by Bob Blanton
“MacKenzie Discoveries and Delphi Nation have a proposal!” Marc said. “We propose that the ownership of a planet by a single entity or government continue to be banned!”
That pronouncement settled the Assembly down. Now they were actually interested in what Marc was going to say.
“We strongly suggest that the ownership of an asteroid that is less than one hundred kilometers in any dimension be allowed. It is the only way that we will open up space for exploration and mining. Those asteroids are not habitable, and some will cease to exist after extensive mining. And let me point out that the total mass of all the asteroids in our solar system is less than three percent of the moon’s mass.”
Marc paused while a few delegates used their phones to verify his statement. He assumed they were Googling it, or calling staff to look it up.
“And we would like to announce that we now have a mining station in the asteroid belt. It is focused on extracting some of the rare earth metals that we need for our production. Those metals have become difficult to source here on Earth. The actions of MacKenzie Discoveries as to the mining of asteroids is in line with the present wording of the Outer Space Treaty.
“Since we believe that any colony will start out as either a commercial venture or as a scientific venture, we propose that a colony be considered a commercial enterprise, governed by the rules of the company that founds it and the rules of the nation that company is headquartered in. However, . . .”
Marc again had to wait until the ambassadors settled.
“However, once the population of the colony, to be defined as the total population of all habitats on the celestial body, exceeds thirty thousand, we propose that it be granted independence and become an independent nation, joining this body as a voting member. The company or government that initially claims the planet can only own thirty percent of the landmass. The rest of the land to be held in trust for the colony to disperse once it has become independent.”
The chamber fell silent for a moment as the ambassadors considered the implication of that, then it seemed that every ambassador was requesting recognition so they could ask a question.
“Now, I will be happy to answer any questions,” Marc said.
“How far away are these planets?!”
“They are both approximately one hundred light-years from Earth and approximately eighty light-years from each other.”
“Then this discussion is meaningless. How do you propose that we get there?”
“We have already been there,” Marc said. He brought up a picture of Blake and about thirty of the crewmembers of the Roebuck on the display. It was a late evening shot and showed the two moons of Perseus in the background.
“That’s a fake!”
Marc shook his head. “No, it is not. We have developed a new jumpdrive, which will allow a ship to travel tens of light-years in less than a second. We have the ability to move the human race out among the stars. The question is, do we have the courage and strength of character as a civilization to take advantage of it? Is Earth ready to move out of our system and join the other races who are already moving among the stars?!”
“How long does it take to get to one of those planets?”
“It took our exploration ship two weeks to reach the first planet. It is now on its way back from the second planet, and that trip is projected to take twelve days.
“Now, there is another complexity that we must consider,” Marc said, “and it affects the timing of our decision process. The second planet is being approached by another starship from another civilization. It is approximately thirteen months away from the planet. If we wish to colonize that planet, we must move quickly. It is necessary that we have a well-established colony before they arrive if we want to assert our claim to the planet.”
“Are you suggesting that we should fight this ship?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Marc said. “It is a small ship, only about twice the size as the explorer ship that we sent out. It is traveling at less than half the speed of light, so it is unlikely that they will have the resources to engage an established colony. But we want to discourage any further probing of the system by them and make our claim to the star system abundantly clear. So, we intend to establish a colony there that will be thriving before they arrive. The question is, will it be an Earth colony or a Paraxean colony.
“With that, I will leave you to discuss the path forward. Ambassador Hannaford has all the information we’ve learned about the planet, as well as the authority to represent MacKenzie Discoveries.”
Marc exited the chamber and quickly made his way to the building’s lobby. Kal and Samantha were waiting for him with a security team by the doors.
“How did it go?” Samantha asked.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait,” Marc said. “I feel sorry for Maggie.”
“She’s a big girl,” Samantha said. “She’ll handle it just fine. Let’s go to dinner; we have reservations at Per Se in Manhattan.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Seconds after they exited the building, they were mobbed by reporters. The security team formed a corridor, and Kal ushered Marc and Samantha into the back of one of the six limousines that were parked out front. Members of the security team got into two of the others; then, all six limousines drove off.
“Six limousines?” Marc asked.
“Hey, do you want to have a nice dinner, or do you want to hold a press conference?” Kal asked.
“Dinner, but how are you going to lose them?”
“Just watch.”
The limousines turned the corner, and three other limousines joined the convoy. At the next corner, four cars blocked the intersection as soon as the limousines passed through. Then around the next corner, their limousine and two others drove up the driveway to a large hotel and joined a bank of limousines waiting there. Their limousine circled through the loop and picked up two people that Marc immediately recognized as part of Kal’s team.
When they exited the hotel driveway, they turned left and drove by the convoy of reporters that had been following them.
“Why are at least some of them turning around and following us?” Marc asked.
“Different color.”
“What?”
“This limousine is now gray,” Kal said.
“How did you pull that off?”
