has worked to ensure our government does not overstep its bounds.”

  As predetermined prior to the meeting, Julie came forward and offered her hand to Doctor Hollingsworth, turning so that she was facing him as well as the VR camera. She recited the oath which they had worked out beforehand. “I, Julie Randolph, as the current representative of Space Tech International, do hereby accept you as the Special Envoy between Space Tech and the US Government.”

  James took her hand, replying with his own reverence. “I graciously thank you for the honor and privilege to work with you. I swear that I will perform this duty to the best of my ability, to represent my country and others as well as I am able. I gladly accept this responsibility because I know that you will continue to defend the rights of the oppressed, push for the cause of freedom, and work toward the benefit of all mankind as we have already seen.”

  Julie turned so that she was facing him directly. “I look forward to working with you. As I already know from yesterday, you will do an honorable and commendable job.”

  The Presidential Chief of Staff then took over. “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us for this historic occasion. I feel that we have all been privileged to witness this event. That concludes our formal briefing, but I will be available afterwards for any additional questions.” He stepped down from the platform and while the media rushed forward to give him their questions, Julie, James, and the President slipped out the back.

  Julie breathed an internal sigh of relief; she felt like the crisis was nearly over, with one more issue to resolve. That would be taken care of soon.

  #

  Julie had a pretty good idea of what her next task involved. She needed to make sure the Professor was onboard with it. She explained what she could as they were on the way to the airfield. “I have been given information that leads me to believe a group intends to attack our ship after we take off. Professor, if you wish to take alternate transportation back, I would certainly understand. I can’t promise you that we’ll be completely safe, although I’ve told you a little about the capabilities of this ship, so you should understand when I tell you that the threat will be a lot less than the aggressors believe it will be.”

  The Professor slowed his pace for a moment, obviously wondering just what was going on. He started to ask for more details, but then something struck him. “I noticed you didn’t even ask Zeke. Obviously you believe it’s safe enough, or you would be trying to get him off too.”

  Julie shook her head. “I would ask, but I already know his answer, so I’m not going to even try.”

  That got a smile out of the Professor. He had noticed Zeke’s devotion to his fiancée. “Well, I appreciate you telling me, but I’m staying here too. I didn’t accept this job to bail out the first time the going got a little tough. And I do understand at least some of the capabilities of this ship.”

  “Ok, I just wanted to make sure you understood.”

  By this time they had reached the ship, the trio quickly settled in and engaged the seat restraints. Julie prepped for takeoff, not rushing it but not taking her time either. As soon as they were in the air, she pushed up their thrust, taking them up at a steep ascent angle. Everyone was pressed back in the seats, since without the drive engaged there was nothing to resist the g forces.

  Immediately after she cleared the densest of the atmosphere, Julie engaged the new drive. She was also watching her displays very carefully. “Make sure you’re strapped in tightly. I’m expecting that we’ll be under attack any minute now,” she told them.

  “The
First Lady obviously warned you,” Zeke sent to her mentally.

  “Yes,” she told him, also using their mental connection. “I’m going to teach them a lesson.”

  “Do we know who it is?” Zeke asked her.

  “Yes, it’s our own people, a group of US pilots sent up by a general who I suspect is involved with the Organization. He’s made a deal with a group of politicians who are desperate to prevent our very honorable and capable President from cleaning up their pet projects. The First Lady hasn’t even told her husband, because if he tried to stop it, it would make everything worse. It’s supposed to be made to look like an accidental misunderstanding and is intended to make the President look bad. The Professor is going to get more than he expects on his first day, and a general and several politicians are going to have a very bad day.”

  Speaking out loud Julie told them, “You see those blips there? My console has identified them as US fighter planes. They have been moving closer for the last two minutes. Unfortunately for them, they don’t know yet who they are dealing with.”

  “No, they don’t,” Zeke turned to the Professor. “They think we just look like an oversized plane, but this ship is in a completely different class than anything else in the world. Plus, Julie is unbelievable in what she can do with it. The only real question is what she is going to do to them.”

  “I’m going to try to end it without the loss of life. But at least some of those planes will not be returning to their base.”

  About that time they saw several objects separate from the airplanes. Air-to-air missiles, Julie knew, as did her passengers.

  “And so it begins,” Julie said. She turned away from the missiles and their little ship moved away at a tremendous speed.

  “I could just outrun these missiles,” she explained to the Professor. “But that’s not my style.”