To Touch the Stars (Founding of the Federation Book 2)

by Chris Hechtl

  For your information,” he paused to look a few reporters in the eye. Miss Frasher nodded to him. “Those who doubt, as well as those who don't will get proper confirmation when Daedalus's transmissions returned to Sol in, oh, a few years,” he acidly pointed out. “When or where they exited they'll call home. If they can find it.” A few of the reporters snickered at that. He glared about him in the press room until they quieted. “Until then, you can speculate all you want. But that was a valiant crew, they were murdered. We've established that. The question now is, where do we go from here?” He pointed a finger down at the podium.

  “I for one want that bastard. I want him and whoever hired him to do this. Therefore, I am putting out a reward. I have been told there is already a reward for his capture and incarceration, I'm going to add to it. One hundred million dollars bounty folks. On the individual or individuals known as Descartes and their backers. I want them found and brought to justice.” He paused as the group broke into chatter.

  He was pulled from the press conference by a note as an excuse. He had, however, done what he had intended, put the pressure on the authorities and reawakened the hunt for the hacker.

  Pressured for more answers and progress, the FBI finally confirmed the ship had been hacked but wouldn't say how. That led additional credence to the story. The media finally outed a few things they knew about Descartes, his legend. All “alleged.”

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Jack paced and snarled in his office, trying to cool off but not getting anywhere. He was tempted to do a workout, the simple reps and burn of his muscles had a way of making him focus … or at least get his mad out. He didn't need it; the medical treatments he took weekly took care of any excess fat and kept him trim and fit just the way he and Aurelia liked it. But getting his mad out had a certain appeal from time to time. Especially times like this he mused, when he couldn't vent on someone.

  Zack came in and talked with him. His siblings followed in close order. Wendy hugged him and that got him to get his temper under control.

  “Revenge won't get them back, Dad,” Zack reminded him, gripping his shoulder. He squeezed and then released it.

  Jack studied the young man, then turned away to see Mars in the giant window screen. The video screen was quite good, and the image was live of course. He could see Zubrin city as well as Robinson city lighting up as darkness fell. To the south small towns and outposts were also turning on their lights. It was normally an exquisite sight, but right now it did nothing for him. “No, but you and I both know they deserve justice,” he finally said to the young man quietly. “I don't like people who do this; you know that.”

  “Who does?” Yorrick asked.

  “This bast …” he frowned at Wendy. She made a moue of disappointment that made him pause and redress his temper again. “This … person,” he corrected, eyes glittering. “ …and those who backed him aren't just out to kill a dream. If they can, they won't stop there. They'll come after us. After me, after you. After your mother. Others have tried before them. So we have to find them and take them down. Not just out of revenge,” he said as he looked at Zack. Zack nodded. “But to make sure they don't ever get to do it again. And to send a message to those who agree with them, who would support them. If they try it, they'll be found and taken down as well,” he growled.

  “Are you going to … break the law?” Zack asked carefully. He knew, push come to shove his father would do what it took in cases like this.

  “I fully intend to see that justice is done. One way or another,” Jack replied coldly. His son froze and then slowly nodded.

  “You are aware that you could get other people killed right? Or get the company in trouble?” Wendy asked, sounding troubled.

  He pulled her to his hip and rubbed her arm gently. “Honey, that is how it works sometimes. We take risks. I'm not happy about it, but the people who might be killed know what they are doing.”

  “If they are security. But the innocent could be caught in the crossfire Dad,” Zack said. That made his younger brother frown pensively.

  “It is a problem. One I hope we never run into,” Jack said, not willing to discuss it further.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Two days after Jack's rather disastrous press conference Pavilion launched their first starship with the rather appropriate name Destiny. The launching ceremony was attended by hundreds of celebrities, but it was overshadowed by a false alarm groundside. The media had thought the FBI had been closing in on Descartes and had prematurely jumped all over the story.

  Lynne Raye had managed to hold onto her seat but the time at the top had aged her slightly. She made a banal comment about being upstaged by others then went back to the party. That comment became her signature for the week and took on a life of its own.

  Destiny went on to begin her working-up trials the day after the party. Miss Raye promised they would begin exploring within a year, if not sooner. She also announced that the Asian alliance, led by Japan had put a down payment on a starship.

  Jack realized the competition had tried to steal his company's thunder and had partially succeeded. On the one hand, he felt a little nettled; he'd had a lot of people vying to purchase tickets and ships from him. Now they would have competition; his people would have to revisit the projected profit margin on the starship division. Freight? He'd discounted such things since each star system would be able to make most of the goods it would need to survive. But what about start-up industry? Sure printers and other equipment, but … he made a note to explore that option with his people. When he finished he sat back and frowned thoughtfully.

  But then again, Pavilion's ship had yet to make a successful jump, but he was fairly certain they could do it. They wouldn't have built a full scale ship without a proper drive. He made a note to the Intel division to check on their drive specks. He wanted to know if they had copied his company's somehow.