“Hey, Catie’s not the only one who can work with ADI to solve problems. We invented some polysteel with some small extras. We can go from black to grey, to dark blue. We then made a few limos.”
“I think you’re very clever,” Samantha told Kal. “And now we need to fix you up,” she added, turning to Marc.
Samantha had him change his jacket, brushed his hair forward so that it didn’t show his usual part, and then smeared something on his face.
“Hey what’s that?” Marc demanded as he tried to wipe it off.
Samantha slapped his hand down. “It’ll make you look like you have a five-o’clock shadow,” she said. “It’ll give you that George Clooney look, very sexy.”
◆ ◆ ◆
As they were enjoying their appetizers, Samantha’s Comm gave a distinctive ping. She touched her ear to activate the Comm.
“Hey, you yell at me when I do that,” Marc teased.
“It’s Maggie,” Samantha said. “She just messaged me that she plans to shoot you the next time she sees you. She was mobbed by reporters and had to retreat back into the U.N. Kal is heading back over there to get her.”
“Better her than me.”
“You’d better not let her hear you say that, or she’ll do more than threaten to shoot you.”
Marc and Samantha spent the rest of the evening at the restaurant. Nobody bothered them, except the waiter coming by to make sure everything was perfect. It was one of the few quiet dinners in a restaurant they’d had in a long time. It was nice to be out on the town together. Marc could tell that Samantha was really enjoying herself.
◆
◆ ◆
“Governor Paratar, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” the governor said.
“I’m here to report that we have found a planet that we believe will be suitable for you and your colonists.”
That got the governor’s attention. He immediately perked up. “I am relieved to hear the news! How far away is it?”
“I think it’s about one hundred light-years from Earth,” Marc said.
“So far,” the governor sighed.
“I don’t think that will be a problem. Your Dr. Pramar and Dr. Teltar seem to think it will be perfect for you.”
“How would they know enough about it to make that call?”
“They’ve been there,” Marc said. He eyed the governor, waiting to see how long it would take for reality to sink in.
“They’ve been there! How could they?!”
“We have a jumpdrive that can get there in about two weeks,” Marc said.
“Will it be able to move our asteroid?”
“We’re hoping it will.”
“Then I must start planning for what we will need!” Governor Paratar said. “I need to wake up more of my staff. Without our cargo ship, it will be difficult, but . . . This is so exciting! I now have a real purpose again.”
“Keep in mind that with the jumpdrive, we will be able to provide more supplies. We might not have something as large as the cargo ship you lost, but we can make multiple trips.”
“Excellent. Then I can wake my wife and children?”
“Of course; you’ll be able to take them with you or leave them here on Earth for a few months until things are more settled. Once you have your plan in place, you can decide.”
“Oh, I don’t know how to thank you. And after all that Commodore Warlmag tried to do to you, what my people tried to do.”
“Your people were lied to by Commodore Warlmag and his staff. They can’t be blamed. We’ll deal with the commodore later. Let me know what you need. Also, we have a planet we believe will be compatible for an Earth colony, so we can collaborate on setting up the mission.”
“Yes, certainly,” the governor said. He was already lost in thought, planning the next steps for his people.
Chapter 19
Board Meeting – June 7th
“I call this meeting to order,” Marc proclaimed. “How are our explorers doing?”
“We’re doing just fine,” Blake replied. “We should be home in two weeks.”
“It will be good to see . . . Catie and Liz again,” Marc said.
“It will come around,” Blake threatened.
“Now to business. Sam, how has Margaret been doing at the U.N.?”
“She is still threatening to shoot you,” Samantha said. “But she says that they have agreed to amend The Outer Space Treaty. It sounds like they are settling on something similar to your suggestions.”
“That’s better than I thought,” Marc said.
“You weren’t going to accept less, were you?”
“No, but I thought I would have to threaten them again,” Marc said.
“Where are you going to come up with enough colonists?” Blake asked. “To make this gambit work, we’re going to need at least ten thousand. That’s almost one-third of Delphi’s population.”
“I know, we’ll cross that bridge when we have to. First, we’ll need to organize a mission to build the colony. I assume we’ll send the Victory as you suggested,” Marc said. “And I assume you’re already planning the mission.”
“I’m planning it, but I’m not sure I want to lead it,” Blake said.
“Don’t worry about that. Just lay out the plan. I have a rough framework laid out if you want to use it. Just ask ADI for it.”
“Sure.”
“Next, Admiral Michaels, what is the status of our rogue submarine?”
“They have the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet and the submarine fleets from both the U.S. and Russia looking for it. There have been several reported contacts, but nothing has been confirmed. It is doing a very good job of hiding.”
“Why aren’t they using the Chinese submarines to help?” Catie asked.
“I don’t think anyone wants to trust the Chinese that much,” Marc said.
“Oh!”
“Do we have an idea as to what Admiral Petrosky’s plan is?”
