by Ron S. Nolan
'GOD IS THE ONLY GENE MASTER!'
The auditorium lights gradually increased in brightness. Teenagers wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the SDL logo carried steaming flasks down the aisles and dumped the contents onto the floor. The church filled with an eerie mist as the followers streamed into the aisles to stomp on the embryos.
An image of Astra standing next to the Ark filled the vidscreen. “This is Dr. Astra Sturtevant. She is the geneticist that created the Ark project. If you see her or the Ark, notify the SDL immediately. She is the ‘Gene Demon’. Goodnight and God be with us all.”
Sabien entered the Luna Lounge just as the Reverend LeRoque's special was wrapping up. He was shocked to see his sister portrayed with such hatred and animosity. A few members of the crowd booed while others cheered. Phillips, who had been watching from the back of the bar, approached a couple that had participated in the chanting and cheering. After introductions, Phillips ordered a round of drinks and began his standard CREOS recruitment pitch.
The cacophony of animal grunts, barks and chirps grew as the patrons downed their favorite flavors of lunatic beverages and burped ecstatically. Genie changed the channel and the caption 'USACO Evening News' appeared on the vidscreen. The announcer began, "World tension continues to escalate. USACO, CHIRUS and IRANVEN have all recalled their ambassadors from the World Nations."
The feed cut to a press conference taking place on the steps of the White House where USACO President James Ray was addressing the media. "This is a very grave time in our nation's history. But rest assured, we will continue to exert our unconditional rights to the recent discovery of the ‘now contested’ Siberian oil reserves and will continue to pursue all diplomatic channels."
The President paused, took a sip of water and then continued. "Of course, the use of force will be our last resort, but do not test the strength of our will. These newly developed oil reserves are undeniably and unequivocally the property of the United States of America Corporation! That's all I have for today. Thank you."
The reporters in the audience erupted with a series of questions which were ignored by the President.
In the closing news segment, the vidscreen cut to a live video feed from Hawaii. The caption stated, 'Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, Island of Hawaii’.
The announcer, who was being buffeted by strong wind gusts, tapped his headset and then shouted, "Astronomers from the University of Hawaii have discovered a new comet on a path that will bring it close to Earth's orbit, but they say that the odds of impact are less than one in a million–so you concerned viewers out there don't have anything to worry about."
Sabien's eyes opened wide. He chugged his drink and headed for his quarters. Jasmine followed faithfully behind.
-- CHAPTER 21 --
Amazonas, Brazil
The Lear Jet touched down in the warm, pouring rain and parked at the rural airport adjacent to the Amazon River. Astra and Torch departed the plane and were met by her parents, Maria and Jensen Sturtevant. After a series of prolonged hugs and tears of joy, Astra freed herself from her mother.
"Mama, Papa, I would like you to meet Torch Sanders. He is Sabien's friend and partner and this is Melinda, our pilot. It is her jet that brought us here and it is her husband’s rocket that will fly us to a sanctuary on the moon to hide the Ark. Torch thinks that we will be safe and have legal protection there.”
Maria asked Astra, “Do you know where our son Sabien is? He is not taking our calls.”
Astra replied, “Sabien didn’t have time to contact you, but he is at the moonbase with the Ark that holds specimens from the Northern Hemisphere."
Torch told them. “Don’t worry. My dad runs the base and he will take good care of him.”
He held up a package wrapped with duct tape attached to a small tripod and said, "Just before Sabien boarded the lunar shuttle, he requested that I bring you this. It's a compact, green laser COM system that will allow you to call him without worrying about other people listening in."
Maria grabbed the package before Jensen could reach for it. "This is so wonderful. Thank you so much!" Then she gave Torch a kiss on the cheek.
Melinda broke from the gathering, "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to refuel and head out. I want to get to São Paulo before nightfall–my plane doesn't have landing lights. See you soon mates." She turned and headed back to the plane.
Astra shook the rain from her hair. "Let's get going before we drown."
