by J. Benjamin
J. Benjamin
The Celestial Minds
Copyright © 2021 by J. Benjamin
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
J. Benjamin asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
First edition
Cover art by Jeff Brown
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Once again, I dedicate this to my #1 fan
Grandma Joyce
Chapter 1
Universal Crescent - June 9, 2082
“Simon, take a deep breath,” Edie cautioned her friend.
“It’s just an episode,” Alex replied.
“No!” Simon shouted. He pulled himself from the sandy ground in defiance and aimed his gun squarely at Edie’s head. A few years shy of fifty, the star-hopping renegade had found herself with a barrel pressed against her temple before. She remained poised as one of the two most important people in her life completely lost his mind. “You took us away from our homes. Promises of a false utopia. You ruined our lives!”
“Simon, I would highly advise you against doing anything stupid. Put the gun down,” Alex said. “It’s just an episode of PTSD.”
“Simon.” Edie attempted to deescalate the situation. “I know you’re upset right now. This man doesn’t know you. Doesn’t care. He wants to get in your head. I know who you are, Simon. Think about that place we came from. The terror and chaos.” As Edie spoke, the ocean breeze blew back her long brown hair. The night sky of the Universal Crescent lit up with the constellations of stars unfamiliar to humans who had never set foot on the alien world.
“Edie’s right,” Alex added. “Coming here wasn’t easy. What you experienced at the Herschel, in your past life, that never goes away. It’ll be with you forever. But now you’re in a place with people who love you and care for you. This jerk doesn’t care. He’s just trying to get in your head.”
Simon said nothing. He kept his gaze at Edie, then lowered his weapon.
“I don’t know.”
“The Hell?” Alex wheezed. Suddenly, neither man could breathe. A deathly force lifted them from the ground by their necks. Paralyzing strength traveled throughout their bodies.
The human known as Matt was clearly no longer human. His arms morphed into thousands of Aquarian limbs, and with superhuman strength, he had lifted Alex and Simon like they were twigs.
Edie glanced at Kiara. The young gammanaut with short hair in a white jumpsuit stood silent. She couldn’t have been a day over thirty-five. Her youth and clear civilian status made Edie consider she was possibly in over her head. Earlier that day, Kiara and Matt revealed they were on a First Contact mission on behalf of the Global Space Federation.
Edie was surprised by Kiara’s silence. It was as if she wasn’t there. “Please don’t hurt them!” Edie begged.
Matt stared stone-faced into Edie’s eyes. She knew that expression. “You should have shot us when you had the chance.” He slammed Simon and Alex into the ground with a force so loud it shook the ground.
“No!” Edie cried. “Please stop!” Matt ignored her and slammed them again, and again, and again.
“Had enough yet?” Matt said, panting heavily. Matt released his Aquarian strands to reveal that Simon and Alex were alive, albeit very badly injured. Alex coughed and panted. Simon on the other hand, sounded as though he was coughing blood.
“And you think I’m the sociopath,” Edie said. She wanted nothing more than to crack Matt’s skull like a walnut.
Kiara registered surprise at Matt’s arms and then at the battered bodies of Simon and Alex.
“It was them or us,” Matt said.
“Fair enough,” Kiara replied.
Edie tried to form words but was caught off-guard. Edie knew what was coming next. The outer layer of the alien vessel behind the two GSF reps illuminated in a quilt of multicolored light. A purple cloud formed.
“Run,” Edie muttered to Simon and Alex, barely conscious. They picked themselves off the sand and limped toward her, their clothes tattered and bloodied. They dropped their guns, which had been damaged beyond repair by Matt’s grip.
The earth beneath their feet shook. They failed to stop the gammanauts. Edie, Alex, and Simon made a beeline in the direction of the community center at Villa del Universo, where they had been before pursuing Kiara and Matt. Now Edie needed to get medical assistance to her companions. She could see the bright light of the open-air hut, which sat a football-field’s length away.
Edie, who was several steps ahead of Simon and Alex, felt her pace halted. She kept running but her body wasn’t moving. The pull of gravity from behind prevented it.
Edie noticed a palm tree to her left. She gripped it with all her strength. The rough surface scraped her arms, but it beat getting absorbed into a wormhole. Another pair of hands tugged at her torso.
“Hold on!” Edie shouted back at Alex. They turned to see Simon was several feet behind them. With nothing to hold onto, he dug his hands into the sand. Simon clung desperately, but the gravity pulled against him.
“Whatever you do, don’t let go,” Alex said.
Simon’s feet lifted into the air. The vessel was gone now, replaced by an empty void, and it was reeling him in. Edie watched helplessly as the already battered Simon dug his arms into the sand to hold onto something. Simon lost his grip and flew upward.
“Simon!” Edie shouted. “No!” Simon’s body shot toward the bright event horizon of the interstellar wormhole. His body stopped mid-air, his head and limbs hung like those of a puppet. Then the wormhole vanished. Gravity was restored and Simon fell to the ground. Edie ran to him. His body was bruised all over. His wheezing suggested the damage was internal as well. Edie knelt beside him and held him in her arms.
