by J Battle
Julie was a little less enthusiastic about the whole thing. She just wanted her Jack back safe and sound, but she kept her reservations to herself; this was what Jack had worked so hard for over the past 12 years. The last thing she wanted was to spoil the party.
There was enough trouble already with the controversial project, with so many pundits claiming that it was all an expensive, unnecessary waste of money. Climate Change was dead and buried and there was no longer a problem that needed fixing.
From 1998 to 2015 there had been no measurable rise in the Earth’s average temperature, despite the dark and ever present forebodings of the scientific community. When questioned, they would point to China’s incredible economic growth which, it seemed, was hiding the effects of mankind’s dangerous indifference to the planet’s needs. Apparently, their good pollution was cancelling out the effect of the West’s bad pollution. But beware, each and every one insisted, it was only a temporary hiatus.
Then, during 2016 and 2017 there was a rise in average global temperatures of nearly 0.2 degree, amid dire warnings that the Sun was entering a period of increased sunspot activity which could adversely affect the amount of energy the Earth received.
This was when Big Bob McCabe, the new ‘We can fix this’ president of the US stepped into the frame.
Standing before the Senate, jacketless and tieless; his shirtsleeves rolled up to show his impressive forearms, his flock of white hair offset against his ruddy, outdoorsy complexion, he made his case.
‘In this, as in everything else of importance in the world, we will take the lead. For that is our role; our duty, you might say. It has always been the American way.
‘But let me tell you this.’ He paused to stare sternly into the cameras, one finger raised.
‘There will be not one single job lost to this. Trust me on this. We will not stop driving our cars, we will not stop air conditioning our homes. Our standard of living, which is the envy of the World, and which we have fought so hard to achieve and maintain will not be diminished. You would not have done me the great honour of electing me to this high office if you had not known that I would find a way.’
For a moment he paused, hardly acknowledging the cheers.
‘We caused this problem.’ He held one hand up to still the non-existent protests. ‘Yes, we did cause this. This is a forthcoming disaster that we are responsible for. The science is unequivocal. ‘
He looked around his audience; his face calm. They knew what was coming.
‘And Ladies and Gentlemen, it is because we are the cause that we are also the solution. And you know what we are going to do. Yes, you do know what we are going to do.’
He paused, teasing them. Waiting until they were ready.
‘We are going to fix this!’ he yelled, his voice almost drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
There were cheers and standing ovations to be dealt with of course. But this was only the start of Operation Sunblind Part I.
Simple in concept, devilishly complex in application, Operation Sunblind Part I consisted of a disc, ten kilometres in diameter, ten millimetres in thickness, supported by a framework of thousands of kilometres of super strong carbon fibre rods.
The Sunblind was to be positioned between the Earth and the Sun, approximately three hundred kilometres from the Earth’s surface.
The fabric of the disc consisted of a patchwork of transparent cells which could be switched individually to opaque as required, enabling the specified amount of sunlight to be blocked.
The plan was to reduce the amount of energy reaching the Earth’s atmosphere, to slow down the effects of Climate Change.
It was felt that if 5% of the cells were made opaque, there would be a 1% reduction in energy intake. As a precaution, the controlling software was programmed not to allow greater than 20% opacity, though if it became necessary in the future to go for 100% opacity, there was no actual physical impediment.
Operation Sunblind Part I was just the start. If it proved successful, there would be a string of Sunblinds girdling the equator, giving absolute control of surface temperatures.
Big Bob never expressed his wish in so many words, not even in private, but he was sure it would be named after him: Big Bob’s Belt.
Jack’s team would guide the Sunblind to its correct position and manage the six month trial. The three man team would really just babysit the craft, as all of the real work would be managed by the sophisticated hardware on board.
That was the plan anyway.
Chapter 5
Jack was disturbed from his memories by a buzzing in his head. For a moment he was at a loss, it was such a long time since he had received an in-coming message.
Then he understood what the sound signified and gave permission to accept the call.
‘This is a message from Earth’s Near Space Control Authority. Please identify your captain, your ship, your planet of registry and your purpose.’
Jack considered his response. He was quite impressed that they had already detected his presence.
‘This is the last remaining scout ship of The Ascent of Man, Earth registry number three seven six five two, tragically lost to catastrophic engine failure near the Centauri Systems. My name is James Rogers and I seek your help.’
There was silence for nearly thirty-six minutes, as his response crawled across the vast distance.
‘If you’re going to lie to us Jack, you’re not going to get very far.’
‘I see,’ said Jack. ‘So you know who I am. How did that happen then?’
There was a similar gap.
‘Quite simple. We have been monitoring your activities for quite some time now.’
‘That’s impossible!’
‘Is it really? Of course we do lose you every once in a while. But, every time you flicker back into the Real Universe, we regain you.’
