Ascendancy: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  Seeing the thoughtful look on Carla's face, he went on. "We’ll need to expand the Admin module for office space. What do you want to bet in a few years this will be the real Space Tech corporate office? And it won't be long before they’ll need their own family module. Since it looks like we’re stuck here, why don't we all see what we can come up with?"

  Carla looked at him incredulously. "You’re right! They’ll need both of those, and they’ll need the family module sooner than you think, as soon as they have the wedding. Their own honeymoon suite. But the most important thing you did was tell me. It’s definitely going to need a woman's touch."

  Before he knew it, Emily and Caitlyn were there helping too. And they were talking about stuff like schools and labs and recreational areas. What had he done?

  #

  Julie’s VR interface buzzed her to tell her she had a call coming in. A very nervous Caitlyn appeared. “I have the President of the United States on a secure VR call.”

  Julie gave her a smile. “Yes, thank you. We’ll take it in here.”

  Caitlyn nodded and connected the VR call. Julie was not surprised to see a rather stressed-looking President. Most of that stress was her fault. She enlarged the VR view enough to include her and Zeke.

  "Yes, sir. We’ve been expecting you,” she told him.

  Right now the President had a tough job. He got straight to the point. “Even though I was forewarned of this, I’m still the one who has to deal with the aftermath of your action this morning. As you might expect, it’s a political hot potato right now. Other than myself and a few others, no one knows exactly what just happened, but the timing of it pretty well pointed to you. Even our allies are worried about this, as you can imagine.”

  The President just stared at her for a moment. He sensed that his entire Presidential legacy would depend on what happened in the next couple of days. Because of his wife, he had given Julie and Zeke a vow to support them as much as possible. That had been the result of a prophecy she had spoken about the two of them, and how they would change the world. Right now that vow had placed him in a very difficult position.

  Finally, he went on. “I propose we meet in person to talk about it. Would you be willing to come to my summer home again tomorrow morning if I guaranteed your safety and gave you diplomatic immunity? Then we can release a joint statement. Hopefully that will keep the wolves at bay. A lot of people are angry, but a lot more of them are terrified. Terrified that you’ll do this again.”

  Julie nodded sadly. “I’m sorry for all the problems this has caused you. I really felt that we had no choice in what we just did, although we had to give the amnesty offer at least a chance. But, yes, I expected you would want to meet. That’s probably the best way for us to work this out. What time is breakfast?" Julie asked him. "More Kinza coffee would be in order too, don't you think?"

  "Seven again will work for us, and a very big yes on the coffee. My wife just keeps raving about your special blend. Oh, and speaking of my wife, she says you need to come in your special new ship. I imagine she wants to see it or something like that."

  Julie knew that last was a code telling her that the First Lady had seen something in a vision. Julie knew enough about her visions to not question them. Not that it mattered this time. Julie was already expecting trouble. "I don't plan to go anywhere again without my special little ship, so tell her I'll bring it along with the coffee."

  "Be safe. I don't control anything outside our airspace."

  As soon as the President disconnected from the call, Julie turned to Zeke. "I'm going to go release that statement that we have prepared.”

  Accessing her VR, Julie connected to the media room on the station. A couple of days before she had arranged for it to be fully staffed, knowing that she would be putting them to work. Almost immediately it was answered by the PR Media Director, Martin Janson, the same man who had set up the broadcast for the ill-fated plea to the Organization.

  Julie tried her best to give him a smile. “Set me up for a VR broadcast in 15 minutes. Do we have any of the media here on the station?”

  “One man I think. He’s up here doing a documentary on Space Tech future products. I’ll try to get him here. At least the station is small enough it shouldn’t take long.”

  “Tell him if he can be there in 15 minutes, he will get an exclusive. That should send him running. But I expect we’ll have a permanent presence here after today.”

  As Julie got up to leave, Zeke caught her arm. “I’ll be waiting next door with our family and friends but I’ll be there with you in here." He touched his forehead with two fingers. He was referring to the special connection the two of them had. Because of their nanites, they were able to communicate directly with each other by simply directing their thoughts, no matter how far apart they were. It was absolutely amazing. “I love you very much,” he sent mentally to her.

  Julie sent him back a mental hug. No matter what the world thought, she knew how Zeke felt about her. She placed her hand on her heart. “I love you too. I know I have you in here. It’s one of the things that’s helping to keep me on the right path, that and because I will do what I have to do to protect us and our future family.” She hurried out before she started crying again. That wouldn’t be good for the broadcast.

  #

  Jesalyn Hensley rushed down the corridors of Space Tech station. She had just received an urgent VR message from the Space Tech Media Director to report to her working area in the space station media center. She was surprised that she was moving so well, because she had arrived on the station only a few hours earlier, and the simulated gravity had taken a little getting used to. Smiling, she spoke quietly to herself. “Jess, you’ve got some pretty good space legs for a woman supposed to be too old to cut it.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. The reason Jess had arrived on the station those few hours ago was due to just a little bit of karma. Jess had been the one with the most seniority in their tiny little department at Space Tech, but she had been passed over the first time the space station media center had staffed up on request from their CEO. She had never liked Teresa that much before, but when the younger woman had gotten the choice assignment, Teresa had whispered to her as she was gathering her stuff. “Looks like I’m moving up. See you around.” As she started out, she drove in the spike. “Guess you’re past your prime, Hensley.”