  Once the other megacorps saw the trend of public opinion, they either launched their own building efforts or made efforts to purchase ships from Lagroose or Pavilion. Star Reach wouldn't be far behind Jack judged. Pathfinder was still running into problems, but the ship was slated to launch within thirteen months.

  He was curious about how either company … or the rest of the pack intended to fly their ships. Pavilion's selkies had been nixed, so now what for them? Obviously someone was at the helm; according to his Intel people they were human. That was fine inside the solar system, but could they really take that out into hyper? Were they willing to take that risk? When they jumped through the Oort cloud one light year out from Sol, things would be very turbulent and bumpy. The mass shadows … he shook his head. Their problem, he thought, though he'd love to find out how they were doing it.

  What about Star Reach? Or the Chinese? He shook his head. He didn't know. He did make a note for his people to find out though. They might even go to the level of hiring away dolphins he thought, rubbing his jaw. Or selkies? He shook his head.

  It wasn't a race anymore; his company had won the first round. But now it was about to enter a new market. One he intended to dominate.

  Chapter 31

  The first test flight destinations for the big four starship creators was local space around Sol. Alpha Centauri was a favored target, though Pavilion stated they were more interested in going to Barnard's star at six light years out for their first test flight. Apparently they had something to prove about how far their ships could jump in a single transit.

  Star Reach was more conventional, setting their sights on Proxima Centauri like Lagroose Industries had. Their Pathfinder wouldn't blaze a new trail, but it would be a good test and independent confirmation for the company.

  The Chinese refused to state where they intended to go. But based on the images and documentation of their ship they had released to the media Levare's people had generated an estimated six light year jump range. That severely limited her destination options to just the three systems.

  Using what astronomers had
found out about the local star systems over the past century, they knew where to expect planets and what they would most likely find. Sublight probes sent by Star Reach decades ago would take nearly a century to get to their intended destinations, if they arrived safely at all. Two probes to Proxima Centauri had gone dark. One other was due to arrive in the system in another two decades. Such an arrival would be anticlimactic though since the system had already been explored.

  Barnard's star was considered a long shot for Pavilion and really a bad choice. The ancient red dwarf was considered bereft of planets and thus of little use. Miss Raye stuck to her guns, however, insisting the survey ship might find something the astronomers overlooked.

  As the public interest in expanding mankind's presence beyond Sol built, calls to create great colony ships increased. Those interested in going beyond Sol clamored for information daily and champed at the bit at the slow pace.

  Miss Cole went into damage control mode when her polling told her trends were starting to go against the company's interests. She held a series of interviews with blogger news networks and laid out their case. She went on to explain the initial plan had been to jump to Centauri 4.7 light years away since it was an easy jump. “Now that we can handle it, we are going beyond baby steps. If you can call a four and two thirds light year jump a baby step,” she said with an indulgent smile.

  She went on to explain the time line that the company had planned out, including their planned terraforming projects. They would go on to make longer and further jumps, refining the technology as they went. She went on to explain with graphics how the ship would make their next “great leap.”

  To her surprise there was a vehement protest from UN within hours of the blog going viral. They claimed that the Alpha Centauri binary system was claimed space as was everything within a thousand light years of Sol. Some were arguing that the entire galaxy was the property of the UN. They were clearly twisting her words and deliberately misinterpreting them for their own ends, she explained to Jack. That led to their next plan of action in damage control.

  “We just needed a place to go that was nearby. Don't get your knickers in a twist,” Jack said dismissively in a press release. Miss Cole had set up a virtual chat to allow the company to better control the release of information as they spun their side of the story. If he got in too far over his head, she'd pull the plug. Such a virtual chat was through text so it was more relaxing for Jack. It allowed her office to slip in a ringer if necessary to feed him questions, and to cherry pick which questions he should answer.

  As usual the chat was dominated by the Mars and asteroid news agencies. Earth networks with satellite offices were starting to spread into the area, but they were having trouble getting a toe hold against the local competition.

  “I thought about having them jump a light year out and back but they need a destination. Which was why Daedalus and Icarus did what they did. Now that we know the drive works they will go out beyond the UN's established limit.”

  “But what about exploring the nearby stars?” a reporter asked him in a text message.

  Jack snorted. “Why should we, at our expense, go and do their work for them? We would be wasting our time and money. They set the ground rules; we're going to play nice. But nothing in that says we have to bend over backwards and do their work. If they want to explore and settle that territory, it is up to them. We have our own concerns.”

  “What about the information you get from the star systems you do go to? Will you release that publicly and openly for the sake of science?” Miss Fraser asked.

  “For now, yes,” Jack said. Miss Fraser asked an immediate follow-up to get him to explain but Miss Cole redirected him to answer another reporter.