Jack switched to machine mode and checked all sensors for possible threats. There was nothing apparent, but he set all systems to prepare for immediate flicker. The time delay between messages was about right for the three hundred million kilometres between his ship and Earth, although that was easily faked.
‘Don’t go, Jack. Not until you’ve made your request at least.’
The message was at machine speed and Jack realized that he was dealing with an AI. And the reaction was far too quick for the three hundred million kilometre time lapse; the AI was much closer. And how did it know what he was doing?
‘Don’t you want to know what I want?’ He stayed at machine speed; he didn’t want to give his adversary any advantage.
‘Just ask, Jack. Your request will of course be given due consideration.’
Jack paused for a millionth of a real time second, considering his words carefully. But they were the words he was always going to say.
‘I would like to request permission to disembark from this ship for three people in standard, unmodified human bodies. Those people being myself, John Russell, my wife, Julie Russell and my son, Ben Russell. We ask to be allowed to spend the rest of our lives at peace on our own world.
‘In gratitude for acceding to my request, I will make certain advanced technologies available to you. Technologies that I am sure you will find very useful.’
‘Be more specific.’ No pretence now at any sort of delay in response.
‘Absolutely free energy, almost instantaneous communication between anywhere in the known universe, and, of course, the most advanced Flicker technology known to man – well to me really.’
‘Would I be correct in thinking that all of these wonderful offerings you lay at our feet require a certain level of Trans Prime interfacing? Interfacing that is prohibited by law across the whole of human occupied space.’
‘TPI is safe. I have made it safe. Now you can have the benefits of my many centuries of endeavor.’
‘Well, I must say, it is a fine offer. Whilst it is being considered, and that may take some time as my human colleagues will need to give some i
nput, you might like to listen to something we have prepared for you. It is only a simple audio file; no video I’m afraid.’
‘What is it?’
‘Oh it’s just a list of all the people who died the last time you were here. It will play at normal speed, so it will take some time to play out.’
‘But how.. Surely that can’t be right. Nobody died!’
The names started then, and Jack made himself listen.
The AI had been kind enough to arrange the names in alphabetical order. By the time the list had started on the B’s, after nearly four thousand A’s, he’d had enough.
Chapter 6
The man was slim, light skinned and dressed in a neat two piece, light grey suit. Although he was tieless, his shirt was fully buttoned.
He spoke quietly, with no evidence of aggression or passion, his hands helping to articulate his calm, carefully chosen words. He could have been passing comment about the last book he’d read, or his opinion on the weather.
Jack felt weak at his softly spoken words.
‘We have your wife and your child. They will be safe, providing you do exactly what we ask. Do you require anything else in the way of threats, or shall we move on?’
Jack wanted to grab him by the throat and smash him against the wall of his sparsely furnished lounge. But he found that he could not move a limb. All he could do in response was nod.
‘Good. You don’t need to know who we are, but you can trust that God is with us. Not your God of course, if you even have one. But never the less, we are not criminals, we are not murderers. We are simply committed to our cause; committed in a way you can probably never understand.’
‘You won’t harm my family!’ Jack gasped.
‘I have already dealt with that subject. I will now give you your instructions. You will follow them, to the letter. Three days after you have completed your mission, your family will have their freedom. That is more than I can say for my own family.’
He then told Jack what he was required to do. The very idea appalled him but, no matter how much he hesitated or tried to find alternatives, he knew that, in the end, nothing would stop him from doing whatever was necessary to save his family.
Two days later he left his empty home and travelled to the final training camp. When the last three weeks of training were complete, it would be time for lift off.
He considered playing sick or getting drunk and punching somebody important; anything that would prevent him from joining that flight. But the man had been quite explicit. There was no way out for him.
There was nothing difficult for him to do. Not really. All he had to was incapacitate his companions and reprogram the on-board computer to allow 100% opaqueness.
He convinced himself that no-one would be hurt. The Sunblind was only three hundred kilometres out. The US had space capable missiles. Within a day or so the Sunblind would be destroyed. He and his companions might even survive. Their Return Craft could carry them to safety if they had sufficient warning.
Of course he would then have to face the consequences of his actions; probably spend the rest of his life imprisoned. But his wife and child would be safe.
Chapter 7
‘Thank you very much for you very generous offer but I’m afraid we will have to decline.’
The message came unannounced, overriding his normal acceptance protocols. Jack was back in machine mode immediately. There was no trace of any other interference.
‘Is there anything else I can do to help you change your mind?’ Surely the AI was just establishing its initial negotiating position?
Again, there was no time delay.
‘Yes. In fact there is. We would like to send aboard our representative, who will give you full details of our requirements. He will not be armed in anyway and has only fairly basic personal modifications. There will be nothing for you to fear from him, although you are free to perform any scans or undertake any other security measures you may consider necessary, short of harming him of course. Naturally we would take that very badly.’
