Ascendancy: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  “Bye, sis.” Brian was already looking at Uncle Ted for his next test. Julie knew he would knock it all out. As she left, she was thrilled with the results for Brian. But she also had a couple more ideas for that armor. No one was going to be safer than her Space Forces, not if she had anything to do with it.

  #

  Julie stood in the new module they planned to open up the next day. They’d originally built the add-on module to show off the new products Space Tech planned to bring into production over the next few months. Knowing they would now have the ability to harvest carbon from planets and moons across the solar system, full-scale production at low cost would allow them to drastically move forward with their plans. The next morning they were hosting the event that had been planned for weeks, with a large group of media expected to be up on the station to see the presentation.

  But over the last week, Julie had made changes to the module. The floors had been modified to use the gravity plates. She was waiting for Zeke to look over the layout of the demo area they’d set up to show everything off. It was all really beginning to come together.

  The week had flown by for both Julie and Zeke as they were getting ready for the big media event. They had put together what she believed to be a great demo showing all of Space Tech’s new toys, as Julie had called them. And why not? The combination of the new materials and the introduction of the gravity plates was going to give the world all kinds of things to play with.

  Getting a production run of the gravity plates large enough to cover the floor of the entire module had been challenging. She and Zeke had managed to do most of the work without revealing their true nature, so for almost everyone their introduction was going to be a complete surprise. Even the techs that had installed the plates hadn’t known what they were for.

  They had just stopped the spin on the new section and turned the plates on. She was waiting for Zeke to help check it out. She knew he was on his way, her eerie sense of his whereabouts due to their connection telling her that. Laughing, she ran to meet him at the door.

  “Hurry up, slow poke,” she told him. “We’ve got a lot to do. I want you to tweak the fields for all the plates in this area. I want them to be exactly at specs for the demo. I know, that’s what we get for rushing to get these done, but for the media event we need them set up right.”

  Zeke just laughed at her. “I think we’ve got the quality control down in the latest batch, so they won’t need my personal touch from now on. But just for you, just this once, I’ll help out. Not that most of them would notice the difference anyway.”

  Julie smiled. “I would know and a few of them with good space legs would.” She tried to look apologetic, but she didn’t do a very good job. “I’m sorry. You know how I get before a big media event. I just want it to be perfect.”

  “It’s fine. I’ve got this.” Zeke told her. He was already walking across the first set of plates, easily tweaking the fields that last small amount needed.

  Everything about them was being kept secret until the opening of the module section the next day. That was why they had left the spin on until now. This was the area of the station that they had promised would demonstrate the new Space Tech materials, but they’d expanded it to demonstrate all their current products, including the gravity plates and the first anti-grav units.

  As they walked through for Zeke’s work, Julie looked at all the demos they had put together. All of the materials used in the construction were made of the new materials. They had even gone so far as to include a small version of their 3D AI-controlled printer that would build small devices on command, something they hoped to sell to small manufacturers. At some point, they probably would sell them directly to the public. But Julie’s favorite section was the sample apartment they’d decided to include.

  The living area was small, but with Caitlyn’s help decorating it, Julie had made it quite appealing. An AI controlled everything, including a state of the art VR system. The kitchen using all the new materials was ultra modern and included all the amenities one would want. The master bedroom had a sample bed using the new anti-gravity webbing and in the smaller bedroom the new sleeping mat was being demonstrated.

  Julie was thrilled with the way it had all come together. “There’s no question about the plates. I’m ordering the admin module to be refit with them next. Think we should tell Caitlyn and Joe that they’re just about to be very rich, since we’re announcing all this tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, why not? It’s our wedding gift to them anyway.”

  Zeke put a VR call through to Joe. “Any idea where we might find Caitlyn? Julie needs her down here in the new section for a few minutes.”

  Joe laughed and Caitlyn moved so she was in range of the VR pickup. “Tell her it’s after hours. Is she some kind of slave driver or something?”

  This time it was Julie that moved inside the VR going back to them. “If you hadn’t goofed off all afternoon, I wouldn’t need you now,” Julie told her with a laugh. “Just come down here for a few minutes. It won’t take long. I promise I’ll make it worth your while. Then you two can get back to whatever you were doing.”

  “Just eating dinner, that’s all.”

  Zeke joined in, “Good, you can wait till you get back to have dessert.” He knew that one would get to Joe. “Unless you’ve already started on it, that is.”

  “We’ll be there in a minute. With friends like this, who needs enemies?”

  In a very short time the two made their way down to the area. When they entered the module, they both looked around in excitement. It was impressive.

  Caitlyn had only seen it on a VR design before now. “Wow! It turned out pretty good. It’s going to be fun to see tomorrow.” They were all standing in the living area, which Caitlyn had insisted was the most important area of the design.

  Joe was standing there with his mouth open. He had immediately realized the most important thing of it all. “No spin!” he said in amazement. “You’ve got gravity plates in the whole area. This is going to change everything.”