  Jess had bitten her tongue to keep from answering her. She should have pushed back with her boss, but she really liked her job. Space Tech was unusual in that they had their own media group, even if it was very small. When they weren’t working with the upper management of Space Tech for one of the media events, Jess worked on other things related to VR and print media releases. Jess enjoyed all her work, but doing this part was the most rewarding of her tasks.

  Jess had still been a little upset the next morning, but then she had gotten a page to go see her boss. Apparently Teresa hadn’t done very well because she’d been sent home, and they wanted Jess on the next shuttle going up. Neither she, nor she suspected, the boss believed the story of Teresa’s supposed “space sickness.” Her abrasive personality had done it again.

  Jess had done a little digging into the grapevine and found out what had really happened. Teresa had practically gotten in an argument with their very young CEO the day before over her makeup. Jess didn’t know Julie Randolph very well, but she knew her well enough to know that the girl had to be treated with the respect she deserved. Jess had always done her makeup work by starting with the least amount necessary and allowing the client to decide if he or she wanted more. Teresa always thought she knew best and had probably just assumed someone as young as Julie Randolph wouldn’t know any better.

  Jess sensed that Julie was a very strongly driven young lady that knew exactly where she was going when she started something, and expected to be helped along and not guided. And based on the content of her last broadcast, the girl had been quite stressed over what she was going to present an
d had needed support, not more stress. From what I saw this morning on the news and with the deadline she imposed approaching, I wonder if she’s going to announce something about Space Tech’s plans to oppose the Organization. I suspect that means her stress level will be even higher today.

  Arriving at the media room, Jess breathed a sigh of relief. Her station was still empty. Whistling quietly to herself, she quickly laid out the materials of her craft, arranging everything just so, trying to give her workstation a little bit of character. She also double-checked the materials she used to balance her space, her own version of a little bit Chinese Feng Shui, with a little bit of Japanese paper origami thrown in. She wanted her space to radiate peace and harmony. She was ready.

  #

  Julie hurried into the media room, her thoughts on her soon-to-be public broadcast. Mr. Janson and his tech staff were busy getting everything taken care of to do the broadcast. She knew they would be ready. A little apprehensive, she started toward the makeup area of the room. She hadn’t had a good experience the last time she had come in here. That time she had been wearing her armor and she had only wanted the minimum makeup needed to stand in front of the VR camera. It had taken a complete redo of her makeup before she had been satisfied.

  Today there was a different makeup lady, and Julie instantly liked her. She had a pleasant smile and a calm about her. As she walked into the space, she felt the peacefulness and it all just felt right to her. For the first time in awhile, Julie relaxed just a little bit.

  As soon as Julie was seated, Jess turned up her station lights just a little. She needed to be able to see, but she didn’t want to blind her. “Ms. Randolph, I’m Jess and I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” She lightly dusted Julie’s face with a base enough to ensure there wouldn’t be glare from the lights, and then smiling, stepped back to look. “You don’t need any other makeup, honey,” she told her.

  She meant it too and Julie relaxed even more. “Thank you,” she told her politely. She really liked this lady.

  Jess went on, “You have the most amazing complexion I’ve ever seen and no way do I want to mess with that.”

  “Good thing I got you then. The last one tried to do all kinds of stuff and I finally made her wash it all off. She had me looking like a total stranger. It didn’t go over very well with me.” Julie still hadn’t gotten over that episode.

  “Well, I got you covered, Sweetie.” Jess couldn’t completely hide the tiny tinkle of laughter in her voice. No wonder Teresa had bombed out. Not wasting any time, Jess began working on Julie’s hair, following the same principle as with the makeup by using the minimal amount of hair spray.

  Julie was unable to resist Jess’ pleasant personality, finally giving her a smile back. “Well, thank you. I’m a little nervous about the upcoming broadcast, so it’s nice to have someone pleasant to talk to.”

  “That’s my real job as far as I’m concerned. The makeup is just secondary.”

  Julie looked up at her in surprise. This woman was pretty smart too. I need to make sure to give her a big raise when this is all over with. “You should be getting a psychiatrist’s pay.”

  Jess just laughed. “No, not in my job description. I want to actually help people.”

  Laughing too, Julie told her, “Well, you’ve got a permanent job with me if you want it.”

  Julie saw the doubt in her eyes. “Hey, I’m serious,” she told her. “That’s one advantage of being the CEO of the biggest company in the world; I pretty well get to do what I want.”

  Jess just laughed. She had heard that kind of thing before, but they usually didn’t follow up on it. But she was content to do her best and see where it went. So she answered quietly, “Any time you need me, I’ll be here. Take a look and see what you think.” She swung Julie around to look at herself in the mirror.

  “That’s perfect. Thank you.”

