by K. D. Mattis
Security guards grabbed Asher by the arms. As they secured her in handcuffs, her mind fell back to military basic training. She knew she could break free. She wanted to break free, but despite her sudden outburst, she knew it was better if she cooperated.
Back at the White House, Asher waited once more for the president in the Situation Room.
The faces in the pictures along the walls stared down at her. Each was a picture of a general or admiral. Some of the pictures were recent. Others were almost ancient. For the first time, Asher felt as if her picture could one day join them.
The president stormed into the room, slamming the door behind him. She offered her normal salute, but he didn’t see her.
“Would you like to explain to me what that little stunt was about?” the president asked.
“Sir, every nation was against us. I had to make a point. They wouldn’t listen.”
“And you really think they listen now?”
“Sir, if I didn’t say those things, who would?”
“There are American delegates. They knew the situation and were prepared to defend our position.”
President Krasinski made a point to catch her eyes and stared down his nose at her.
“They knew our situation? Then why did they just sit there while the other nations trashed us?” Asher said.
He put his head in his hands, resting his eyes on his palms, in frustration. “You don’t understand. There are procedures we must follow. It’s all very formal.”
“Mr. President,” Asher said. She didn’t bother to reign in her voice. “We don’t have time for politics as usual. We have an alien threat. We don’t know when it’s going to return. What I know is that we aren’t ready for it. If we don’t hurry up and get ready for it, we’re all going to suffer.
“The aliens don’t care whether or not we followed procedure in the UN. All they’re going to care about is that we’re a species that isn’t ready to fight back. We have to expect that they’ll take advantage of it.”
“The aliens might not care, but the other nations do,” the president yelled. “They may come back, but they may not. We don’t know. What we do know is that if we violate the space treaty, it will be considered an act of war.”
“Sir,” Asher said, “with all due respect, the other nations will have to trust that we won’t use these weapons against them. We can’t leave ourselves open to attack.”
“Asher, you don’t get it. Are you familiar with the Cold War?”
The admiral leaned back in her seat. “Of course I’m familiar with it.”
“Good, then you know what we’re standing up against. If we put more weapons in space, other nations will want to do the same. That’s like building a tall house of cards. It won’t take much for it to all go tumbling down. Then where will we be?”
Asher collapsed in her chair.
“Sir, what do you want me to do? Am I supposed to just sit around until something happens?”
“I don’t know, Admiral. Right now, there’s not a lot you can do. Until that changes, you need to oversee the construction of the space station.”
“An unarmed station won’t do us any good.”
“Admiral, you’ll figure something out. I know you well enough to know that. For now, you just need to step out of the way and let the politicians play their games.”
23
“Admiral,” Commander Reynolds said, “I still don’t understand why this has to be done on national television.”
“It’s a publicity stunt. Right now, the United Nations won’t support us. We’re hoping that if we can prove that we’re dedicated, they’ll change their minds.”
Asher and her chief engineer stood, waiting in full dress uniform. Both stuck to the floor in their magnetic boots. The sensation reminded Asher of why she was so interested in space to begin with. In space, freedom embraced the young admiral. Gravity felt like a memory. On Earth, it felt like a prison.
A man used a camera to film Asher and the rest of the crew of the Explorer.
“Admiral, we’re ready to begin broadcasting.”
Asher nodded.
Over the intercom of the space station, the voice of two news anchors back in New York broadcast down the halls.
“And now we’re pleased to join members of the United States Space Corps aboard their new space station. Admiral, can you hear us okay?”
Asher looked into the camera with a smile. “I sure can. How are you?”
“We’re doing very well here on Earth. Inside our studio, it’s a cool seventy-two degrees. What’s it like on the station?”
“Honestly,” Asher said, “it’s about the same here. It’s currently seventy-five degrees.”
“See, that’s surprising to me, Admiral. I’ve always heard that it’s cold in space.”
“It has to do a lot with comfort. We set the temperature to what we feel like working in and go from there. It’s easy to picture space as cold, but the temperature here doesn’t work like it does outside of your studio.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well,” Asher said, “if you walk out of your studio, it may be eighty degrees outside. However, that’s the air temperature. There’s no air in space, so we can’t rate temperature the same way. Now, we can put a thermometer outside the station, but the temperature will go way up or down. It depends on whether or not the sun is hitting us at the time. If it is, it can be two hundred fifty degrees. If it’s not, it can drop to two hundred fifty degrees below zero.”
“That’s fascinating, Admiral. I understand we’re joining you today for something very special.”
A uniformed officer walked up to Asher with a box under his arm.
Asher looked at the man, then back to the camera. “That’s right. Yesterday, Commander Thomas Reynolds and his team completed work on the habitat ring of the space station. This means that people can finally work at the station full time without support vessels. It’s time for us to give this station a name, but we have something else to take care of first.”
