Article 23

by William R. Forstchen

  Some of tile stuff those artists were putting out was beyond Justin's comprehension, but the galleries in New York, London, Moscow and Paris were all paying top dollar for it. Small communal colonies were setting up in space every month as groups of people, united by a wide variety of special interests, banded together, had a small orbital home built, and moved from Earth. There were art colonies, religious communities and monasteries, some rather weird cults and even one strange group who pretended they were characters from a popular old television and movie series from the late 20th century.

  A lot of older people were retiring to space as well, especially those with disabilities that would have slowed them down on Earth. At some of the colonies many people, born all the way back in the middle of the 20th century, were still going strong and having the time of their lives freed from the bonds of Earths gravity, aided by the new longevity drugs manufactured in space.

  "Here comes the five hundred kilometer station," Brian said. "We'd better get our seatbelts back on." Even as he spoke, the computer requested that all passengers return to their seats and buckle up.

  The station looked like a huge donut, over one-third of a kilometer across and set like a ring around the tower. Justin gulped hard as the car started a rapid deceleration down to just thirty kilometers per hour.

  As the speed dropped off Justin found that it was far easier to pick out details of the tower. The sides were coated with heavy plastisteel shielding. When the tower was built, tens of thousands of objects were still in low Earth orbit, most of it junk going back to the early days of space exploration. A lot of it had been swept up, but there were still occasional stray bits of material, bolts, parts of booster rockets, and supposedly even a camera and glove lost by an early American astronaut drifting around. Without the shielding, an impact could do some serious damage.

  Those satellites still in low Earth orbit were carefully routed around the tower, but it was better to be safe than lose a trillion-dollar investment. A battery of laser cannons had recently been installed at the station with the explanation that they could destroy any junk or small meteors that might threaten the tower. Another reason that no one talked about was fear that Trac raiders might show up again as they had seven years ago. Rather than destroy a colony or two, they might go for the tower and cripple the entire space program of Earth.

  The five hundred-kilometer station was the offloading point for crews working in low Earth orbit, and it was also a major tourist attraction. As they shifted over to the express track that cut straight through the station Justin caught a glimpse of dozens of tourists out in the vacuum of open space, standing along the railing and leaning over for a look straight back down to Earth.

  "Better not slip," Brian observed with a chuckle. "It's a long way down."

  "Hey, I heard that somebody jumped off right after the station was completed," Matt said.

  "Yeah, the dummy thought that since he was out in space, it was zero gravity. He didn't understand that you needed to be in orbit moving at twenty-seven thousand five hundred kilometers per hour around the Earth to fall free, so he stepped off. They said he screamed all the way down until he hit the atmosphere and burned up."

  "What the devil is that?" Matt exclaimed as he leaned forward and pointed.

  Four white figures leapt from the side of the station and started to fall, shooting past the car and heading straight down towards Earth.

  "Newest sport around," Brian said eagerly. "That guy taking the fall sort of invented it, I guess. Space diving. You leap from the five hundred-kilometer station and free fall for almost four hundred klicks. You have a small reentry shield on your back and retro-rockets to slow you down when you hit the atmosphere. When you get to ten thousand feet, your main chute opens. Best darn thirty minutes of your life!"

  "You've done it?" Justin asked.

  "Yup," Brian said with a grin. "The Academy opened it up as a competition sport last year. There's talk that it'll be part of the next space Olympics and I plan to be on the team. We see who can land closest to a target back down on the Earth's surface. We're scheduled to do some jumps later this month. Hey, we need a couple more members on the team why don't you two try out?"

  "Sure, I'd love it!" Matt said enthusiastically. "It'd be a kick to fall from the sky like that."

  Justin nodded as if in full agreement, but in his heart he wished that Brian would forget about it. The idea of falling hundreds of kilometers and thundering through the Earth's atmosphere was not necessarily his idea of a good time.

  "I'll put you guys down on the list then," Brian announced.