  The media person Mr. Janson had mentioned came rushing in. Doctor James Hollingsworth, a reporter, but with a high science and tech background plus a doctorate in Space Science, Julie immediately recognized him. He had been involved with Space Tech for several years, and Julie had worked with him before. Way back before everything had happened to her, over two years ago but to her what seemed the distant past, he had done an interview with her. Back then she had been a very different person. Wow! That brings back memories. But she thought he would be perfect for the upcoming brief.

  Julie remembered that long ago interview. He had been very knowledgeable, thorough, and extremely easy to work with. She was supposed to have given him a second interview, but had completely forgotten about it. She quickly went over to speak to him, offering him her hand.

  “Hi, I’m Julie Randolph. I don’t know if you remember me or not, but you interviewed me a little over two years ago.”

  “Doctor James Hollingsworth, CISI News. I definitely remember you. Apparently a lot has happened with you since then. Everyone knows who your are now!” He gave her a smile.

  Back then Julie was the little-known daughter of a well-known CEO. She had also been a little naive and a whole lot spoiled. Julie couldn’t keep from commenting, “Doctor Hollingsworth, you don’t know the half of it. That was a lifetime ago for me, literally.”

  His smile broadened. “I suspect there is a story in there, but I don’t suppose I’m going to ever get all of it.”

  Julie looked at him closely for a moment, using the other sight that she still really needed to learn more about. “I don’t know,” she finally said, seeing something that told her that this man would have a part in her near future. “Maybe you will.” He raised an eyebrow at that, but she refused to say any more.

  Jess waved him over, so he quickly sat down in her chair. She quietly went to work on him. Again she just lightly applied her craft. “My motto is, ‘Less is always better’ and I always try to follow my motto,” she pleasantly told the pair. “In your case, sir, your distinguished professor looks are right there for all to see. Assuming that’s what you are going for.”

  James laughed. “That’s pretty well it. I don’t think I could pull off anything else. Plus, everyone calls me the Professor anyway.”

  “So how did we manage to get you up here on the station?” Julie asked him.

  “I was up here doing a piece on the new materials Space Tech has been working on. I’m really into space science. I don’t usually get the popular news features, which other than the pay, I’m pretty much happy about. Plus, I still teach part-time at a local university.”

  Julie hadn’t known that about him. That explained a few things. “Well, sir, you’re going to be popular after today. You’re going to have the exclusive on our worldwide broadcast, because no one else is up here on our boring little station. Better get your pencil sharpened. I expect some intelligent questions from you.”

  “What are we talking about exactly? I have no idea what’s going on today, as I was deep in my research.” He laughed. “I don’t ever look at the news, you know.”

  Julie laughed with him. She could tell it was his private little joke. Then she sobered up quickly. “I’m sorry to say this is quite serious. We’re here to talk about what Space Tech just did. A kinetic weapon strike from space against the Organization. We just dropped a 100-kiloton equivalent slug on their main camp.”

  She heard Jess’ indrawn breath. Apparently Jess knew enough to understand what that meant. James just stared at her in pure shock and turned quite pale, as he knew exactly what she was saying they had done.

  Julie looked at the pair of them. “Yes, and all of a sudden everyone’s worried about who’s next. I’m hoping to God that it’s no one, if they’ll just leave us alone.”

  Julie stopped, her emotions getting the better of her. She dared not let the tears get started again. Finally she went on, turning back to speak to James directly. “My job and yours, Doctor Hollingsworth, is to convince them that’s the truth, so that we don’t have to do it again.”

  James stared at her a moment
, finally taking a deep breath. His countenance had begun to look a little better. Nodding, he answered, “Sorry about that,” he said. “I had to process it all for a moment. I’ll do whatever I can to support you if you really mean that.”

  Julie’s face clearly showed her emotions. She still had to fight to keep the tears back, but she didn’t want to ruin the makeup she’d just gotten. “With all my heart. I wish to God we hadn’t had to do it this time, but the evil that is the Organization has to be stopped.”

  James just nodded again. He couldn’t imagine how it felt to have to do something like they’d just done, but he hated the evil that consumed the Organization. He also sensed the sincerity of Julie’s statements, made even more obvious by her very tender age. She wasn’t much older than his daughter. He vowed to do his dead level best to help her.

  “One minute,” Mr. Janson told them. “You two probably should take your places.”

  Julie quickly moved up to the podium. “Pick your seat today,” she told Doctor Hollingsworth. “From now on I expect there will be a fight for the front row, but yours will be reserved as long as you want it.”

  Mr. Janson counted down from five, and Julie looked directly at the VR camera. “Today, Space Tech has responded against the Organization in a decisive manner. They not only refused our 24 hour ultimatum to end this peacefully, but staged a number of violent attacks this morning as their answer. Therefore, we had no choice but to completely destroy the Organization’s main camp by deploying a 100-kiloton kinetic weapon against them.

  “I had hoped that they would give themselves up, but they obviously had vowed to fight on. Much as the US government must have faced with the Japanese near the end of World War II, when they weighed the horror of an extended battle to capture Japan, likely to the last man, versus using a terrible weapon to end it quickly, we saw the possibility of such an extended battle with the Organization, including the probability of many civilian casualties.