“Nobody is saying, but I believe I can predict what his plan is.”
“Please enlighten us.”
“He knows that we can shoot down any missile he fires at Delphi City, especially since it’s a predictable target. Therefore, he needs an indirect target, one that we are not defending, or that would be hard to defend.”
“That makes sense.”
“If he were to target an island to the east or southeast of Delphi City with a nuclear weapon, then the radiation cloud from that strike would wash over us and probably make the city uninhabitable,” the admiral said.
“That is unconscionable!” Nikola gasped.
“Yes, but we know his stated purpose is to wipe Delphi City off the map. I don’t think the man has a conscience.”
“And if that’s his plan?”
“Then there are three islands that are good candidates,” Admiral Michaels said. “Areora, Atai, and Ma'uke. All three of them are to our southeast, and with the prevailing winds, any fallout would cross over Delphi City.”
“Then we just have to defend three islands,” Catie said.
“It is worse than you think,” Admiral Michaels said. “He can target them from any direction, and if he’s desperate enough, he can essentially target them at point-blank range.”
“But two Hover Foxes on each island would be able to take out any missiles. And if he wants to target them at point-blank range, we should be able to put in a sonar net that would detect his submarine. Then we could sink it,” Catie said.
“And if he realizes that and overloads the sub’s reactor?”
“To do that, he has to get the crew to agree,” Blake said. “I’m not sure a Russian crew is going to commit mass suicide to help a lunatic admiral destroy Delphi City.”
“We can only hope so. We need more data on the missiles he’s carrying and how he might be able to modify them.”
“Sam . . .”
“I’ll call the Russian ambassador,” Samantha replied. “I’m sure they’re willing to help.”
“Thank you.”
“Should we evacuate the city?” Samantha asked.
“I don’t want to start a panic,” Marc said. “We need to continue under the assumption that we’ll be able to stop him. How long would we have if he succeeded?”
“We can treat for radiation poisoning,” Dr. Metra said. “As long as we’re out of the blast radius, everyone should be fine. Some might be sick for a few days, but they’ll recover.”
“That’s good news.”
“Yes, especially since, for the first time in our history, both of our hotels are overbooked,” Fred said.
“That’s unusual. Is there some event I’m not aware of?” Marc asked.
“No, it’s mostly families,” Fred said.
“Where are they from?”
“No particular pattern, other than mostly from Europe, North America, or Japan. We also have a big influx of young people; it looks like spring break out there.”
“How is our prime minister doing?” Blake asked. “I don’t see her here.”
“She’s doing fine,” Samantha said. “She’s gotten things organized. She’s appointed a full cabinet, adding an attorney general, ministers of commerce, labor, interior, health and human services, housing and urban development, transportation, energy, and security.”
“My, she has been busy, how did she find that many people, much less enough for their staffs?” Blake asked.
“Some of them are doubling up, covering two departments,” Samantha said. “All told, she has a cabinet of ten, including the admiral and myself.”
“Is she happy with the office space we’ve al
located?” Marc asked.
“She is. I’m sure you would have heard from her if she wasn’t.”
“You’re right about that. She’s definitely not shy,” Marc said. “Kal, how’s all this working for you?”
“We still have a few details to work out to separate the civil police functions from the military functions,” Kal said. “We’ve always kept them mostly separated. The main issue is the S.W.A.T. teams. So far they seem happy to leave the S.W.A.T. responses to us, not that we have many of those.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Marc said. “She’s probably most uncomfortable with our military organization since she doesn’t have much control of that.”
“I can tell,” Kal said. Admiral Michaels gave a nod of agreement.
“Marc, you are keeping up with her, aren’t you?” Liz asked.
“Oh, yes, we have lunch twice a week to go over her agenda,” Marc said. “A nice, two-hour lunch.”
Catie and Liz bumped fists at that, as they realized they were going to get their wish and avoid having to listen to all the government reports.
“Fred, how is our jetliner doing?”
“It’s ready for its certification flights, and the factory is ready for inspection. I’m not sure how all that is going to go. Most of the technology is beyond the FAA’s experience or the experience of their counterparts in other countries.”
“Just keep pushing it,” Marc said. “And the status of our other manufacturing?”
“Things are going well,” Herr Pfeifer said. “We are now adding more to the coffers as Fred pays for all the platinum group metals he is selling.”
“Isn’t it early to pay for it?” Marc asked.
“Jonas and I settle on a price. I’m paying that, and we’ll make up the difference once the market settles,” Fred said. “He didn’t think it was fair to have MacKenzies extend that much credit. And it works for me.”
“So are you rich?” Catie asked.
“As if you don’t know,” Fred said. “I think most of us have done well with this market play.”
“Are the prices coming down?”
“Yes, they’ve been dropping pretty fast, especially after your announcement at the U.N.,” Fred said. “I think all of our futures are looking pretty good. ADI is advising that we get out soon, so we don’t get caught in the bounce.”
