Freedom's Last Gasp

by M. A. Rothman

  “Anyway, back to my story. Epsilon became my home. It had to be my home, because I was persona non grata everywhere else. And perhaps I would have died here, if not for a fateful accident. I won’t go into the details, but I managed to poison myself on something the aliens had left behind. And when I asked the AIs questions about the thing that had poisoned me, what they heard was that I ‘needed repair.’

  “Well, I didn’t exactly know what that meant, but if the AIs knew how to cure the poison, I was all for it. Now, among the more recent generations of the AIs are ones that can cross porous boundaries like our skin, and that’s exactly what one of them did. It was a tiny little thing, sat comfortably in the palm of my hand, and then it just melted right into me. I felt some pressure, but no real pain. I figured it would do what it needed to do, and then it would ooze its way back out.

  “But… I don’t think it ever did ooze back out. At least, if it did, I’m not aware of it. It took years for me to realize what had happened on that day.”

  “I supposed when you didn’t die, you knew something was up.”

  Dave laughed. “True. I also didn’t grow older. My guess? That little guy is still squirming around inside me, fixing things as they break. So here I am.”

  “And what about Margaret? Does she have one of those things inside her too?”

  “Yes. As you know, she became the governor of the colony. She was sick of where the UN leadership was taking things, and there was bad blood all around. She too was poisoned, although in her case, it was intentional, done by a visiting UN official. She and I were still in contact—we always have been—and I got an AI up to her. Saved her life.

  “But she had a better idea. Instead of surviving the attempted assassination, she decided to let the UN believe they had their victory. She went incognito. Has been running the colony, either out front or from behind the scenes, ever since.”

  “That’s amazing. Absolutely amazing.” Priya was struck by a sudden thought. “Wait—when I was up at the colony, I was attacked. I almost died. I’m told the only reason I survived was because Terry inserted something into my wound. Did he…”

  “No, don’t worry, you won’t live forever. I later discovered that the AIs are able to produce repair nanites. They’re just a few grams, not self-sustaining, and pretty much monotaskers. They fix the human body, stay in your system for about six months, and then become inert and get reabsorbed. I’ve provided packets of these repair nanites to the colony for medical use. That would almost certainly be what they used on you.”

  Dave glanced at his watch. “Looks like it’s almost time to start the fun. Any more urgent questions before we get started?”

  “Only one. What do you mean by ‘fun’?”

  He stood and smiled. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  Priya was still in a daze. The Dave Holmes led her back to the control room and had her sit in the center chair, right in the middle of the room. And then the famous astrophysicist clipped on an old-style lapel microphone and began the show.

  An unknown voice broadcast across speakers around the room. “Epsilon Mission Control, we are now at T-minus five minutes and counting for Warp Ring activation.”

  Dave’s voice carried loudly across the chamber as he spoke into his microphone. “PAO, start the simulcast of the countdown along with the other telemetry readings and visuals we have in the control room. Let everyone on Chrysalis see what’s going on. Their fate is most certainly linked to it.”

  One of the men who’d arrived with the governor, presumably the public affairs officer, raced to a workstation and activated the external broadcast to the mining colony. When he flashed a thumbs-up to Dave, the scientist continued.

  “For all within the reach of my voice, this is David Holmes, acting as mission director and broadcasting from the Epsilon Command Center. We are now approaching the four-minute mark before we activate the Warp Ring I’ve had installed around the Chrysalis mining colony.”

  Dave muted his mic and shouted to the PAO, “Can they see the contents of screen one?”

  The officer nodded. “Sir, I’m broadcasting everything from all of the screens.”

  “I need mining comms up. Get me Nwaynna on the line. We need a direct link to her.”

  Only a moment passed before a woman’s voice said, “Hello?”

  Dave unmuted. “Nwaynna, Dave Holmes. You’re my comms. Are you ready to rock and roll?”

  “I am.”

  Dave motioned to the PAO, who returned a thumbs-up.

  “Comms, what power level are you at on the ring?”

  “We’re at ten percent,” Nwaynna replied.

  “Signal quality?”

  “We’ve got a clean sine wave without any indication of harmonics dirtying the signal. 4.325 terawatts are currently flowing through the ring. All systems are go for power-up.”

  Dave nodded and continued his announcement. “Chrysalis mining colony, by now you’ve been made aware that several shuttles are incoming from Earth, and that they intend to attack our colony. Let me reassure you: they won’t succeed.

  “It’s my intention for you to relive what I experienced during the Exodus. We’ll be playing a little bit of cat and mouse with our attackers. What they don’t yet realize is that they’re the mouse, not us. When the countdown hits zero, we will activate what I call a gravity bubble, and we’ll begin moving the entire colony from its current position. Don’t worry, when we’re done, the colony will be back where it started.

