Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (13-16)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  “Star Force is not charging anything for this service. We are doing this to avert a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. I do not hold to the population control measures that some of you have implemented, but I understand the crisis that has prompted them. Project Exodus will give you a civilized alternative to stabilize your population levels.”

  “Coupled with this, we are also implementing Project Harvest, a massive expansion of Star Force’s foodstuff production facilities geared toward supplying Earth with sufficient levels to be able to rescind the current rationing, as well as for supplying what is needed for these new colonies as they grow and expand exponentially. Concurrently, we will work with any of you that wishes to begin retooling your own nation’s foodstuff production, much of which is still primitive and weather sensitive. We will help you devise a more productive approach, as well as make certain products available to assist in this, namely being a condensed version of a hydroponic factory that we’ve been streamlining for domestic use.”

  “For those nations with vast tracks of inhospitable land, we’re willing to contribute half the payment for these hydroponic facilities on the condition that the produce be put on the worldwide market rather than reserved for your own nation. Key areas I’m thinking about are the deserts and tundras.”

  “A small subsection of Project Harvest will be Star Force’s creation of oceanic production facilities located in the shallows along your nations’ coastlines. Similar to Atlantis, these facilities will be Star Force owned and run, but will sell exclusively to your individual markets, assuming you permit us access to those coastal areas. This will put a supply center on your home soil without consuming your precious land space, which has already become clogged with overpopulation in many cases.”

  “Likewise, many of you have inquired as to Star Force’s underwater building experience in order to expand your own coastal cities beneath the oceans and seas on your borders. I will tell you that it is not an easy thing to do, nor are we comfortable with just giving you the specs and leaving you to flounder in ignorance. But given the usefulness of bleeding off some of your population into new cities, I have agreed to found Project Nautilus.”

  “This will be a new branch of Star Force construction services focused on underwater development of complete cities, ranging in size from small towns to metropolises. It will be expensive, as you can imagine, but my sources tell me many of you are ready to begin such construction projects tomorrow if I give the word. Well, you can consider the word given. Nautilus construction teams are already assembled and can be deployed as soon as the first of you sign contracts.”

  “Now, to the philosophical side of this issue. Many have pointed out that the steps that Star Force is taking is nothing more than a stalling tactic, and that the issue of population control has to be addressed at some point. So let’s address it now.”

  “Killing off excess population is abhorrent, therefore it is not a credible option, though it is an expedient method of reducing the demand on resources.”

  “Restricting reproduction is a regrettable option, and one that I prefer to avoid. Given certain crises it can be necessary, but with preplanning it can be avoided and never should be considered a permanent solution. True civilization is a free society, and the type of restriction that comes into play violates that mandate. As an emergency measure it is marginally acceptable…far better than to have people starving to death…but it is not a valid, long term option.”

  “Where does that leave us then? Infinite expansion? Many would argue that to be foolhardy and unsustainable, and while I agree that larger population levels require greater responsibility upon leadership, it is not prohibitive. There are a great many advantages to having large populations that counter the downsides, so don’t discount growth as merely a problem. Unchecked, it can lead to overpopulation and a host of crisis points that we are now facing…but measured, sustainable, and beneficial growth can be achieved with proper foresight.”

  “Star Force is offering that foresight as we continue to push forward the colonization rush, faster than many of you are comfortable with, but I assure you that we know what we’re doing, the risks involved, and that we have a master plan…a key component of which is the fact that space is vast enough to eat up all the population we can throw at it and still laugh at our impotent efforts to fill the universal void.”

  “Due to continually updating astronomic research, we’ve identified the presence of thousands of planets around distant stars. While we might not be able to reach them yet, those worlds are there to be had and populated. If we achieve that someday into the future, our population won’t be measured in the billions, it will be measured in the trillions.”

  “With that perspective in mind, don’t look on hundreds of millions of births as a massive population explosion, but rather as just one of many stepping stones into the future. We must guard that future closely, for a misstep could spell disaster, without fearing it. Embrace growth. Embrace advancement. Embrace the concept of interplanetary civilization.”

  “Even now, in this star system, we have access to dozens of planetoids, most of which can be made habitable, but even those that cannot have orbital tracks for us to populate, as Star Force has taken the first steps in doing with Jupiter. We have plenty of room to expand in our own back yard, so to speak, before we would even need to think about having to push the boundaries of this star system in search of another. Star Force has the means, and the will, to see this broad and aggressive colonization effort forward. Your participation is a matter for each nation to decide what’s in your best interests.”

  Davis half turned and gestured to the population density map, with many areas of many nations glowing red.

  “Expansion can fix this problem, if handled diligently and wisely. To that end some of you are probably already crunching the numbers. When I said we could accommodate a million the first year, you’re probably thinking what’s the point? That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the global population growth, and even if Star Force grows its operations how much is 2 million, or 3, or even 5 going to achieve?”