The family chauffeur loaded the CryoVat into the rear compartment of her father's sleek six wheeler and ushered the group on board. Jensen signaled the driver to proceed, but they were forced to wait as a military convoy rumbled by.
Torch asked, "Are they on training exercises?"
Jensen shook his head. "No, not training; this is the real thing. You must not be up on current events."
Torch shrugged, "The last I heard was that USACO had threatened to invade Siberia and take over CHIRUS oil fields."
"USACO did just that. Guillermo Martinez–the newly elected IRANVEN leader now claims that he has proof that USACO plans to invade Venezuela next."
Torch looked annoyed. "If you ask me, these so called world leaders are nothing but crazy, self-serving, corporate money mongers."
Jensen nodded. "It's all about oil. Martinez is a big hero here in South America. Our president now stands with him and has activated the army reserves." He pointed to the passing caravan of vintage trucks packed with troops with rifles wedged between their knees.
“We feel the worst may come to pass now that our country has chosen sides. But enough of this war talk."
Jensen pulled out two cigars and offered one to Torch. "I think you will like it, I am part owner in the company that cultivates the tobacco–so far not much in the way of profits except for these beauties. Remind me and I will give you a selection to take with you when you leave." He lit his cigar and savored the aroma.
Astra glared at her father and opened her window.
Maria fanned away some of the smoke and took Torch's hand and looked intently into his eyes. "Please tell me, what are your intentions with my daughter? You have been traveling great distances together and now she says that you two are planning to leave our world entirely."
"Mama!"
Maria motioned Astra to be quiet and continued. "Are you an honorable man? Will you do the right thing?"
Astra stared off into the distance while Torch stuttered, "Well, we really just met and she seems to ignore me most of the time.” Astra jabbed him in the ribs.
Maria leaned back. "Just as I thought, you two are in love."
Torch looked even more confused and then he mumbled, "I better save this until later." He put the cigar into his shirt pocket and gave it a fond pat.
After the short trip from the Amazonas airport to her parent’s herbal farm, Astra was determined not to waste any time and immediately enlisted Torch to pull the CryoVat into one of the family’s commercial greenhouses so they could start loading embryos.
Maria pulled a small, plastic bag from one of the banks of ice chests. "These specimens were collected by teams of VIDAS from all over the Southern Hemisphere–the Philippines, Australia, and the Middle East. The red and green coolers in this section of the building are filled with those collections."
Maria moved toward the opposite wall of the greenhouse and continued. "Of course, we have also been amassing our own collection of Central and South American species. Those specimens are stored in this row of white coolers. I was admittedly reluctant to commit to managing the project at the outset, but after teaching me the techniques involved, Astra convinced me to take charge of gathering fertilized specimens from our local flora and fauna. We have probably gone through a couple of tons of dry ice by now–luckily we were able to work a good deal with a local supplier who has been delivering a truckload every three days.”
Astra popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and poured drinks for the group. As they raised their drinks to toast, she ta
pped the bottle against the CryoVat and to warm applause and cheers announced, "I hereby christen you the 'Southern Ark'. May you offer the sanctuary we need so badly to heal our home here on Earth." Then she added, “I am saving another bottle like this for the day when we finally unite the Northern and Southern Arks together.”
Melinda's jet buzzed overhead and waved its wings as it flew by. Torch explained, "Melinda's husband was a cosmonaut and runs a space tourism business out of São Paulo. She's going to try to talk him into taking us to the Deep-Space Mining base on the moon."
Jensen stormed into the greenhouse and told Torch, "You need to come watch this news alert. Hurry!"
They barely caught the end of the report as the Latina female announcer concluded, "USACO has landed troops in Caracas, Venezuela. There are reports of heavy fighting just outside the capitol."
Jensen scanned through a number of feeds, but only got static. He moaned, "Oh no, all channels are dead. They must be jamming communications. This is bad, very bad!"
