The Orphan in Near-Space (The Space Orphan Book 2)

by Laer Carroll

  "For more than thirty years our telescopes have seen unusual disruptions in the rings. Many experts have diagnosed these as natural events. I believe they are something else, the wakes of alien spacecraft traveling in or near the rings.

  "I believe that for millions of years there has existed a web of hyperspace gates placed all around Saturn. They are part of a colossal galactic travel network. Ships come out of them into our solar system from very far away. Sometimes they simply enter another gate to a final destination. Sometimes they stay around long enough to dip into the vast atmosphere of Saturn to refuel their spaceships. Sometimes they stay around a while longer in some super-advanced version of hotels.

  "Why have they not contacted us? Likely we just are not interesting to them, even as food or game to hunt for fun. Perhaps for some other reasons, ones we may be totally unable to imagine."

  She let these ideas simmer for a short time. Then she shrugged.

  "Maybe I'm wrong. But just maybe I'm right. What are we to do about it? Do we need to protect ourselves, perhaps from some predator race which avoids the gates and even now comes toward us, drawn by the radio waves we've been sending out by accident for over a century?"

  She let THOSE ideas simmer for a time. Then she shrugged.

  "I for one am not going to lose any sleep over all these possibilities. I will work hard to get us into space, further and further. And one way to do that is to create this vehicle."

  She put the first image back up on the screen: a white arrowhead piercing a blue sky.

  "Now let's get to work."

  <>

  Aerospace Weekly_______________________________________

  Historic Taiwan / Glorious Contract Signed

  Summary: Taiwan and Glorious Republic today signed a cooperative agreement allowing Kuznetsov Aerospace to rent space-jet engines made in Taiwan to the Republic.

  The recently formed Kuznetsov Aerospace Corporation (NYSE: KAS, UKSE: KAU, HKSE: KAC), headquartered in Los Angeles, has successfully negotiated a contract by which space jet engines manufactured in Taiwan and elsewhere can be rented, not sold, to near-enemy The Glorious and One True Republic of China. By renting this legally bypasses the technology export restrictions imposed by the US, as Taiwan is classified as an ally of the US.

  Until today the two Chinese countries have had contentious relations, the Republic insisting that Taiwan is just one more province in that country, Taiwan stubbornly resisting this view to the extent of forming a small but technologically superior military.

  (continue HERE)

  <>

  The task force made a variety of other business arrangements.

  One of them was with the Chinese aerospace manufacturer ComAC, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. It was headquartered in Shanghai and had cooperative agreements with America's Boeing, Canada's Bombardier, Ireland's RyanAir, and Russia's UAC.

  ComAC made several passenger and transportation aircraft. This included the C939. It routinely operated at 50,000 feet. With some changes it could fly much higher. It would supply the main body and the delta wings of the spaceplane. Other components of the spaceplane would be readily available and proven technology from both inside and outside China.

  Bodies and wings couldn't simply be fitted together. Their joining had to work together. Jane early on decided to leave the C939's windowless cargo aircraft body pretty much as it was. Adding an airlock to it would be a big enough challenge for her and her engineers. The sharply raked back delta wings would absorb most of their attention.

  This was complicated by her decision to make the spaceplane a vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Added to the two main engines embedded in the root of each wing were two pairs of slots, one slot above the wing and one below. They were air jets. One pair of slots was near the front of each wing, the other pair near the back. Thus the spaceplane had four "legs" to lift it into the air and push it faster and faster in a forward direction.

  Much study had been done about delta wings and about VTOL flight. This helped the engineering team to run thousands of simulations and come up with a workable design. Even so, it took several months before the task force engineers gave Jane a plan she could approve and pass on to the various vendors Jane had chosen.

  <>

  "The Committee is insisting that your spaceplane have fittings which would mount weapons. So far the majority 'peace and commerce' members have protected you from those demands. I'm not sure how much longer they will be able to do so."