  "Yeah, thanks," Justin replied, wanting to kick Matt for agreeing.

  Another jumper leapt off and Justin found it strange that the tourists were applauding, their gloved hands striking together soundlessly.

  They shot through the middle of the station past a docked car on a side track, and several seconds later they emerged topside. To his right Justin saw an old-style low orbit transfer ship departing from the station. He had heard that it was a heck of a ride. The moment the ship undocked from the side of the tower it'd start to fall straight down towards Earth, all rockets firing until it accelerated to orbital speed; then it would climb back up and insert into orbit. It was definitely not for the weak of stomach. He was glad that for this trip up he had made sure that he had put on an anti-space-sickness patch, unlike the last time.

  "All passengers please remain seated," the computer requested. "We will now accelerate up to our maximum speed of seven thousand two hundred kilometers per hour. Our arrival time at Geosynch Orbit Base is scheduled for 1919 Greenwich Space Time."

  "Here we go!" Brian said. "This is my favorite part."

  Justin felt as if he had been kicked in the pants. He raised his arm and it felt decidedly heavy. Looking over at a computer terminal display, he saw that they had just hit 2.1 gees acceleration and were holding. Their speed quickly climbed through a thousand kilometers an hour. The side of the tower became a blur. They crossed through two thousand and then three thousand kilometers per hour, the car riding smoothly. Downbound cars on other tracks snapped by and were soon almost impossible to see except for a flash of light that shot past in the blink of an eye.

  He turned his head to one side and saw the curvature of the Earth sweeping away. All of Central

  America and southern Mexico were clearly visible along with the turquoise blue of the Caribbean Sea. Feeling slightly dizzy, he turned to look straight back up and closed his eyes for a minute.

  "Acceleration is complete. Please feel free to get up out of your seats," the computer announced. "If you should feel hungry, refreshments are being served on the bottom deck."

  Justin gulped hard and waited for a moment but his stomach didn't give any signs that it wanted to rebel. He looked over at the gravity meter on the computer screen. As the ear climbed farther away from Earth, gravity would slowly drop away to only a fraction of surface gravity at the top of the tower. But the car would slowly continue to accelerate, holding at a steady 2 gee until final deceleration.

  "Let's get some grub and watch the show down below," Brian said.

  Matt, feeling a bit shaky, followed them over to the small spiral staircase rather than wait for the elevator. They went down the three levels to the bottom floor of the car, and as they stepped out Matt gasped in surprise. The floor was covered in plexishield, and the bottom cover had been retracted. Earth, now nearly three thousand kilometers away, was visible directly below his feet.

  He stood there for a moment, absolutely amazed by the view. The entire sphere of the Earth was now visible, filling up most of space below, as was the long thin needle of the tower going straight down until it simply disappeared from view.

  Matt shook his head and moved to join Brian at a table in the corner of the room but Justin found that he wasn't hungry at the moment. He was far more interested in watching Earth as it slowly dropped away.

  The first-timers stood around like him, looking
down, some of them nervous, others excited, while the old hands at space travel picked up the snack which was being served out by a 'bot and headed back up to their more comfortable seats on the main decks. Justin finally wandered over to join his friends and settled down into a reclining chair beside the table, ignoring the sardonic grins of Matt and Brian over his concession to the gee pull.

  "A cadet has to look like an old hand whether he is or not," Brian said dryly. "Even if the sun should go supernova, don't get excited and don't stand there gaping like a tourist."

  "Can't help it," Justin answered quietly. "It's just that the view is so incredible."

  "You've seen it from the Academy all summer long."

  "Yeah, I know. But just think, this tower is anchored on the ground and goes up thirty-seven thousand kilometers. It's incredible that we're riding on it. Sort of like we're still attached somehow to back down there. And besides, it's beautiful to look at."

  Brian laughed softly and shook his head.

  "You'll get over it."