Torch stood up, "I have to call my dad. Would you mind if I use the laser COM system that I just gave you? You are welcome to use it to speak with him after I finish my call."
He set up the laser, and then phoned his father using his microcell. "Dad I need to talk with you ASAP. Please call me back via laser COM; it’s about these war fanatics."
A few minutes later Sanders appeared on the display screen wearing his space suit. He was bent over, trying to catch his breath after sprinting to the solar array. As he straightened, he said, "It's true, Son. IRANVEN retaliated by bombing the oil facility at Prudhoe Bay. It looks like war is just around the corner."
Torch put the T-I on the display. "Look, the T-I is now 9.9. This war crap is ridiculous. Don't they get it? The entire planet is about to ignite and fry and all they care about is oil. How stupid!"
"Agreed. What's your next move?"
"Astra and I plan to head up to the moonbase and bring the Southern Ark with us. We'll be coming up in an old Blue Origin Explorer."
"Explorer? Can one of those old birds fly this far?"
"I guess we'll find out. We don't have much choice. There’s no way one of your shuttles could make it here to pick us up in time.”
Sanders responded, “You are correct, all of our fleet is up here. We’ve been watching the news reports and thought it would be a good idea to bring our birds back to the nest. It will be the usual three day trip to send one your way if you can wait that long.”
“I don't think we have that much time. The SDL is on our tail. We need to get off planet ASAP. I think we will try the Explorer; we don't have much choice actually.”
"Okay, I understand. Take care Son."
"See you in a few days. Oh, please tell Sabien that I met his parents and gave them the COM system as he requested. In fact we are using it right now. His parents would love to talk with him."
"I can get Sabien here in a few minutes if you want to put them on."
"Great. I will let you know our ETA once we launch."
After Sabien arrived to talk with his folks, Sanders returned to his office inside the base. He cornered the operations leader and directed him to ready a shuttle for launch on a moment's notice...just in case Torch's ride on the Explorer didn't pan out.
******
Astra and Torch walked hand in hand through the tropical gardens surrounding the plantation house. The river reflected the moonlight like a field of moving candles. She lifted her arms in appreciation. "This is where I grew up. Isn't it beautiful?"
"It certainly is...and so are you, Astra, but what was all that about with your mom? You know, when she said that she thought we were in love."
Astra took his hand and led him to her room. As she closed the door behind them she whispered, "I know our love is there, but what about your intentions? Are they honorable? That's what she and I both want to know."
Torch looked lost and confused when Astra put her arms around him and gave him a prolonged, passionate kiss. Then, she reached behind his back and turned off the lights.
-- CHAPTER 22 --
Kapintsky Space Tours
Blue Origin Explorer Rocket in Earth Orbit
Alarms chirped and warning lights flashed in the Explorer rocket's cockpit. Vladamir Kapintsky screamed profanities at the ship's computer in a thick Russian accent while he feverishly punched buttons on the overhead console. A fat, bald German businessman clutching a folded plastic video brochure used handholds to pull himself forward into the pilot's cabin. He yelled over the bedlam, "What's happening? Is the ship in trouble?"
Vladamir yelled back, "It's the frigging computer, it just quit. I will never, ever buy another USACO made product!" He killed the alarm then grabbed an ancient hand calculator and started punching in numbers, but it refused to function.
He held the calculator up to the passenger and asked, "Heh! Do you have one of these?"
"You've got to be kidding me. They stopped making those decades ago." Vladamir slammed the calculator against the instrument panel and cursed in Russian.
The passenger pointed to the brochure, "Is everything busted on this ship? The space suits leaked, so no EVA as advertised. Maximum orbital altitude reached fifty miles; your brochure promises sixty-two miles. The food sucks, no booze and the head is busted. It says here, 'Out of this World Fun'. This is NOT fun! Now what? Are we going to die?"
Alarms began chirping for second time and the nose of the Blue Origin suddenly jerked upwards. There was a high-pitched whistling sound as the ship clipped the top of the atmosphere.