  This confidence was made to Jane at the Guangzhou Opera House during one of the dining and entertainment outings Jane made with the General. She and the man's wife had early hit it off. It was not unusual for the two of them to be seen together on weekends, shopping, and chatting with the woman's friends.

  She often was with the woman when she was spending time with her youngest daughter, a freshman at the Sun Yat Sen University. Jane had seduced the young woman into enthusiasm for the Argentine tango. Once a month they went to a regular milonga.

  "I'm not surprised. I've heard rumors of this."

  Actually she'd heard more than rumors. When she'd arrived in China she'd had Robot inject viruses into the country's communication systems. Based on super-advanced technology they were undetectable and unblockable. All of the Glorious Republic had now been infiltrated and the viruses were beginning to spread in the northern China and western China splinter countries.

  She knew which of the majority members were the resisters and why. If or when they became a minority she'd made plans to deal with the Committee, thirteen heads of the important ministries of the Glorious government.

  Having passed on his one bit of important intelligence to his agent, as he unconsciously thought of her, the General returned to other matters.

  "What do you think of this film?"

  The man's daughter had convinced him and her mother to go to the premiere of the film. Jane had accepted an invitation to join them.

  "I know I'm supposed to be young and au courant but I prefer the more traditional kinds of stories, with characters and a plot."

  "My thought exactly. I suppose that makes us old fogies. Even though you're not quite 27!"

  <>

  Several months later ComAC said Jane's spaceplane was ready for delivery. They'd done much simulated tests and some limited flight tests but Jane and her people would be needed to finish the tests.

  Jane and Colonel Liu spent two weeks at ComAC's Shanghai R&D complex running the final acceptance tests. He was happy. She'd hired him to be the Kuznetsov Aerospace head of testing. This let him actually fly rather than just pursue paperwork.

  The prototype of Prosperity, the name Jane had given to the line of spaceplanes Kuznetsov ASpace would rent to China and sell to other countries, fulfilled all its functions well. At least until they took it into space, he flying and she navigating and overseeing testing. A number of problems were found. They returned Prosperity Zero, the prototype, to ComAC for corrections.

  Two months later Liu and Jane returned to Shanghai.

  <>

  "Wow. What a view," said Colonel Liu.

  Jane nodded as they looked out of the cockpit windows from 350 miles and rising. He couldn't see the motion but was sure she agreed.

  She said over the radio, "World Space Station Traffic Control, this is spaceplane Prosperity Zero out of Shanghai, Colonel Liu pilot, Captain Kuznetsov navigator. We are an unloaded cargo vehicle approaching from below and behind. Request temporary berth while we visit the head."

  "Spaceplane Zero, WSS Traffic Control. We have you on radar and see you are in nominal compliance with your filed flight plan. Do we have the dubious honor of a visit from The Dragon? Can't you take a piss in that tin can of yours?"

  "It's in vacuum. A little oversight on our part."

  "Spaceplane Zero, WSS. Your request is granted. Berth 3 is ready and can handle your standard airlock type. Please don't bend us when you enter the landing bay."

  "WSS, Spa
ceplane Zero, Colonel Liu. I will try not to 'bend' anything."

  "Spaceplane Zero, welcome to the high life."

  "They must not have a lot of traffic if they can get snippy with us," he said to Jane a few minutes later.

  "Four visits a day and increasing. So yeah, they can be leisurely. Don't mistake that for careless. They're very good at what they do."

  The Station's retractable tunnel connected to their airlock with a good seal. The two floated down it to enter the pressurized passenger debarkation room. They were not in space suits, which raised a few eyebrows. They did indeed use the rest rooms, more for form's sake than real need. It had taken them only about two hours to get to the space station. They'd had to circle the Earth to do so.

  They immediately re-entered the spaceplane and left the Station for Huiyang base. When they left Prosperity Zero they were met with cheers.

  Jane called an all-hands meeting. They met as usual with such a large crowd in the cafeteria. It was 2:00 in the afternoon.

  Applause greeted her when she stepped up onto the low portable dais and approached the lectern.