  “Um … Doesn't that limit your company? I mean, Icarus and the other ships can only go so far …”

  Jack frowned briefly as he thought about how to frame his answer then shrugged it off. He was known as a straight shooter so he shot from the hip. “We can jump short distances, yes. With each time we learn something new and improve our understanding of the physics and hardware involved. Our software and people adapt. Most likely we will need to stage our ships, at least initially,” he frowned as he thought out that wording briefly then continued. “ …initially we'll need gas stations along the way to the outer limit. My company will focus on the Perseus arm of the galaxy and beyond.”

  “And the other companies?”

  “Pavilion's Destiny can go where they wish to go; it's a big galaxy. Pathfinder hasn't even launched yet; they won't be finished for another year. Ask them,” he said simply, cutting that line of inquiry off.

  “But these ships won't carry people?”

  “They will carry crew and scientists, so I'm not sure … oh,” Jack said, face clearing. He smiled. “No, they are survey and explorer ships. We did some modifications to Icarus to extend her range and broaden her mission parameters but she's not a liner or colony transport. Far from it. She will remain a survey and prototype ship,” he said.

  “Thank you for your time, Mister Lagroose,” Alphones, one of the reporters doing the interview said. The young Greek man was quite popular with the younger audience in Europe, which was why he'd been allowed in on the conference. He worked for Net News and had a professional air about him. He was in the running to take Oliver Twist's seat since the older news anchor had announced he was retiring.

  “No, thank you. And remember a famous quote, “keep reaching for the stars.” I hope to see all of your viewers there someday.”

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  During the manhunt for Descartes, it was inevitable that some of the little fish would be caught in the nets that were thrown far and wide. James Morales was one such individual. He was a One Earth hacker, and he had been caught doing some shady deals for a few friends on the side.

  In exchange for protection and immunity, he rolled on the group, spilling his guts on everything he knew. He told them the organization had hired Descartes to destroy every starship that was launched. The unsubstantiated testimony wasn't enough to get a warrant, but it put the authorities solidly on One Earth's case. The Justice department started to build a case against them.

  Jean got word that the heat was on from a few of his sources. He tapped Saul who used his own contacts to at first confirm it by finding who on their roster was missing, then attempt to find out how much the authorities knew. He spun off contingency plans to contain the leak.

  The Russian found out about the witness's general location through a mob source. Instead of attempting to hack the location of the young man he pulled in a favor. In exchange for information on several major money laundering cases as well as a drug lab within the U.S., an informant gave him the location of the witness. Saul sent Ludmilla and Boris to take care of him.

  The FBI hadn't taken the threat to the informant seriously. They'd put two junior agents on his protection detail and hadn't given them additional support, not even an android as backup. The trio were stuck out on a farm off the grid. After the initial week, he had settled into his new life, though he constantly complained about being bored and not having net access. When a young girl, the daughter of the local police chief and granddaughter of the governor, was publicly kidnapped in a nearby town all resources were pulled in to help solve the case including James Morales's protection detail.

  Boris had kidnapped the girl and made the ransom demand for just such a reason. The little six-year-old girl was already dead, fed into a wood chipper after he'd snapped her neck. The authorities hadn't known that however; they were combing the area for the van and any sign of her abductors while locking the area down and calling in additional help. He and Ludmilla cut power to the farm area during a convenient thunderstorm and then entered the residence under the cover of night. Two shots to the back of the whimpering young man's head and he was dead. His body was sealed in plastic by the clean-up team then saturated by gene engineered bacteria and bugs. Within hours he would be mulch.

  B
ut the young man's death hadn't gone unnoticed. There was little left to go on, but forensics found a few traces of the young man's brain tissue that told them he was deceased. It also told the FBI agents in charge that not only was One Earth behind Daedalus's hack but that they played for keeps. The disappearance of the young man was a professional hit.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  “Family meeting? What's it about?” Zack asked. He was home on vacation and wasn't really enjoying the experience. He'd heard some of his friends had planned to go to a bunch of wild parties, but due to his security considerations, he was left out. As usual, he thought with a grumpy air.

  “Dad?” he asked when his father didn't immediately respond. A thrill of alarm coursed through him. Did his father just have a stroke or something? He reached over and grabbed his dad's arm.

  Jack had been in the net monitoring the feed from Earth. He scowled at the satellite feed as armed drone helicopters followed robotic and human agents in to attack a suspected lair of Descartes. They made entry hard and fast. Athena pulled up a feed from one of the android soldiers just as he felt a touch on his arm.

  The touch was a distant thing; he ignored it. He did grunt and refocus on the feed. It was eight minutes old, but he had to know. Agonizingly he waited until the all clear was sounded. He frowned, looking through the robot's eyes. Athena helpfully highlighted various pieces of computer equipment, but he could tell it wasn't the man they were looking for. The kid was barely 20. “It's not him,” he murmured in disgust.

  “It's not him who?” a familiar voice asked.

  “Um …” he withdrew the feed and then severed the connection. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to get the gumminess out of them. He instantly had a headache; the light level and transfer always did that. “Sorry,” he grunted, getting to his feet. He struggled, not noticing his son's dismay as he made his way to the nearest bathroom and med kit. He ordered an analgesic and then sighed when it was injected.