Space Race (Space Race 1)

by Nathan Hystad

  He placed it on the table and passed it over. I grabbed my PersaTab and dropped the coin onto the clear surface. It powered up, a holographic display showing footage of a lab room. In the projection, Veera leaned into a glove box case, her arms enveloped in the protective layer. She squeezed a substance into the box, and the green matter began to expand. The barrier cracked, and she screamed, staggering from the sample. It grew into a tall figure: two legs, four thick limbs, and a mound for a head. A mouth opened, spewing a substance at her. It caked her face, and her cries went silent. The footage ended.

  “What in the world was that?” I blurted.

  “We aren’t sure. I only just saw this as I combed the files I’d loaded onto the server for transport,” he said.

  “And where is the organic figure?” I glanced over my shoulder, as if it would be on my ship.

  “I predict it was unable to survive on the surface, but I fear that incident permeated Veera’s system, and the reaction is as you saw. She’s turned hostile. Infected,” he said.

  “Do you have her under control?”

  “She is sedated and locked into a storage container. We will continue to survey her,” he told me.

  “What’s your plan? You don’t want to tell Oasis?”

  Kol scooted closer in his chair and sipped from the cup. “I am responsible for all of these people’s well-being. But if we don’t have the mine, we don’t have jobs. No place in the scheme of things. I’m set to retire in five years. My family can live in peace, without fear of Corporate takeovers and the ever-changing laws.”

  “How can you hide what’s happened to her?”

  “I haven’t figured that out yet.”

  “Well, Kol, tell you what,” I said. “You keep the fact that I was late to yourself, and I won’t tell the bigshots that one of your team tried to kill me.”

  “Okay.”

  “You can’t keep Veera, if that’s the case. She’s a risk. The moment anyone learns of this infection, Capricious and your entire team will be quarantined. The Belt Station won’t allow it,” I reminded him.

  He nodded slowly. “I understand.”

  I hated what I was saying, but I couldn’t afford to be bogged down in an investigation. I’d known haulers like me who’d been indisposed for months, years even, and were out on the street by the time it was dealt with.

  “We’ll dispose of the…evidence,” Kol said.

  “You realized she was infected before you sent me to get her, didn’t you?’

  He didn’t react. I took his silence as a confirmation.

  “Go to your container, clean up your mess, and from now on, we don’t know each other.” I pointed at the mess hall exit, and Kol walked away without looking at me. I wondered what my friend Jinx on Titan would think of all this. He was a conspiracy nut and would eat this news up.

  An hour later, CP advised me a canister had been dispatched from the mining container’s airlock. I watched as Veera shot from the ship. We were far from anything out here, and I doubted she’d ever be found again.

  ____________

  “ID,” the Station guard said nonchalantly.

  “I gave your friend there my identification. Can’t you let me through?” I tried to push past the overcompensating fool, but he set a hand on my chest, his arm bulging under his uniform.

  “Did I say you could go?” He wore the neutral markings of the Belt Protectors, signaling he wasn’t for hire by any single Corporation, but by all forty-seven of them. To a meathead like this, that meant he considered himself above the law. However, I considered him a grunt who hadn’t passed his pilot’s test out of school.

  “Look, I’m tired. I’ve just delivered a load from Eris, and…”

  “Eris, hey?” The guard stepped closer, his breath stale and warm. “I heard something went down there.”

  “Is that so?” How had this guy learned anything about Eris? We’d only landed at the station an hour ago, and I’d spent the entire time filling out my file documentation to send to Oasis.

  “Yeah. Some dummy accidentally shot a supply load out the airlock.” He said this with a grin, like it was a funny situation he could bring up over a beer with his buddies later tonight.

  So that was how they’d played the airlock incident. It would be on record in their computer system, and I had no doubt Oasis was going to investigate. “People make mistakes. You wouldn’t know anything about that, though, would you? A guy like you never leaves this station.” I walked a step closer. “You idly watch as the pilots come in, the Corporations’ executives visit, and you claim your pittance of a salary while we do the heavy lifting.”