  "Thank you. Sit. Sit."

  She waited for them to do so.

  "We have done what I said almost two years we'd do: create a true spaceplane. I will soon leave you to return to my home. I miss my family and friends and more routine work."

  This was greeted with lots of mournful sounds. She waited for them to die down.

  "It will be up to your bosses what you do and where you'll go. I believe and hope they will be to good assignments. You've proved yourselves to be highly competent and valuable personnel. You have unique qualifications.

  "I'd not be surprised if you will remain here. For your jobs are not done. Prosperity Zero has to be tested more, modified likely, and maybe even put into service. There are already preliminary contracts for Prosperity One through Three."

  "I will miss you all. Now I'm making my escape before any of you make me cry."

  She stepped off the dais and made her way to a waiting vehicle.

  <>

  In her apartment, Robot reported, were waiting police to arrest her.

  Chapter 23 - Confrontation

  Jane closed the door to her suite and looked around the living room. On her couch sat a handsome thirty-something dressed in a well-fitting black business suit. An arm rested on the back of the couch and one leg was crossed over the knee of the other. The shoes on his feet were gleaming black. Standing around the room were three policemen. On their collar lapels were the insignia of the Corrections police.

  She stood calmly without comment looking at them.

  The man on the couch said, "You are not going anywhere--except back to the base where you will turn the spaceplane into a vehicle to be feared."

  <>

  At Huiyang base the 281-foot-long Prosperity Zero woke to life. Its aerospace-jet lift engines swooshed to life as well and began to push it into the air. It lifted till it reached its takeoff height, eleven feet.

  "What the fuck?" said a nearby mechanic. Then another yelled.

  The Cook came outside at the noise. She saw the action and leaned back against the mess hall to watch the show.

  <>

  Jane continued to say nothing.

  "You," the man said to one of his policeman. "Teach her that she needs to be courteous."

  The man, the biggest of them, walked toward her. Nearing her he drew back an arm and swung it at her face. She leaned aside just enough that the open hand passed by her. He stumbled. One of her fisted hands struck so fast it could not be seen. It struck his gut hard, but not so hard it killed him.

  The Dragon stood watching as he reeled, fell to his knees, and then onto his face. He lay, wheezing, arms around his gut.

  The other three police had jerked at the strike. The suited one jumped to his feet, yelled. "Get her! Beat her down!"

  <>

  Prosperity began to move. It floated to the nearby taxiway to the wide primary runway. Reaching it the spaceplane rotated to face west. It began to move faster.

  More people came outside.

  "What's it doing?" someone said.

  The Cook knew.

  "It's going to its mother. The Dragon."

  <>

  The two approached warily, long black truncheons held in one of their hands.

  The criminal waited till they were close enough to strike her with the truncheons. Then in one instant she stood relaxed, in the next instant she leaned to the side, spun to stand on one leg, spun further to strike one policeman in the gut. The striking leg touched down. She crouched under the swing by the second man, stuck with a fist into the depths of his body.

  As he fell to join his partner Jane stood upright again. She stood looking at the suited man.

  He was shaking, pulling a pistol from under his coat. He aimed at her. For an instant. Then his gun disappeared in a puff of air.

  "You should never threaten a dragon," she said. She walked toward him. He retreated. She followed, caught him, struck him down with one blow.

  <>

  Prosperity reached its takeoff run and lifted into the air, flying west and north toward Huizhou.

  In the air traffic control tower a Huizhou a voice sounded.

  "Huizhou Air Traffic Control, this is spaceplane Prosperity Zero, Captain Jane Kuznetsov piloting, no passengers. Altitude 1000 feet. I'm going to stop by my hotel to pick up one passenger, then go to 10,000 feet. Destination: Government Tower, Guangzhou."

  "Prosperity Zero, Huizhou. Negative. Negative. That flight plan is NOT approved. I say again, NOT approved."

  Silence met the controller. She repeated her commands. No answer came. She called to her supervisor. The man informed the Foshan Shadi military air base just south of Guangzhou's center. It scrambled a squadron of fighter aircraft.