“Any station has to have a commanding officer. I have given it a lot of thought, and I feel there is only one person that I would like to see in charge of this place.”
Asher turned to the commander. His eyes grew wide as she took the box from the man beside her. Inside sat a bright pin.
“Commander Thomas Reynolds, chief engineer, served me well aboard the Explorer during our mission to Mars. Even though we aborted that mission, I found his assistance priceless. It is thanks to his great skill as an engineer that we even have plans for this space station. Because of this, I can think of no better man to be in charge of it.
“Commander, do you accept command of this space station?”
Reynolds smiled.
“Of course, I accept.”
“Good. I find it only fitting that with a new position, you find yourself with a new rank. As of this moment, I promote you to captain. You shall bear all honors, responsibilities, and duties this position holds with the same qualities that have brought you this promotion.”
The new captain and all others onboard snapped to attention, giving a sharp salute. Asher looked over the crowd and couldn’t find a single person out of perfect form. When she saw the lens of the camera focused on her and the new captain, she heard the cheers from the studio in her headset.
“Admiral, what will the station be named?”
“I think that’s a question that should be answered by its captain.”
Reynolds stepped in front of the camera.
“We’re building this station not only for the United States, but for the entire world. I think it’s only fitting that we call it Ambassador.”
Hours after the promotion ceremony ended, Captain Reynolds walked with Asher, giving her a tour of all the work his crew completed.
“Now that we have the habitat rings completed, we should be able to kick construction into overdrive.”
“What’s the next step?” Asher asked.
“Next will b
e the central shaft. All the rest of the station will be connected to it.”
“How long will it take to complete?”
“We’re not sure. I think we’re looking at a little bit more than a year if we continue the current building processes.”
“And what processes are those?”
The captain and admiral walked farther until they came to a circular beam that went completely around the inside of the ring.
“We’re using modular building. All that means is that we’re taking sections that have already been built on Earth and connecting them once they’re sent up to us.”
As she examined the beam, Asher could see where the crew bolted and welded the two pieces of the station together.
“Once they’re connected, they’re good to go?”
“Almost.” Reynolds motioned to a trunk of cables that stretched across both sections of the station. “We have to connect all the cabling and verify that the new section is airtight. Then we join up the computers and other machines. For the most part, it’s very quick.”
“What’s not quick about it?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it for the time being, but getting the sections up here is the slowest part. We’re receiving several shuttles a day with new sections and supplies, but we can only build as fast as we receive everything. If the weather is bad, Central Command won’t launch the shuttles.”
“If we could get parts here faster, you’re telling me we could build this station faster?”
Reynolds laughed. “Of course, but not just this station. We could build ships much faster as well.”
Asher pulled the captain into an empty room. She looked down the hall several times before closing the door. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she pulled a tablet out of a large pouch on her belt.
“This is classified, Captain. Is that clear?”
Nodding, Reynolds grabbed the tablet and looked over the images.
“Sir, what am I looking at?”
“A space elevator. Are you familiar with the idea?”
“Sure. It’s a large structure stretching from the surface to above the atmosphere. It’s a great idea, but it’s not practical.”
“It is, and we’re going to build it.”
Captain Reynolds looked over the plans, his expression changing from surprised to confused to excited.
“Admiral,” Reynolds said, “the cost of this thing is huge.”
“Right. We’re offsetting the cost. We’ll save enormously in the cost to launch things into space. Then we can allow other countries to use it as well. It is expensive, but it will pay for itself before long.”
Asher looked around the room they were in. It was empty, save for a desk in the center.
“Captain,” Asher asked, “what is this room?”
“It’s a recreation room, sir.”
“And the crew is supposed to relax with a table?”
“Not exactly,” Reynolds said with a grin. “We’re going to build this room out, but it’s a low priority right now.”
“A recreation room is designed to keep your crew happy, Captain. A happy crew is an efficient crew. I want this room finished as soon as possible.”
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.” Reynolds removed his tablet from a pouch at his belt. “Sir, I was wondering if you’ve had any success in relaxing the treaty. We’re prepared to install the weapons systems as soon as we get your approval.”
Asher shook her head. “No. Until that changes, we won’t install them. I want you to plan for their installation in the future, but for now, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Don’t they realize how important this is?”
The admiral reached down and hit a button on her boots, allowing herself to float.
Pushing off the desk and into the hall, Asher said, “I don’t know if they understand. It doesn’t matter. There are rules, and we have to follow them.”
“Even if they don’t make sense?”
“I have my orders. You have yours. For now, that’s all that matters.”
24
Stopping suddenly, Asher turned around. Her father continued to jog, panting heavily.
“You’re out of shape, Dad,” Asher said, turning around to let her father catch up.