  “Who do you think—” He jabbed a finger into my chest, and it took all my concentration not to break it off.

  “Hansen. Cut it out. Don’t you have anything useful to do?” a newcomer announced, coming to stand between us.

  Hansen stared me down but finally nodded. “Yes, sir. I was leaving for a shift change.”

  “Excellent. Go ahead… after you clean the communal locker room floors, okay?” The tall man smirked at me when Hansen trudged away, crestfallen.

  “Have we met?” I asked him. I was the sole incoming craft on this section of the station, and all the Eris employees had already been processed. The reception room was wide, with high glass windows showcasing the breadth of the Belt. It was humbling to float so close to it.

  “Don’t believe so, but I’ve heard of you. Hawk Lewis, right?” He wore the same logo of the Protectors, but his uniform was black. He smoothed his white beard.

  “Arlo. I don’t go by Hawk anymore.” I didn’t care to elaborate, and lucky for me, he didn’t press the subject.

  “Are the rumors true?”

  “Not you too.”

  “No. I’m not talking about that…I meant Oasis. What do you think happened?”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” I felt at a disadvantage and hated being out of the know.

  “Major Barnes. Hewitt Barnes.”

  Crap. The leader of the entire Protectors was questioning me, and I was acting like a buffoon. “Sir, I didn’t…”

  “Think nothing of it. It’s not like I have a name tag on. Would you care for a drink?” he asked.

  “I don’t have to leave until tomorrow, so why not?” I followed him from the room, and he whispered to another guard before we entered the long arm of the station.

  This place was huge, with a hundred docking segments spread across fifty levels. I wasn’t sure how many people lived on the station, but it could house fifty thousand people at any given moment. Today, it seemed quiet, more subdued than normal, but that made sense. It was ranking time, and most of the corporations were focused on Earth and the announcements coming from Primary City.

  “What were you saying about Oasis?” I asked as we walked.

  “You haven’t heard? They’ve sold off their Eris Elurnium division to the highest bidder.” Hewitt Barnes seemed pleased by this.

  “You mean the load I’m carrying isn’t heading to Oasis?” Then who was going to pay me?

  The bar was in the station’s central hub, which extended for five kilometers from top to bottom. I followed him to a table, and he waved at a striking woman across the room.

  “I suppose not.”

  “Who bought it?” I asked.

  “Have you heard of SeaTech?” Barnes asked, his voice deep.

  “Sure. Who hasn’t?” Everyone knew about the fortieth-ranked Corporation that had clawed their way to fifteenth in the span of two decades. It was unprecedented.

  “Well, they’ve become the eleventh-ranked firm with the latest acquisition.” The serving woman arrived, and I admired her as she set two tall glasses on the table. The beer was dark, an inch of foam threatening to spill.

  “Eleventh?” I was impressed. SeaTech had one of the smallest footprints of them all, owning the Hawaiian Islands and the two-hundred-kilometer radius circling them.

  “Too bad they’ll miss out on the
Race.” Barnes took a drink; a touch of foam stuck to his white moustache when he was done.

  “Race? What race?”

  “You really have been living under an asteroid, haven’t you, Lewis? The Race… the Corporations have decided to create the largest event ever seen. The Primaries will each put forth a team, competing for future rights to Proxima.”

  I almost choked as I sipped my drink. “Are you kidding me?” I shouted, and the few other patrons in the bar stopped what they were doing to stare. 3D projections played in all corners of the bar, and Hewitt Barnes indicated one closest to us.

  “If you don’t believe me, see for yourself.”

  I hustled to the corner of the bar. “Can you turn this up?” I asked the serving woman, and she brushed her brown bangs from her eyes, nodding with a sly grin. When was the last time I’d…?