  <>

  In her apartment Jane packed four suitcases, staying aware of the four downed men without seeming to. When one of them shakily got onto his knees and put one foot on the floor in order to stand, she spoke up.

  "Lie down. If you stand up you will get worse."

  He let himself wilt to lie still. He rolled onto a side and watched her finish packing.

  Done she took a belt from each of two men, who feebly tried to stop her. She strapped two of the suitcases together at their handles. The other two suitcases got the same treatment.

  She looked around at the apartment, then left it carrying the four suitcases in their awkward arrangement.

  Behind her the first man she'd struck pulled himself to his feet and wobbled toward the door. It would not open, the lock's insides missing crucial parts.

  He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. It no longer worked. Nor did the room phone.

  Sensibly, he sat on the couch to wait for events.

  <>

  Jane went to the end of the hall and the stairways. She went up one story and tried the door to the top of the building. It was locked. A moment later it no longer had any insides. She went onto the roof.

  The wind was brisk and chill up here. All Huizhou spread out around her. She walked to the edge of the eastern side of the hotel.

  In the distance the white arrowhead of Prosperity was visible coming toward her. A minute later it loomed above her and off to the side of the building. Its nearest door opened.

  Jane threw first one, then the other pair of suitcases through the doorway. Then she leaped to join them.

  <>

  "Foshan, flight 1031. We are proceeding toward Huizhou."

  "Flight 31, Foshan. Acknowledged."

  <>

  Jane stowed her suitcases and went forward to sit in the pilot's seat. She took manual control of the spaceplane, tilted the plane enough to quickly reach 10,000 feet. She noted the positions and headings of all the aircraft in the air near her and between her and Quangzhou. Then she accelerated to and beyond the speed of sound. Two miles below her she left a wake of startled people.

  She went to 2000 mil
es per hour, then to 3000. It took her three minutes to reach the Quangzhou airspace.

  <>

  "Holy shit! She's coming like a bat of Hell!"

  "Wing Two, maintain communication discipline."

  Then there was no time to talk.

  <>

  Jane slowed to subsonic speeds, then 500, 400, 300, 200 miles per hour.

  One of the fighter aircraft got a radar lock on her. It fired a missile at her. Or tried to. Suddenly every weapon on or in the vehicle disappeared. The fighter shuddered. The pilot nearly lost control as it rocketed by the aircraft it had tried to shoot out of the sky.

  <>

  "Naughty, naughty. Don't be mean to Cousin Jane."

  "What the fuck are you up to, Kuznetsov?"

  "I'm going to give the Committee a lecture on the perils of indentured service. Don't worry. I'm not going to blow anything up. Probably."

  "Fire all! Fire all!"

  "Tsk, tsk."

  <>

  Unhampered the spaceplane proceeded ever more leisurely to a position directly over the tall spire of Government House in the center of Guangzhou.

  There it parked a mile in the air, its VTOL jets quietly hissing--if anyone was high enough to hear them. The craft's superbatteries could maintain this state for days. Air jets were not energy hogs.

  On the ground the white arrowhead seemed to float like any other white cloud. Except for its ominous shape.

  Fighter aircraft milled around it like angry wasps. Except that none of them tried to sting it. The fate of the weapons of the first squadron of four had taught the commanders on the ground the futility of shooting at it. The fighters who had landed were totally ruined for service.

  One junior air force commander in the Foshan Shadi ready room idly wondered aloud if a nuclear weapon would work on an aircraft piloted by, they now knew, The Dragon. He was nearly brained by the others in the room.

  <>

  Jane+Robot+Prosperity was busy. The cyborg was tracing all the text messages and calls and emails of the ministry heads who made up the Committee. SHE gradually learned that the Triad, the superiors of the Committee and the ultimate head of the Glorious government, was the source of the directive to enslave HER. The most forceful of its members was the senior member, a woman. The two men were powerful but not as much as she.