  "I hope I never do," Justin replied, looking Brian straight in the eyes.

  A thin smile creased Brian's face.

  "After it's scared you a couple of times it might not be so beautiful anymore," he said.

  "Even then, I hope I don't forget how to look at it the way I am right now," Justin insisted.

  "Ah, a poet here," Matt interjected with a laugh.

  Brian shook his head.

  "Plebes. Thank heavens I've grown beyond it."

  Relaxing in the chair Justin half-listened to the stories Brian and Matt swapped back and forth, with Matt holding the upper hand when it came to yarns about his life as a solar sailor. The gee-load gradually lulled him into a stupor, and through half-closed eyes he wondered how Matt, who had grown up in a zero-gee environment, was handling it. His friend was obviously putting on a show of bravado in front of Seay, straining to remain upright. Over a cup of coffee Brian launched into another story, and Justin felt himself drifting away.

  "All passengers please return to your seats for deceleration and docking with sky tower station."

  Justin looked up, amazed that the hours had passed so quickly.

  Matt and Brian gulped down their drinks and started back up to the main deck area with Justin tagging along. As they settled back in their chairs Brian and Matt were already into a boasting war as to which of the two had experienced the narrowest and most hair raising incident and Justin found himself feeling very much like an outsider. He strapped into his chair and leaned back.

  "All passengers are now secured," the computer announced, and Justin's chair pivoted in a half-circle so that he was now hanging upside down, the back of the chair pointing straight up. The reverse-magnetic motors kicked on, pushing Justin up as the car started to slow down. From his window he could see

  Earth far below, small enough now that if he held his hand out he could completely block it from view. Beyond it was the endless ocean of stars.

  The long minutes of two-gee deceleration dragged out and he found himself drifting to the edge of sleep. Then the warning bell sounded to indicate that deceleration was complete.

  "Prepare for docking at Geosynch Orbital Base Station, gateway to the solar system and beyond," the computer announced. "Have a nice day."

  His chair rotated back to its upright position. When deceleration stopped, he felt his stomach leap. They were at near-zero gravity. He took a deep breath and waited, expecting his old enemy space sickness to kick in but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and saw Matt grinning at him.

  "You're a veteran now," Matt said, "not Wee the first time."

  "Don't remind me."

  "Yeah, don't remind him," Brian growled behind them. Embarrassed, Justin looked back, remembering how he had thrown up all over Brian's dress white uniform. Brian looked at him coldly for a moment, then smiled.

  "It's all right, kid, but some day I'll pay you back I promise!"

  He reached out again and shook their hands.

  "All right, plebes. Outside this ship there'll be hundreds of cadets waiting for the shuttle to the Academy. Out there I'm Senior Cadet Seay and don't forget it. And if you cross me, so help me I'll kick your butts from here to Phobos and back again. Got it?'

  "Yes, sir!" Matt replied with mock seriousness.

  A faint shudder ran through the car, and Justin spared a quick look out the window. The huge circle of the main docking station was straight overhead. It was nearly one and a half kilometers in diameter, and it appeared to float like a huge halo at the very top of the tower to which it was hooked by half a hundred support spokes. Hundreds of ships of nearly every description were anchored into the docking ports, everything from small express-courier ships and two-seater Strike Eagle defense craft to hundred thousand-ton bulk cargo-carriers. Hovering in holding patterns beyond the ring were more ships waiting for an open docking bay, and beyond them was a long necklace of solar power stations with panels ten kilometers across and zero-gravity manufacturing centers.

  Space suddenly disappeared as the car entered a docking tube. The car slowed down, switched through several side tracks, and then came to a stop.

  "Thank you for riding United Nations Skyhook Tower Number One, Earth's tower to the stars. Please exit by the nearest door. Please follow the flashing blue arrows to the baggage area to reclaim your luggage. To locate the docking bay of your connecting flight, please consult your computer monitor before leaving."