  “In that line of questioning you see the depth of the problem this planet faces. We don’t just need an exodus from the planet, we need a mass exodus. That is why Star Force has to take an unusual tactic this time around. Normally we don’t do much building on Earth, 99% of our construction efforts being up there,” he said, pointing up at the semi-clear dome above their heads that was just beginning to show starlight now that the sun had set.

  “While the construction of the new colonies will be off Earth, we need to build our colonist training centers here to facilitate the processing. Now, I could build another dozen or so copies of Atlantis in the ocean, but that would be prohibitively expensive…and you know from my history that I have rarely used that term with regard to Star Force expenditures,” the Director said, cracking a small smile.

  “We need to build on land, not just for Project Exodus, but for Project Harvest as well. This is the most expedient and efficient route available to us, but as you well know land is in short supply, else we wouldn’t have the overpopulation problems that we face. You’re making the most out of what you have and are beginning to expand into your inhospitable climates, for those of you that have them, in search of more building opportunities. We are not going to try to steal those opportunities from you. Besides, we require much more acreage than most of you have available.”

  “There is another solution, however. Land that none of you possess, nor want. In exchange I am willing to accede to some of the demands that have been made of Star Force over the previous year regarding mitigation of the penalties handed down from the war. I am hereby willing to cancel the permanent nature of the military bans and instead tie them to the length of your service bans,” he said, drawing audible exclamations of relief and approval from the nations involved. They’d been diplomatically hammering him hard to renegotiate the penalties and the military ban had been their big
gest gripe by far.

  To those of you who are not suffering any bans, Star Force will compensate you each with one additional territory either on Luna or Mars, as is available, from those Star Force holdings that we haven’t yet developed. I think all of you here will find the arrangement more than sufficient recompense, considering that it is going to cost you nothing more than your approval.”

  “I will note the fact that West Africa and China are not here, and I will reiterate the fact that I do not care what they have to say on the matter. If there are any ruffled feathers to deal with, I leave that to you all to deal with as the international body. The Chinese will protest, I have no doubt, but with your consent we will be moving forward regardless.”

  “Now, maybe some of you have pieced together my riddle. Good for you if you have. For those of you who haven’t, let me be more clear,” he said, replacing the population statistics with a map of Earth’s southernmost continent.

  “For Projects Exodus and Harvest to be fully realized, I need Antarctica.”

  Zen’zat

  1

  July 12, 2112

  Along with the runways crisscrossing Atlantis there were hundreds of landing pads for Star Force’s Earth-based air fleet, which consisted primarily of variants of the Mantis-class transport. The VTOL craft were constantly coming to and fro, delivering supplies and personnel across the globe to various spaceports, but over the past two years more than half of all Mantis traffic had been directed to the south, with a never ending circuit of flights delivering supplies down to Antarctica to supplement the naval shipping that carried the bulk of the heavier construction materials.

  Mixed into that stream of air traffic today were four medium-sized Mantises that lifted off from Star Force’s capitol in formation and anonymously joined into the flocks of similar craft headed for the southern continent. These four, however, did not carry supplies or technical personnel…they carried the core of Star Force itself.

  Paul studied the datapad in his lap that had tracking data for their flight, along with a host of other options that would keep him preoccupied during the trip, but today boredom wasn’t going to be a concern because all around him sat the other 2s, along with the 0s and 1s. The rest of the trailblazers were flying nearby in the other 3 Mantises, plus Davis, who was riding with Greg and the 7s. This was the first time since the 1st Lunar War that they’d been all together, and as was expected they had a great deal to talk about.

  The chatter had been nonstop since yesterday, when the offworld Archons had begun to arrive back in Atlantis. Paul was among the first to return, with those stationed out in Jupiter orbit having the greatest distance to travel. Efficient as always, they’d timed all their trips back so that their arrivals coincide on the same day, and after getting in a thorough, post-landing workout they all retreated back to their original quarters block, hitting the lounge as if they hadn’t spent more than a few days away. Easily slipping back into old habits, they broke out the now ancient videogames along with a few newer versions towards the end of the night.

  Earlier this morning they’d all gotten in their core workouts, ate breakfast, then boarded the transports for their flight down to Antarctica…and with nothing to do but seat time the catching up escalated to a furious pace, now that they could communicate without the intolerable time lag that interplanetary signals suffered from.

  The chatter was all business, as usual. Not one of the Archons had anything even resembling a social life, nor did they want one. Ever since they’d been brought to Atlantis that first day to hear Davis’s speech about the V’kit’no’sat and the threat they posed, the trailblazers had been on a mission and never looked back. Now all in their 80s or 90s, they looked far more fit and younger than they had when they’d first tested into the A7 program, not to mention their energy levels had gone through the roof.