  “I know you’ve all gotten a proper colony education and are familiar with the Warp Ring, but it’s one thing to read about it and another to experience it. Trust me, you won’t feel a thing. Chrysalis will be accelerating, but you won’t feel a change in momentum because of the gravity-isolated bubble.

  “With the current settings, ten seconds after the Warp Ring is activated, you’ll be traveling at nearly 1,750 miles per hour. After ten minutes, you’ll be going over 100,000 miles per hour. And as for the shuttles incoming from Earth… well, I have a surprise waiting for them.”

  Dave gave directions to someone in the mission control room, and after a moment two of the screens on the wall showed new images. One looked like a cockpit view from a shuttle, and the other was from within a cargo bay.

  “Chrysalis, on the upper part of the screen, you can see Epsilon’s filtered view of the Chrysalis mining colony in orbit above the planet. Beside that is a view coming from the first of the Earth-based shuttles. They’re now within visual range.”

  Priya watched the countdown unwinding its final seconds.

  Dave called out, “Mining comms, commence with a controlled power-up sequence, maximum power output to stop at eighty percent of capacity and hold.”

  “Copy that. Powering up now.”

  Dave clicked off his mic and turned to Priya. “Having fun yet?”

  “I just wish I understood what’s going on. What’s a Warp Ring?”

  “We’ve set up a system with twenty-four thermal heat pipes buried deep into the surface of the moon above, and we’ve attached nanotube graphene sheets to them, forming a ring around the colony. We’ve been converting the heat energy into a power resource for decades in anticipation of something like this, and with that power reservoir, I’m replaying the formula that we used for the Exodus many lifetimes ago.”

  The screens flared brightly as a glowing hot ring of energy pulsed around the entire moon. The view from the shuttle cockpit showed the colony distort slightly, and then the entire moon began to recede.

  Dave clicked on his lapel mic. “Chrysalis mining colony, you’re on your way. Mining comms, go with the preplanned course.”

  He then picked up a communicator and spoke into it. “Go ahead.”

  The feed from the cargo bay shifted, the camera moving to reveal several bombs awaiting deployment. Then one of the bomb casings flashed brightly. Something was cutting into it.

  “Chrysalis, what you’re seeing is the cargo hold of one of the shuttles. Some
of our devices found their way aboard, and they’re currently disassembling the bombs that were destined for our colony.”

  The screen that had previously shown the mining colony hovering above the planet flared brightly as four of the shuttles blew up in rapid succession.

  Dave sighed. “It’s a pity that it came to that. Our goal isn’t retribution. In the end, we are all one people, one species, all from the same place. And hopefully, in the end, we’ll be one people once again.

  “This is David Holmes, signing off. Get some rest, and we’ll be back to finish things in twelve hours.”

  Dave clicked off his mic, removed it, and shouted to the room. “We’ve got an incoming storm up top, so let’s hunker down, grab a bite, take a nap, do whatever you want. I’ll see you all back here in twelve hours”

  As Dave went to talk to the PAO, Priya felt a tap on her shoulder. The governor.

  “How about having a meal with me?” the governor said. “The food here isn’t—” She paused. “Priya? what’s wrong?”

  “It’s just… I know the colony has been moved, and the shuttles were stopped, so it’s safe for now. But the colony will have to come back, and at some point Earth will send shuttles that don’t have any alien tech on them. And then the colony is going to be a sitting duck. Won’t it?”

  Margaret nodded. “That’s true. You’re absolutely right. But only if we stopped now.” She put her hand on Priya’s shoulder. “Dave is the smartest person I’ve ever met, and he’s had over a century to think about this problem. He hasn’t told me everything he’s planning, but I trust him, and you should too.” She laughed and shook her head. “I owe everything to that man. He saved all of our asses way back when, and even though I failed miserably at fixing the politics of the twenty-first century, and believe me I tried, maybe Dave has an answer for the politics of the twenty-third.”

  Priya took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay. I just hate not knowing what’s going on. And not being able to do anything about it.”

  Margaret laughed. “Priya, you and me both. Come on. Let’s go get something to eat.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Twelve hours later, they were back in the mission control room, and Priya’s neck and back ached from tension. It drove her insane to know they were within minutes of something huge, and she had absolutely no idea what it was. Was Dave going to pull out a magic wand and destroy Earth? Was he going to somehow talk reason to the Earth’s government and have them leave the colony alone? Both ideas seemed about as likely as unicorns shooting out her butt.

  As Dave put on his mic, he gave Priya a wink.

  That’s when she snapped. “Don’t you bloody wink at me, David Holmes. I’m tired of the secrets. It’s driving me bonkers.”

  He laughed. “I can’t tell you how many times Neeta told me that same thing. Relax. You’re going to enjoy this.”

  Priya huffed with frustration, yet she couldn’t help but feel a small bit of relief that Dave was so calm and confident.