  “This contest will be something we can all cheer for. The Board is thrilled to announce the start date is in three months’ time. Not only will this be a new standard for the Corporations working collectively, but it will give our people an event unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” The woman speaking was around fifty, with short graying hair and a permanent scowl. Octavia Post, the Lead Chair of the Board. Despite her outward harshness, her words came across as friendly.

  The image cut to a group of protesters, somewhere within the Sage Industries capital on their West Coast. A reporter asked the gathered a simple question. “What do you think of this Space Race?”

  The people were ragged: poor and hungry, from the looks of things, which wasn’t uncommon in the Primary States. “It’s a distraction from reality. The Corporations have grown stronger, and we hold less power than ever. They see the change coming, the revolt, and this is a drastic move to confuse the people. There’s nothing in the Race for us.” The others around the articulate man cheered him on, their signs raised toward the sky.

  The image faded, returning to a news center. The caster looked shocked, and she composed herself. The news was funded by the Corporations, and I was shocked they’d allowed it to air. The anchor tried to recover. “I for one am thrilled at the concept of this Race, and cannot wait to cheer on my favorite teams. The leading analysts have Sage Industries in a tight sprint with Luna Corp, but don’t count out Lotus as a contender.”

  The serving woman turned it down as it cut to a loud ad, sponsored by Sage’s robotics division.

  “Whether you’re building a mine XPO-38 or habitation for gaseous integration in the moons, use Robo-Span, powered by Sage. Link your PersaTab to learn more.” The ad showed a burly man striking a molten iron rod with a blacksmith’s hammer. He faded out and was replaced with the arms of a robotic manufacturing unit from Robo-Span. The company’s logo flashed over the screen, and the feed returned to the news.

  “Now you see what I’m talking about,” Barnes said. I’d almost forgotten he was there.

  “The people are planning a revolt?” I whispered. This was news to me.

  Everyone in this station worked for the Corporations in one form or another, even the Belt Protectors, and I opted to tread carefully. My parents had always told me this day would come, when the people had had enough. I just never thought I’d witness it.

  “I highly doubt it, Hawk.”

  I disregarded my old callsign, not wanting to correct him. “Why’s that?”

  “Every decade, some group forms, threatening to fight the Corporations, but look at them. They’re pathetic, with no resources or real skills. They’re at the bottom because they couldn’t climb the ladder. You understand that, don’t you, son?” He motioned me toward our table.

  I nodded but felt an ulterior motive coming. “Why did you seek me out?”

  He finished his beer, and I finally took a sip while he spoke. “You no longer work for Oasis.”

  I was growing tired of this man’s sidestepping. “So you said.”

  “I’ve become good friends with Bryson Kelley.” His words were barely audible in the bar.

  “Who?”

  “SeaTech’s CEO. Fourth generation. Best guy I know. He asked that I speak with you when you arrived. He’s requested a meeting,” Barnes said.

  “What does Kelley want with me?” I thought about Capricious, and the disrepair that needed attending to. I was behind in my payments and hadn’t sent money to my parents in months. Maybe this was the move that would finally change my path in life. It had been an uphill battle since the incident at Sage.

  “He realizes your value. He remembers Hawk, the kid with the entire world at his fingertips, and also the one who fended off the raiders. Saved hundreds of lives. Do you even recall being a hero anymore? Trudging supplies from the deep recesses of space to the Belt Station, and on to Earth. Are you still that same man?”

  I tried to push that segment of my life from my thought processes. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, Bryson Kelley thinks you are.”

  I peered up at Barnes, appraising the white-bearded Belt Protector major. “Any idea what he wants?”

  “I’m afraid that’s between you two.”

  I assumed as much. Barnes was the middleman. But he did have me intrigued, and since I was short of an employer now that Oasis was out of the picture, it was worth investigating. I had to check my contract with Oasis to see what happened in this scenario. There was a chance I had to report to them and give them the opportunity to reassign me before I was cut free.