“Simon,” she said softly while holding his head in her lap. “Sweetheart. Help is coming. Hang in there.”
Simon coughed and blood sputtered from his mouth.
“Edie . . .” he said, barely able to speak. “We’re not supposed to be here.” His eyes rolled back, and his head fell to the side.
“Simon? Talk to me, Simon!”
Chapter 2
Flight to Luna - January 5, 2083
Dr. Valerie Alessi looked out the port window. From her seat, the bright bubbles of the New Tokyo Lunar Colony grew with each passing second. Val could see the bright blue surface of Ginga Mizumi (Galaxy Lake) through the dome of one of the larger bubbles.
This would be Val’s first time at the lunar colony. In previous gigs, she traveled the world and even spent time on Space Station Sagan. That’s where she met Tyriana Islan, who slept quietly in the seat beside her. Today marked their one-year anniversary. Val watched as her wife’s thick curls pressed on her shoulder. It had been more than three years since either had left Earth. Tyriana, the Kenyan scientist who studied the effects of spacetime technology on the human brain, seemed to readjust to space easily. Val on the other hand, felt on edge. She wasn’t sure if it was from the changing gravities, the flight, or the anticipation of what was to come once they landed.
“Marco,” Val wh
ispered to her personal AI, mindful not to wake Ty. “Give me the daily digest.”
“Greetings Dr. Alessi,” the AI said into her earpiece. “Here’s the relevant news for today.” He read various headlines, careful not to overload Val with too much content, as often happened in the decades before the dearth of social media.
“Dev Ivanov defies the United Nations as ban on spacetime sequencing passes unanimously.” Read.
“China withdraws from the Global Space Federation in Aftermath of 6/13. President Zhou vows emboldened Chinese space presence.” Read.
“Thomas Adler roundly condemned during testimony to International Consortium investigators.” Read.
“Kiara Lacroix: I support the UN’s decision.”
“Marco,” Val said. “Expand that last brief.”
“Certainly,” Marco replied. The headline took over the area on Val’s smart lens. There sat one of the two most famous faces alive, Kiara Lacroix. Val smiled at the sight of her friend and former colleague. Opposite Kiara sat the reporter interviewing her, Veronica Rios.
“What made you come out and endorse the UN’s decision to ban spacetime sequencing on Earth?” Rios asked.
“When we entered the portal, Matt and I, it changed everything. Not just the aftermath of 6/13. The people who were going in were not the same people who came back. Do you know what it’s like to feel yourself die? Then wake up in a body that isn’t yours? Better yet, on a world that’s not even yours and surrounded by things that defy all human comprehension? I do. I lived it.”
“They are not a species to mess with. Whatever you think you know about them, the Aquarians, forget it. They killed the Zelthrati. They’ve wiped out civilizations that make us look like bacteria. So yes, I support the UN’s decision one hundred percent.”
“Well there you have it,” the interviewer replied. “Dr. Kiara Lacroix, not one to mince words.”
Val turned off the brief. She looked out the port. Val could see other transports taking off from the main lunar port at New Tokyo.
“Passengers, this is your captain speaking. We are on our final approach to Fuji Station. Please gather your belongings, and welcome to the Moon,” a female voice said over the ship’s intercom system.
“We there?” Ty asked.
“We’re here.”
Fuji Station, situated at the edge of the colony, was an upside-down bowl connected to the rest of the bubbles by interlocking graphene tubes. With two-dozen terminals, it served as the main civilian port for New Tokyo, though it wasn’t the only one.
The spaceplane descended until it reached Deck B, Terminal 6. A brief shake and a hiss noise indicated that their plane had docked. Exhaust poured into the main cabin as the hatch opened. The two women shared a look of relief that they were finally back on solid ground.
They grabbed their bags and deplaned with the rest of the passengers. First, they spent thirty seconds in a grated decontamination chamber. A loud hiss led to cool exhaust pouring like fog through the walls and ceiling of the red-lit room. Then the red turned green.
Val and Ty made their way to the central hub of Fuji Station through a series of tubes. For Val, it was quite a sight to behold. The rich tapestry of the Milky Way shined through the transparent bubble over the comers and goers of New Tokyo. Val caught Ty staring up in wonder.
“It’s even better than Earth. No atmosphere to disrupt it,” Val said.
“Umm, you do know one of our first dates was at the observatory on the Sagan, right?”
“How could I forget?” Val replied. “It’s kind of hard to forget where you were when Betelgeuse went supernova.”
“Just checking,” Ty quipped. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for somebody?”
“Yeah, I believe it’s someone from the Minister’s office.” Val saw a young man with wire rim glasses and a gray uniform holding a placard with ALESSI in big bold letters. “And there he is,” she said, hailing the man.
“Dr. Val Alessi and Ty Islan, I presume?”
“In the flesh,” Val said.
“Welcome to New Tokyo. My name is Seiji. I am here on behalf of Minister Endo. She apologizes for not being here, but there was an urgent matter she had to attend to. She will meet with you as soon as possible.”
“That’s quite alright,” Val said. “We could use the shut-eye.”