  He yelled to the PAO, “I need Tina Polyudov on screen three via the priority communicator. And switch all comms to the colony via the priority communication channels. I want them to see this real-time.”

  The screens came back online.

  “Tina,” said Dave. “Can you hear me?”

  A woman on a screen in the upper left nodded. “Loud and clear. I’ve got all of your stuff and I’m ready to rebroadcast across all the Earth channels when you’re ready.”

  Priya did a double take when she heard the voice. This beautiful woman spoke like a gruff male.

  “Thanks, Tina,” said Dave. “I’ll be back with you in a bit.”

  Priya hesitantly raised a hand.

  Dave clicked off his mic and turned to her. “Yes?”

  “She’s on Earth?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then how are you talking to her in real-time?”

  Dave glanced at the clock. “Are you familiar with quantum entanglement?”

  Priya nodded. “It’s when two particles are generated and their states remain identical no matter the distance between… oh!” Her eyes widened. “Are you telling me that you managed to get enough entangled particles that you’re able to create a way of transmitting voice and data?”

  “Exactly right.” Dave fist-bumped with her. “There’s obviously much more to it, but when we have time, I’ll walk you through it. It’s actually kind of cool.”

  As he went back to work, Tom appeared at Priya’s side. “Hey, how are you doing? Getting over the shock of it all?”

  “Sort of. Will you sit with me?”

  Tom looked around. “I think all the seats are taken. But I’ll kneel beside you.”

  “No, sit.” Priya stood. “I’ll park myself on your lap.”

  Tom raised an eyebrow. “Are we flirting now?”

  Priya grinned. “Not yet.”

  Tom took a seat and she sat in his lap.

  “Do you know what’s going to happen?” Priya asked.

  “Nope. I’m just along for the ride.”

  Dave turned his mic back on. “Chrysalis mining colony, we’re back online, and welcome.

  “Miss Polyudov, what’s our status on the Earth satellite links?”

  “I’ve slipped in back doors to their satellite control systems, and they’re waiting for me to use them. I’m ready to transmit the moment you say. I’ll have the world’s undivided attention.”

  “Is Project Thor online?”

  “Yes. I have the GPS coordinates for the two targets you asked for, and I have several live video streamers in place outside those locations for corroborating evidence.”

  “Good. This one is for Dr. Jerry Pournelle. Tina, go ahead with the launch of Project Thor.”

  “With pleasure.”

  The bright neon lights of Times Square flashed their advertisements for the latest Broadway shows and blockbuster movies. David Gatewood ignored them as he weaved his way through the crowds. He was a New Yorker, and the neon glitz was something only the tourists paid attention to. He had to get to work for the late shift. But as he pushed through the gawking tourists and street vendors, the lights suddenly dimmed, and it seemed as if the world had stopped.

  Gatewood stopped right where he was and looked around at the blacked-out screens. And then, for the first time in his lifetime, he saw an unsanctioned transmission. Every screen was showing the same thing: a waving American flag.

  The American flag was verboten, relegated to the same status as the old Confederate flag. But Gatewood knew the stories, the rumors of a time long ago, when the United States was an independent nation, under God, indivisible, and everyone enjoyed liberty and justice.

  People whispered all around him. They all knew that to even look at what was on the screen was probably illegal. But that didn’t stop them.

  A logo appeared in the bottom left corner of the screens. “Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,” it read. And then a voice spoke, booming loud and clear across the suddenly still streets of New York.

  * * *

  “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well-fought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don't do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like… when men were free.”

  The crowd buzzed.

  And then the flag vanished and a man appeared on screen. A man with a face everyone knew. From school. From history books. This man was the savior of the human race.

  What is going on?

  David Holmes stood proudly, faced the camera, and smiled.

  Shinzo Watanabe stood in the center of Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest crossings in Tokyo, along with thousands of others. But no one was moving or bustling about. They all stood still
, looking up at the big screen that broadcast the face of a man everyone knew.

  “Hello everyone. Your eyes are not deceiving you. I am David Holmes.”

  A Japanese translation scrolled beneath the image, but Watanabe understood the English.

  This had to be a video trick by the government. But… why? What would be the point?

  And then the face disappeared, although his voice continued to narrate, and the translation continued to scroll, as a series of videos played.

  A UN shuttle landing on the planet Epsilon.

  The shuttle being ripped apart by what looked like tiny robots.

  The wing of a giant iridescent insect, and on its end, the potent poison that should have killed David Holmes.

  Shape-changing alien creatures.

  And through it all, Holmes spoke. He explained why he did not die on Chrysalis. He explained how it was that he was still alive.

  It couldn’t be true.

  And then another video played, this one with a timestamp of less than twenty-four hours ago. It showed several views of what Holmes claimed was an attack by Earth against the colony. Watanabe watched with fascination as a ring glowed brightly around the colony, and with horror as the shuttles exploded.