  “Yep, and I want Caitlyn to order it for the Admin module tomorrow. We’ll do it next and then the Habitation module after that.” Julie looked at Caitlyn, “But that’s not why we invited the two of you here. Obviously this will change all our ships and space stations, which will revolutionize space travel and living in space. That of itself will be tremendous. But come look at this.”

  They showed the two of them the anti-gravity webbing in the bed in the master bedroom. “You reverse the field and look what you get. This is just the first application. High speed trains, hover cars, airplanes, and even Space Tech shuttles will be able to use the technology.” The two of them could only stare at them as they took in what she was telling them.

  Then Julie gave them the knockout punch. “So here’s the thing. We did something when we turned in the patents. As your wedding present, we set Caitlyn up with ten percent of the royalties on the gravity technology and Joe at ten percent on the plasma cannon.”

  The two stared at them incredulously. “You can’t do that,” Caitlyn breathed. She grasped Joe’s arm for support, suddenly feeling a little weak.

  “Already done,” Julie told her. “In fact, Space Tech will owe you a check for your portion of what we spent to set up this section of the station.”

  “Ok,” Zeke told them. “You two can get back to that dessert now. I think maybe Julie and I will go see if we can find a little dessert of our own.” Both of the girls blushed, exactly what Zeke was aiming for. Then he had to duck as certain items in the room somehow came loose from the gravity plates and flew at him.

  #

  The next day Space Tech held the media event announcing the opening of the new section. They had included a large media room in the area, and after a very brief ribbon cutting ceremony, everyone was ushered into the media room. James and Xiu had the front center seats reserved for them. As soon as they were all there, Julie and Zeke went up to the podium.


  Julie had been watching the two types of media people they had with them. Most didn’t have their space legs, as the personnel in Space Tech Station liked to refer to those that spent a lot of time in space. They apparently thought nothing of being able to walk right around in the new module. The ones with space legs on the other hand were looking around with puzzlement. Either they noticed that module wasn’t spinning before they entered or the ones with the sensitivity to it could feel that they weren’t spinning. Of course both of their special envoys fit in with the second group.

  Smiling, Julie started her presentation. “In a few minutes, we’ll turn everyone loose to look around our demonstration areas. Everything in here is using the new Space Tech products you’ll be seeing introduced over the next year as we get full production going. But first, I’ve noticed a number of you looking around in puzzlement. If you would ask your questions, maybe I’ll be able to help you.” She pointed to James, who as their first Special Envoy would always have a special place in her heart. “James, I suspect you can ask the question that is puzzling those of you with space legs.”

  “Sure. How the heck do we have gravity in here with no spin on this module?”

  “Yes, the answer is that you have just discovered our first product to be demonstrated. All of you are standing and sitting on the new Space Tech gravity plates.”

  All of the media stared at her in amazement. Julie saw Xiu give her a huge smile. Then she turned to Zeke and said, “I’m not sure if everyone understands and I’m sure some don’t believe me. Zeke, will you do the honor of demonstrating for me?”

  Smiling back at her, Zeke held up an object in his hand for them to see. “I am holding the controller for the gravity plates. Of course, you could just as well control them with an AI, at least one of our new ones.” He adjusted the gravity downwards to nearly 25%, which had decidedly started making some of those without space legs a little nervous. “That’s the low setting. I guess if you were an exercise freak and a glutton for punishment you could do this,” at which point he raised the gravity to 130%. He quickly adjusted it back to the normal setting. “Although most of the time you’ll just want the normal earth gravity. So any questions?”

  One of the sharper guys who regularly covered these type events at Space Tech asked in obvious excitement, “Will this work on earth also?”

  “You’re talking about generating an anti-gravity effect. But the answer is a big yes. All we do is reverse the field.”

  A loud murmur went throughout the room. Julie let it go a minute and then stepped back in. “In the sample master bedroom you’ll see a bed that uses the anti-gravity effect to lower the gravity for sleeping, and in the other bedroom a roll-up mat that does the same thing. This is just the first application. High speed trains, hover cars, airplanes, and even Space Tech shuttles will be able to use the technology. And it all will be powered by the new power units that we’re now producing small enough to power a single home.”

  The murmur grew even louder. Julie had to laugh. “Ok, before I lose you completely, go through the rooms and look at all of the materials too. After all, that is why you came here.” The room gave a huge laugh, some of them looking a little sheepish. “And again, remember that Space Tech personnel will be available by appointment to give detailed demonstrations of everything here, including the new AI controlled 3D printers that can produce almost anything you want on demand using these same materials. Thank you!”

  The group slowly exited the room, most of them talking excitedly. Julie and Zeke turned to the two envoys who had come straight up to them. “You two have just turned the world upside down,” Xiu said breathlessly. “I knew you were up to something, but not this! Wow!”