“Yeah, and we were hoping to do some exploring before you put this one into her research hole,” Ty joked. “Careful, she’s quite the workaholic.”
“Oh Ms. Islan, you and Dr. Alessi will have plenty of time to explore our illustrious city. New Tokyo is your home now.”
“Well Seiji, let’s see how this project goes before we start using the H word,” Val said.
“Of course,” he replied. “Follow me.”
Seiji led the couple through the bright, spacious lunar port toward a boarding area for the New Tokyo Skyway on the far side of the terminal. A sleek, open-air funicular big enough to hold four people and their luggage pulled up to the waiting area. It was bound to a metal rail overhead.
“Nice ride,” Ty said. They lifted their rolling duffels onto the carriage, making it shake ever so slightly. Ty shot Val an ‘I know you’re tired, but we’ll be resting soon’ look. The thought of much-needed sleep made Val’s lips slightly curl upward.
“Ever go on a ride at one of those theme parks? Like Disney?” Seiji asked.
“I don’t think either of us have been to Florida since the flooding worsened,” Val said.
“Consider this your private theme park,” Seiji replied. Val considered it a strangely appropriate comparison for the Moon. He pressed a button below a little holo-screen inside the funicular and it returned the label HAB 3. Their carriage curved around the outer edge of Fuji Station and disappeared into a tunnel.
“Now entering HAB 1,” said a robotic voice from within the carriage. Several seconds later, they emerged from the tunnel into one of six Lunar habitat bubbles.
“Incredible!” Val said in wonder. HAB 1 was effectively a mini-city inside a stadium. The rail passed through the dense business district, with buildings that ranged from ten to twelve stories. The streets below were made of cobblestone and lined with gardens. Grasslands surrounded the areas around the buildings.
“This is how we live on the Moon,” Seiji said. “This one colony fits twenty thousand residents. Unlike the Sagan, each of our colonies were designed with the highest standards of livability. We’ve also sought to keep our designs rooted to traditional Japanese heritage.”
“Our new home,” Ty said, gripping Val’s hand.
“This doesn’t even compare to the Sagan!” Val said. “Holy crap! This is paradise!”
“Glad you like it Dr. Alessi, and this is just one of six civilian habs. Three more are already on the way. Which doesn’t even include Ginga Mizumi or the stadium bubble.”
“Hold the holo-gram. Did you say three more?” Ty asked.
“Jeez! Demand must be high,” Val added.
“I guess you could say that recent events have made us a hotter commodity,” Seiji said. “But demand always finds a nice middle ground, because many people get cold feet. I guess living up here is a big leap for most.”
“Tell them to get back to me after they’ve lived on Deck 55,” Val said.
“Yes, I read about your stint on the Sagan,” Seiji said. “I’ve heard it’s like living in a matchbox?”
“Well, more like a hamster pen,” Ty replied.
“I think you will find your accommodations on New Tokyo to be far superior. Doesn’t matter which Hab you’re in. Unlike the GSF, we see space as so much more than a military expansion.”
The funicular continued on to HAB 2 and then HAB 3. The habitats were quite similar. Each included a small downtown with park space and a pond. The transit vehicle pulled into a platform suspended between the buildings in the third habitat. It really did resemble a theme park ride.
“Welcome to your new home, Habitat 3,” Seiji said. They grabb
ed their luggage and followed Seiji onto the platform. From there, they made their way onto the sixth-floor platform of one of the two buildings that held the station in place.
The apartment building looked unimposing from the platform. It was a white box lined with balconies. Inside, Val’s impression changed.
“Wow!” Val said.
“This beats the shit out of Sagan,” Ty said.
They had entered a common area with marble floors, columns, and waterfalls that moved slowly in the moon’s gravity. They terminated into a Koi pond in the center of the space. In one corner was a cafeteria. In another corner sat a bar where patrons were watching sports games on holo-screens, except they weren’t watching sports.
“Is something wrong, Dr. Alessi?” Seiji asked.
“What is that?” Val asked, pointing to a BREAKING NEWS bulletin. Seiji’s calm expression morphed as his eyes widened. It couldn’t be good news. They all ran to the bar and stared in shock.
“The attack was sudden,” a female news anchor said. “If you’re tuning in, at six-hundred hours, the United Nations, in a joint operation with China, launched a covert raid of Space Station Sagan and seized the heavily-armed orbital base. Just a short while ago, an unarmed vessel flanked by heavy Chinese fighter escorts was spotted leaving the vicinity. We can confirm this ship is carrying the now-deposed GSF Commanding Officers, and… Oh my god… Heavy gunfire reported inside the Global Space Federation Executive Complex at Sally Ride. No word on the status of Secretary-General Adler or the Cabinet. The situation is developing,” the anchor said.
“What? How can China be all the way at Sally Ride City?” Val asked.
“We now confirm that the GSF Executive Complex has been seized. This time, by the United Nations and the recently reunified United States.”
Before Val could even react, a red alert appeared on her smart-lens.
“Marco, talk to me,” Val commanded. A heart-stopping alarm blared followed by a lifeless voice that definitely wasn’t Val’s AI assistant.