"Not to worry, I will bring the ship in manually. I have done this many times before. Please take your seat." He yelled back to the cabin, "Everyone buckle up and hold on."
Vladamir was quivering with a major rush of adrenaline, his facial tick pulsating. He grinned, obviously enjoying himself. He tightened his seat harness, jammed the control yoke forward and yelled something in Russian that translated roughly to, 'Please save me one more time. I don't want to die!'
Spaceport
São Paulo, Brazil
The rain had stopped and the sun was setting on the horizon. Melinda sat on the steps of her Lear jet and held up a pair of binoculars and scanned the incoming traffic. According to launch control, Vladamir was behind schedule due to ‘a few technical problems’. She heard a series of sonic booms before she saw the Explorer in the distance as it angled sharply toward the asphalt runway. She winced as it hit hard on its tricycle gear, bounced high, and then settled to the ground.
She stashed the binos, closed the hatch and ran to meet the ship as it taxied to the passenger off-loading area. As they filed out of the rocket, four businessmen wearing out-of-place looking business suits and ties were engaged in a very animated discussion.
Vladamir hustled down the ship’s stairway to catch up with his customers, but had second thoughts. He turned back, leaned forward and kissed the side of the rocket.
Melinda could see and hear that the passengers were angry and not at all happy with their holiday voyage into space. Vladamir bowed several times, as if he had just pulled off some sort of miracle and the men stormed off. He chased down the leader and handed him a chit card for payment, but the leader snatched it, ripped it into pieces and threw them at him.
Vladamir cursed, but let him go. Suddenly he saw Melinda standing with her hands on her hips and shaking her head. He rushed to sweep her up into his arms and kissed her deeply.
"Melinda, my love, it is so good to..." She punched him hard in the stomach, which caught him completely off guard.
"Well, it's good to see you too, you stupid jerk! How dare you abandon me in that backwater Rio Del Campo? I should have divorced you long ago." Her anger turned to concern. "I'm sorry did I hurt you?"
Vladamir straightened and shook his head. "Leaving you behind was a terrible mistake. How can I make amends? I have missed you so much. He tried to kiss her again, but she pushed him away. "Alright, I'll tell you how you can make amends. I want
you to take some clients of mine to the moon."
"The moon? You mean in my ship? Why can't they take the mining shuttle? It goes once a week."
"Because a lot of very bad men are after us."
"Hmm....you know it might be possible. We would have to install extra tanks for kerosene and liquid oxygen. The fuel alone would cost a bundle Can they afford it?
"Yes, I believe they can." She showed him her microcell. "This is our current credit balance, thanks to them." Melinda took his face in her hands. "Lack of money is never ever going to plague us again!"
Vladamir eyes lit up and he smiled. "The moon? Fly my dilapidated, old bird all the way to the moon? Sure why not?" He boasted, "I am Cosmonaut Hero Vladamir Kapintsky. I can fly anything, anywhere!" He tried to kiss her again, this time she didn't resist.
"When do they want to go?
"The sooner the better. The Seekers of Divine Light are after them!"
"Who? Never mind, I just hope your clients realize what they are getting themselves into. It's a long trip; things could get complicated. How about if we go to my place and celebrate, like old times?"
Melinda shook her head no. "How about first we secure those tanks and order the fuel? We can make some calls and I'll fill you in over dinner. Then we've got plans to make and not a whole lot of time. Then maybe–just maybe you just might get lucky."
Reverend LeRoque's Office
The Reverend was looking over the SDL technician's shoulder at the satellite image on the vidscreen. The tech reported, "We found their Lear jet when the skies cleared. It's parked at the São Paulo Spaceport."
"Good work. Get the intercept team ready. Tell them we're headed for Brazil. If we leave now, we should be on site by dawn. Alert the CREOS leader in São Paulo. We need full backup on the ground and air support. I want to personally be there when we nail Dr. Sturtevant and put an end to this madness!"