  "It's Docking Bay B-47," Brian announced. "You guys have any luggage?"

  "Just our tote bags," Justin replied.

  "Come on then, I know the way."

  Justin undipped his seatbelt and clutched his chair while Matt reached up to the overhead compartment and pulled down their bags. Brian was already out in the corridor and Justin struggled to keep up with his friends as they cleared the airlock and stepped out into the main arrival terminal. With a new ship coming in every minute, there were hundreds of passengers milling about. Justin threaded past a group of Benedictine monks wearing the plain brown robes of their order, who were drifting down the corridor alongside him.

  "Heading to our new monastery orbiting Jupiter," one of them said excitedly when he saw Justin looking at him. "Can't let the Franciscans and Trappists do all the work out here."

  At the end of the open corridor, which stretched for several hundred yards and was lined with duty free shops, they reached a shuttle tunnel that would take them to the B docking area. It seemed like a flood of white uniforms was converging on the spot, and Justin looked around in surprise. During the summer session the only cadets aboard the ship were the scrub class, their cadet instructors, and a few hundred others who were engaged in special projects. Everyone else had been out at hundreds of different research and work sites all the way from Mercury to Jupiter. He felt decidedly uncomfortable at the sight of all the additional stripes on cadet uniforms, and he looked down self-consciously at his own empty sleeve.

  There were no seats aboard the open shuttle tram so he just floated into the long compartment, grabbed hold of a strap, and locked his feet under the safety straps set in the floor. Brian was already lost to view although Justin could hear his voice laughing and describing what a miserable bunch of scrubs he had been forced to work with for the summer. Justin and Matt looked at each other a bit nervously, especially when they noticed the disdainful glances of the upperclassmenas if the presence of two mere third-class plebes were not even worthy of comment.

  The tram started up and drifted into one of the tunnels leading to the outer rim of the station. As the car emerged from the tunnel, Justin was overwhelmed at the sea of white uniforms floating in the B docking area.

  Leaving the tramcar, they looked around in confusion.

  "Justin, Matt!"

  "Hey, it's Madison Smith," Matt cried, and he pushed off to float over to their old classmate. Her dark features were crinkled up into a bright cheery grin and, using her sticky bottom gravity shoes, she clumsily walked ove
r to them to give her two friends a hug. Justin looked around and saw his other friends coming over; in the back of the group he noticed Tanya talking with Sue. She broke away from her friend at the sight of Justin, came up a bit shyly, and extended her hand.

  "Good to see you, Justin," she said quietly.

  He had been nervously wondering about this moment ever since he left Earth. There had been that hug and kiss on the day that he rescued her and a second kiss just before leaving for Earth. He noticed that Sue was already up to Matt, giving him a hug. Hugs were acceptable according to Academy regulations but anything beyond that was definitely frowned upon, in public and in private. The rules were tough on that point, but everyone knew that when a bit of romance took hold it was kind of hard to clamp down on it completely. But lie wasn't sure if he really wanted a romance with Tanya or not. They had, after all, been bitter enemies right up until the moment he pulled her back from the edge of the cliff on the Moon. Now he wasn't sure, and he instantly picked up that she was nervous as well.

  She pulled back a bit.

  "Ready to head back?" he finally asked.

  "Sure. I think it's going to be an interesting year."

  "All right, plebes. First Battalion Company A, fall in, let's get a hustle on! Transport Twenty-Three leaves in seven minutes and I'll be damned if one of my pukes gets left behind."

  Justin looked over his shoulder to see Brian approaching, and there was a low moan from Madison and several others gathered around Justin and Matt.

  "Come on, move it! I'm sick at the sight of you pukes! And speaking of pukes" Seay came up to Justin and fixed him with a steely gaze.

  Justin came to attention, amazed at Seay's sudden transformation from friendly comrade to company commander.

  "It's gonna be a long year with you bums and with any kind of luck we'll get rid of most of you, one way or the other."