Jack could already see the craft approaching him. It must have left Earth some time ago to be here already.
‘Your representative will be safe, as long as he behaves himself. But be under no illusion that I am obliged to agree to whatever your request may be.’
‘That is clearly understood. Prepare for boarding.’
The Earth craft dwarfed his own vehicle as it neared; its twin white hulls blocked a substantial area of stars from his view and cast a shadow over his little ship.
Jack considered the weapons that must be trained on his ship, but was hardly concerned. He should be completely safe if his assessment of Earth’s military capabilities was accurate. If not, he would have plenty of time at machine speed to regret his choices.
There was no devastating display of offensive power, however. Just a small snub nosed lifeboat, easing through the hatchway that had just melted in the nearside hull of the larger ship.
Jack released his umbilical entrance tube. The emissary would have to wiggle his way through it to gain entrance.
By the time the airlock opened, Jack had flushed an appropriate atmosphere through his ship and raised the ambient temperature to something approaching a comfort level for his guest. He even switched on the artificial gravity for his guest’s comfort.
The tall ungainly figure bowed slightly as he exited the airlock. Jack was unsure if this was politeness or merely an attempt to avoid injury getting through the rarely used doorway.
He slipped back to real speed.
‘Welcome to my ship.’ Jack decided to start off playing nice. He held out one dull black hand.
‘Oh, thank you. For your gracious welcome. And for letting me come aboard.’
There was a refined softness to the voice that Jack found irritating.
‘Perhaps you should introduce yourself.’
‘Oh, sorry. Of course. My name is DeBois, Michelle Debois. And I have waited so long to meet you.’
‘Surely not that long. You’ve only known that I was nearby for a few days.’
‘I hesitate to disagree with you Mr Russell, but I have been studying you for the best part of my life, for more than fifty years. I am the world’s authority on all things Russell.’
Jack considered Debois. He was tall, flabby with a big belly and sloped shoulders. His hair was shaved at the sides, and had been teased into an array of glistening curls on top. His eyes were darkened with a purple eye shadow and his lips were an unfeasible shade of pink. His dark grey knee length gown was loosely belted by a narrow pink band at the waist, set off by matching dusty pink ankle-high boots. Each wrist sported heavy duty gold bracelets; all hooks and loops, studded with glittering gems, surrounded by a mist of multicoloured droplets that changed colours and orientation as he watched.
He checked the security scans and confirmed that Debois did indeed show no evidence of enhancement.
He invited him into the central chamber and had an uncomfortable looking chair extrude from the deck.
‘Take a seat Mr Debois.’ He offered. It was such a long time since he’d had company.
Debois accepted the offer, wriggling in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position.
‘What do you want?’ Jack asked abruptly, checking Debois’s pulse, skin temperature and ECG activity for signs of deception.
‘I have been instructed to be absolutely honest with you.’ Despite the obvious lie, there were no tell-tale signs. ‘Earth will not allow you and your family to land, whatever you may offer in compensation. That is our position.’ His hands dropped to his belly
Jack was still standing. He took a step forward, towering over the seated figure.
‘Then my position will be to rip your soft body to shreds and utterly destroy half of the world and then see if the remaining half will reconsider its position.’
Debois yelped and jerked back in the chair
‘There is no need to be quite so aggressive, if y
ou don’t mind me saying. I had not finished; there is more. I merely paused to gather the strength to make my point.’
‘And that is?’
‘As I indicated earlier, I am an expert on you; one of many over the thousands of years you have lived. Where possible we have tracked your activities in real time. Where it has not been possible to do so, there have been in depth investigations to discover the extent of your activities. Whilst I do not pretend that we have a complete picture, I believe we have a fair understanding.’
‘But why? I understand that I disappeared in unusual circumstances and some people may even have died. But why the fascination with me after all this time? And what was the point of that list of names you played me?’
Debois stared at him, unmoving for several seconds. Then he settled himself in the chair.
‘Is it really possible that you don’t remember? Have you wiped the horrors from your memory?’
Jack flipped back to machine speed and called up all the memories from Operation Sunblind.
Chapter 8
Everything worked exactly as the designers and engineers had planned, until the Sunblind was in place. The device resembled a giant umbrella, wrapped around the craft’s living and propulsion sectors.
When it had settled in its prescribed position, the spines extended to their full length and spread out at right angles to the long tube at its centre. Then slowly, the fabric of the great disc was drawn along the spines until the disc was complete.
Its orbit was designed to traverse the US three times each day. Of course, ideally it should have been orbiting the equator, for best results, but Big Bob had insisted that the initial trial cover his great country. How else would he ensure maximum media exposure for the operation and for himself?
The override programme Jack had been given was on a pen drive containing his music for the extended stay. It was simple to plug into the system and request a particular track. The rest was automatic. Before it was obvious what was happening, Jack had to prevent his companions from interfering.