“How do you know it’s not just my age?”
Asher pointed down. “Your new gut is a pretty good sign.”
“Hey, whatever happened to respecting your elders?”
“Whatever happened to laying off the cheese doodles,” Asher laughed.
The pair continued to jog up another steady hill. For her father’s sake, Asher tried to maintain a slow pace. At the top of the hill, her dad knelt over and placed his hands on his knees. He couldn’t catch his breath. Asher offered him some water, but he waved it off.
“What is it?”
“Just a cramp. I’ll be fine.”
Sighing, Asher pushed the water forward again. “Come on. A cramp can be caused by dehydration. You should really drink some more.”
“Yep. It can be caused by a lot of other things too. I’m just out of shape. Don’t make this more than it is.”
Continuing, Asher and her dad made their way to a park a few blocks further. Down the path, they passed several people. No one said anything, but one woman shot Asher a particularly nasty glance.
Asher’s dad shook his head. “That didn’t seem necessary.”
Smiling, Asher said, “It’s fine.”
Her dad didn’t look convinced.
“No, really. It’s fine. I get so used to people stopping to salute when they see me. Honestly, it’s kind of nice to see something different.”
At the center of the park sat an old gazebo. The wood of the structure sagged with most of its color lost to age and sun bleaching. Asher sprinted the rest of the distance. Once there, she took a seat and looked around. Eventually, her father caught up.
After catching his breath, he said, “You still owe me an explanation.”
“For what?”
“You had cadets hanging upside down while playing chess?”
Asher laughed. “Sure did.”
“And is there some non-insane reason for it?”
“Everything in the test had a purpose.”
“Didn’t exactly promote teamwork.”
Tracing out the grain of the wood with her fingers, Asher looked toward the sky. Even though she couldn’t see it, she knew that the Explorer orbited somewhere above her.
“We weren’t testing for teamwork,” Asher said. “We were testing an ability to follow orders. The cadets were supposed to get to the building where I waited. The nicer cadets took more people in the kayak. Others were focused on the goal and went by themselves.”
“And the packs?”
“They were weighted. That part was just physical. The cadets were already tired from kayaking. The weighted bags wore them down in a different way. The chess game tested their ability to think and act under pressure. Hanging them upside down was just a part of changing up their environment. If any of them knew what to expect, they’d adapt to it.”
“And you couldn’t have that.”
“Of course not,” Asher said, smiling. “I know people can crack under pressure. Those aren’t the people I want working under me.”
Asher’s dad stood and walked toward a pond with a small fountain shooting water near its center. Several ducks hurried forward to meet him. When they saw he didn’t offer any bread, they swam off to the next person, quacking in protest.
“What about you?” Asher’s dad asked.
“What about me?”
“Can you crack under pressure?”
Asher looked at her reflection at the edge of the water. “Of course I can, but I’m not going to.”
“You’re sure about that?”
She looked into her dad’s eyes, trying to find the reason for his questions.
“I know you don’t see the news very much anymore, but you’re on there all the t
ime. It’s not always good. Honestly, most of the time, it’s bad.”
Asher dropped her shoulders and sighed.
“They make it out like you’re a wildcard. It’s almost as if they don’t trust you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Asher said. “I do what needs to be done. I don’t have time for their opinions. If someone can do the job better than me, they should send them up. I just want to keep everyone safe.”
“They don’t see it that way. They think you’re picking fights with other UN countries.”
“What do you think?” Asher asked.
Her father shook his head. “I don’t know what to think. I mean, I know you’re doing what you think is right, but I don’t know why the media can’t make up its mind. One minute, you’re their darling. The next, they want you gone.”
“History will remember me well. At least that’s something.”
“But it’s not everything.”
“No,” Asher said, “it’s not. I have people coming down on me from all sides. I can’t make all of them happy. What would you do?”
Asher’s father reached down and grabbed several small stones. He did his best to skip them across the water, but none were the right shape. Each sank into the water. He turned toward home.
“I would do what needs to be done,” he said
“That’s not always easy,” Asher replied. “There are consequences for everything.”
“You’re right, but it doesn’t change anything. Some things have to be done. You’ll make enemies along the way, but you have to do the right thing.”
“What’s the right thing?” Asher asked.
“Whatever lets you sleep at night. When the time comes, you’ll know.”
On the flight to Washington D.C., Asher felt eyes on her. She turned around to look and noticed a man a few seats down watching her. Dismissing the feeling as paranoia, she tried to focus on her book.
She saw him again at baggage claim He never picked up a bag. A part of her was curious, and another wanted to call someone.
On the train to the hotel, Asher made a point to stick with larger groups of people. Every time the train arrived at a stop, she hoped he would get off. When he didn’t, Asher stepped toward a uniformed police officer.