  Their former peers wouldn’t have recognized them, having made the transition into ‘old age’ and the lifestyle that went with it. They’d lived the social life, and now had kids, grandkids, and even great grandkids, played golf, watched TV, and patiently waited around to die while the inevitable forward momentum of time swept them from the face of the Earth. As it was, half of their former peers had already died, with many more to come in the following years. Soon they’d be the last of their generation, survivors of the societal life, so to speak.

  Dating had seemed like such a priority to Paul when he was back in high school, almost too long ago to remember. Now it seemed pathetically naïve. Training was everything. Dating, partying, and other forms of social interaction were meaningless…literally. Thinking back, he couldn’t find a single purpose to it all, whereas now everything he did had a purpose.

  Reproduction was the only viable angle he could identify, and that wasn’t on the trailblazers’ to do list. The population explosion on Earth was supplying sufficient numbers for the future, and while there was some speculation amongst Star Force’s geneticists as to what advancements might occur if two Archons were to produce offspring, they didn’t care to find out. To them, all that they had become was due to their training, and anything that interfered with training wasn’t going to be tolerated.

  Most of the other Archons had come to reflect this point of view as well, though there were a few isolated rebellions. To date, only 3 Archons had quit and returned to ‘civilian’ life. Two of them said they couldn’t handle the nonstop training any further…or more pointedly, they didn’t wish to continue it. Both of them stepped down to other positions within Star Force, while the third left the corporation entirely, got married, and retired to obscurity.

  All three of them were traitors in the mind of the trailblazers. All Archons had been given information about the V’kit’no’sat during their basic training and updated as new research provided additional insights. They all knew what Earth was up against and how outmatched they were. To abandon that challenge was inconceivable, as far as Paul and the others were concerned, and to this day they still carried significant animosity towards those three. Archons didn’t quit, under any circumstances, yet they had…which made the trailblazers wonder how the hell they’d ever managed to get through basic training in the first place.

  Though they’d all had previous life experience before joining Star Force, the trailblazers all had developed a keen distaste for civilians. Not so much those that worked as part of the corporation, but the do-nothing, party-hardy, love-making, out of shape excuses for Humans aimlessly roaming their way through life. It had even gotten to the point where visiting the A7 trainees got to be annoying. This was one of the top things they had been talking about ever since reuniting yesterday, and they’d come to three inevitable conclusions.

  First, they weren’t being overly critical. When people are first born they mature mostly on auto-pilot, ‘growing up’ in predictable stages, most of which are unbearably annoying. That was unavoidable, and while they weren’t going to tolerate being around such types, they didn’t hold it against them. They were just newbs, and like the trailblazers had once been, they had to progress through those stages on their own, leveling up as they go.

  It was the ones that, upon reaching adulthood, chose not to advance that deserved their scorn. Training was everything, and those who abhorred training were, in the trailblazers’ opinion, Human flunkies. The design of the Human body and mind was predicated on advancement, and those who did not want to advance were betraying their own design. So no, they weren’t being overly critical. Those who tried and failed could be taught how to succeed given sufficient time and training. Those who chose not to try, well, they deserved the short lives that were coming to them.

  Second, they and the other Archons were the tip of the spear, meaning they were supposed to be better than everyone else, and the trailblazers even more so than the other Archons. If they couldn’t hack something then they couldn’t expect anyone else to either, so it was in their nature to push the boundaries while others were more content to learn from their lead.
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  This was touted as a lack of character, but a workable relationship given that the trailblazers expected to be superior, but a part of them still looked down on others for not being as eager to explore their capabilities. One who trusted blindly could not be trusted, and more often than not the narrow, box-like thought patterns within Star Force had to be broken up by those of them imaginative enough to see further and question why things were the way they were.

  Vision is what most people lacked. All the Archons had it, otherwise they never would have passed the A7 testing, let alone graduated and become Adepts. Still, the trailblazers were a notch above most of the others, and they decided this was in part due to their being the first class to come through with no benchmarks to measure against. It was a matter of perception that had become culture for them…which meant that others could adapt and pick up that culture as well, as many of the more talented second gen Archons already had.

  That meant the problem was fixable with, as always, proper training.

  Fortunately there were ‘civies’ that had vision as well. Davis first and foremost among them, but many of his people, handpicked for this reason no doubt, had even gone so far as to grasp the basics of physical training enough for them to achieve self-sufficiency while they focused on their tech specialties. Though seriously inferior to the Archons, they did tip their hats to these visionaries, acknowledging them as if they were kid brothers. But still, given enough time, kid brothers will become unbearably annoying.

  Which brought them to their third conclusion. In order for the trailblazers to be themselves, they had to stay away from most people. Not in reclusion, for they worked well within Star Force and with those from other nations they interacted with on missions, but they couldn’t form any sort of relationships with them.