  “I expect that you are about to be getting a call from my boss and hers too,” James told them. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to hold this one back. It’s going to be like opening the floodgates. Everyone is going to want one of those sleeping systems. And then they will figure out they have to have a power unit to run it, but that same power unit will take care of all their energy needs at a fraction of the cost they’re paying now.”

  “Yes, I know, but we couldn’t hold it all back either. As far as the home power units, I was figuring a ten percent up-charge that would go to the local power company as an asset retirement payment. That should work even for Xiu’s government. So set up a time with Caitlyn, and Zeke and I will be available to discuss this any time today.”

  James was right. The discussions went on throughout the day. Each government quickly realized that they had no chance to stand against the tide, with their citizens all calling and demanding their government immediately approve the sales within their respective countries. Julie eventually agreed with everyone to charge a 25% up-charge the first six months, with the charge dropping 5% every six months until reaching the 10% rate which would remain in effect no longer than 5 years. Those that just had to have the technology immediately could get it if they were willing to pay the higher price. The others could wait until the cost was lower.

  When Space Tech announced production would begin immediately, they were so overwhelmed within the first few minutes that they were already a month behind on their orders. Within an hour they were six months behind. Even Julie and Zeke were caught by surprise.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Into the Breach Once More

  Julie sat in the little observation room that she and Zeke called their own. The last week had been crazy with all the things that had happened. She knew she should feel really good about everything, with the pirates wiped out and the new products doing so well. She even thought the deal they had worked out for the funds to handle the transition to the new power systems had gone well. Brian’s power suit was working out even better than she had dared to hope.

  She wanted to believe it was all over with, but something told her it wasn’t. It was just a feeling she had, but she’d learned to trust those feelings. For one thing, only Zeke’s task was complete; her task as well as that of the two envoys was still to be completed. That meant something was still out there to be dealt with.

  She was now convinced that the bad guys in this temporal war were the real Organization and she didn’t think they were finished yet. That probably meant, among other things, that another one of those horrible weapons was out there somewhere. That’s why I want Zeke to help me get the plasma gun installed on the corvette. I think I’m going to need it before this is all done.

  Her uncertainty had been made worse the evening before when she received a VR call from Jimmy Cooper at DHS. It explained some of what was bothering her, but not everything. Something even further out in the near future was waiting too, but still it all started to fit.

  “I know you’re super busy,” Jimmy told her when she answered the call, “but I need to come up there to see you if you can possibly fit me into your schedule.”

  It was already late in the day and Jimmy looked as tired as Julie felt. She could have sworn this negotiation stuff was harder than any other work she had to do.

  “Is tomorrow morning ok? Or is it so urgent, we need to meet sooner?” Julie asked him. Now that she knew what had been bothering her, she needed a few minutes with Zeke to talk about her solutions.

  “Tomorrow morning is fine. My intel is time sensitive, but a few hours won’t matter. Can you get me on the morning shuttle coming up?” Jimmy asked her.

  “Consider it done. The first shuttle takes off at six your time, if that works.”

  “That’s perfect. I suspect we’re going to want an early start with all I need to talk about with you. Some things shouldn’t be talked about on a call, even over a secure VR, but I can tell you it’s about cleaning up some of the leftovers from the Organization.”

  “Now you’ve really got my curiosity up. Just make sure you get here in the morning or I’ll have to come looking for you.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  That was yesterday. Julie had come a little before the time
to meet Jimmy so she could be alone with her thoughts. That call had been the catalyst as far as Julie was concerned, but her thoughts had gone much further since then. There was something about this mission that tried to trigger Julie’s second sight, but it was blocked to her. She couldn’t see it because it was too close to her. Her desire to finish her revenge on the Organization blinded her to anything else.

  Julie was excited to see it all coming together. The end of the Organization was drawing near!That gave her hope. They still had to deal with whoever was behind them, but at least they would be one step closer. Whatever else is going to happen, I’ll just have to deal with it.

  #

  As soon as Jimmy arrived, Julie immediately called Zeke and the three of them gathered in her conference room in the admin module. Zeke quickly made each of them a cup of coffee. He suspected they were going to need it.

  As soon as they were all settled, Jimmy said, “DHS has received some intel that I believe is very important and because of our history, I believe it also will be important to you. It appears that one of the larger and more competent insurgent teams from the Organization just happened to leave on a mission just prior to the destruction of the Organization’s main camp. We believe that they’ve managed to infiltrate the US borders and are currently encamped in a mountainous stronghold.

  “Our intel doesn’t give me any specific targets, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, pun intended, to think that the main target is once again the Space Academy. We all know of our history with them and the school. We believe their plan is to attack the opening of the new Space Academy facility planned for the end of the week. Your uncle is scheduled to speak for the ceremony, I believe. That gives us only three days to resolve the issue.

  “To make matters worse, our intel also tells us that it is thought that they have nuclear material. Not enough to make a full nuke, but enough to make a dirty bomb. Possibly the radioactive material left over from the refurbishing of all those nukes the pirates had. However, we’re working it as if they do have enough to make a bomb.