  The bar started filling up as the shift change happened, and soon the smells of dinner were wafting through the room, making my stomach growl. “What do you recommend?”

  Barnes smiled, ordering another couple of beers. “The fish is good. It’s from the shores of SeaTech,” he said wryly.

  “Fish it is.”

  Three

  Oasis’ head office was a testament to their power. Even after selling off their Elurnium division, the company had managed to retain a top-five positioning among the Primary Corporations. That was a solid demonstration of their business acumen. At the same time, it put SeaTech only one spot from receiving a Primary designation, with Temeletron plunging another three spots over the last decade to land in tenth.

  As little as I tried to pay attention to this sort of thing, it was inevitable to hear about the rankings. The solar system hierarchy was under a constant battle between these businesses.

  It turned out Oasis was getting their final delivery, part of their deal with SeaTech, and I’d brought Kol and his people to Earth along with the last load of Elurnium they’d ever see. I hadn’t spoken to the man since our discussion, and didn’t really care how he’d felt about the sale. He wouldn’t be returning to Eris, and judging by the manner in which he’d handled the Veera situation, that was for the best.

  Oasis held a spacious piece of land that, in another era, had been known as Arizona, Texas, and northern Mexico. Their headquarters was a sprawling metropolis in the middle of a desert, with twenty skyscrapers accommodating their office teams. The housing complexes were within HoverRail distance, and the entire setup reminded me of an insect’s hive. Everywhere you looked, there were tiny dots moving along the surface and between buildings.

  The warehouse district was immense, a few kilometers from my final destination, and that was where I directed Capricious as I landed her, ready to transfer my payload and leave.

  “CP, do we have clearance?” I asked.

  “Yes, landing pad seventeen.”

  “Good.” I lowered toward one of the warehouses, the number seventeen painted in giant red letters on the pavement. I settled the container gently to the ground and released it. My work here was done.

  “Message from Head Office. You are requested to meet with your handler immediately.” CP’s drawl felt too realistic, and I reminded myself to change her voice when this was over.

  “Fine.” I rubbed my palms across my stubble-covered cheek and huffed a breath. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting with Rog. The man had a terrible temperament and always seemed upset no mat
ter what we discussed.

  I recalled the plug-in Oasis had made me load into CP, and quickly worked on it, isolating the details from the unique craft I’d stumbled upon, as well as the ice samples from the trek to Eris. At the moment, I had an inkling that this information shouldn’t be shared with the powerful Corporation. I removed it, using a trick taught to me by an old Sage crewmate, and grinned as I ejected the plug-in with a quick command.

  “You still there, CP?”

  “Still here. But lighter.” Even the computer appreciated the spyware being removed.

  “You and me both. Come on, let’s see what Rog wants.” I flew Capricious to the head office region, parking as far away as I could.

  A personal Pod hovered nearby when I stepped from my ship’s ramp and into the hot summer day. I’d forgotten what it was like being outdoors, and felt the sweat beading on my brow. Not quite an Oasis, if you ask me.

  “I suppose you’ve come for me?” I asked the Pod, and the door opened. These Pods were only able to accommodate two people, and the second seat was empty as I climbed in. The compact transport unit hummed as it sealed tight and blew cold air in my face as it made for Rog’s office. Advertisements showcasing various Oasis endeavors displayed on the viewscreen, blocking my view of the region, and I ignored them all. A few moments passed, and the unit connected to a hatch on the fortieth floor, releasing me into my handler’s department.

  “Lewis, you’re late.” He said this every time, no matter how early I was. Rog was a big man, three hundred pounds, with a round face and a goatee to give it definition. He was sweating, despite the chilled air of his office.

  “I heard the news,” I said before he could.

  “Yes, Mr. Char thought it was necessary to stop the bleeding. We have a new proprietary complex device being manufactured, and it’s going to revolutionize the communication industry.” Rog was smiling, and the expression looked alien on the grim man.