by Aer-ki Jyr
“Ouch,” he moaned, finding his head pounding from more than the bump. He instinctively tried to sit up and felt a pair of hands come in to assist, pushing against his back.
“Easy,” someone said as Nathan blinked away his sleep-induced haze. He raised a heavy arm and rubbed away at his eyes, belatedly realizing why he felt so heavy…gravity.
“Where am I?” he asked, seeing a few familiar faces standing/sitting around him, with a host of Chinese filling the rest of the large room.
“Some kind of holding cell,” Ric said from his left.
“We’re guessing Star Force, but nobody knows for sure,” Karen added from behind, connected to the hands holding his back up. Nathan’s body was not liking the transition back to gravity after spending so many months on the zero g shipyard…that and he was both hungry and insanely thirsty.
“Holding cell?” he repeated. “We’re not military!”
“Try telling that to him,” Ric said, pointing across his chest to the far end of the room.
“Who?” Nathan asked when he didn’t notice anyone in particular.
“Big guy, just outside that door with a sword. Not much of a conversationalist.”
“One of the Chinese started arguing with him,” Karen said, “and he knocked him out with one whack. I don’t think the man’s woken up yet.”
Nathan felt around his chest for bullet holes, but found nothing other than a slightly squishy chest and dried paint. “What did they shoot me with?” he asked, noticing the others also had paint marks on their uniforms.
“Some kind of non-lethal weapon,” Ric guessed as Karen handed him a small bottle of water.
“They’re paintballs,” another engineer added. “I saw Mandy get shot before they hit me.”
“Do paintballs usually knock you unconscious?” Nathan asked, half serious as he guzzled the bottle. He’d never had any experience with the toys.
“No, they don’t. Something must have been added to them.”
“At least they took us prisoner,” Karen pointed out. “I’d much rather get hit with paint than bullets.”
“Point taken,” Nathan agreed. “What are they going to do with us?”
“They haven’t said yet,” Ric answered. “At least not since I woke up.”
Nathan got his feet underneath him and struggled to stand up. The gravity felt like 5 times Earth norm.
“Take it slow,” Karen suggested, handing him some type of energy bar.
“We’re still in space,” Nathan said, noticing the slight curve to the floor as he bit into the bar. He could have sworn they were back on Earth.
“Brilliant deduction, Sherlock.”
Nathan glared at Ric. “Ship or station?”
“Take your best guess,” the engineer said as the small door on the far side of the room opened.
“Somebody’s coming,” Karen said, pointing through the wall of bodies now standing up en mass to get a better view. Suddenly there was some sort of scuffle near the door, but after several loud thumps it stopped and the Chinese workers scurried back from the man walking across the hold, revealing three downed and apparently injured men behind him on the floor while a giant of a man stood guard at the door, dressed from the neck down in white armor.
“He’s coming over here,” Ric pointed out, standing up from his sitting position against the wall. The man walked towards them calmly, wearing a white Star Force uniform, similar in design to what Nathan had seen before in promos, but never one in this color.
As he came closer Nathan realized that he was about the same height and probably a few kilograms lighter…a stark contrast to the guard at the door.
“Solaris?” the man asked, coming to a halt in front of the small group.
“Yes,” Karen answered, timidly, though it was a superficial question. All of them were wearing the company uniform.
“Come with me,” the man said, turning about and heading back to the door.
Nathan exchanged a ‘you don’t have to tell me twice’ look with Ric as both scrambled to catch up.
As they approached the door the guard stepped further in and pointed a thick finger towards the surrounding Chinese.
“Back!” he ordered, grabbing the hilt of his round sword with his other hand.
The prisoners took heed to his warning and stepped back, allowing the man and the Solaris prisoners to pass through without incident.
Nathan followed the group of 18 out of what appeared to be a cargo bay and into the bright white lights of a ship’s interior. They made their way quietly through the corridors until they came to a zero g transition point, with Nathan’s body relishing the relief from the pressure as he floated through the small opening at the center of the spinning disc and down a connecting tunnel to more corridors, save for these had handholds to move around with.
The man stopped short of an open airlock and gestured with a hand palm up for the others to halt and listen. When they had all caught up he nodded to a second man that had been quietly trailing the group, apparently to insure that no one tried to run off, dismissing him.
“Through this umbilical is a Solaris starship that we’ve allowed to come pick you up. Given that you were not actively engaged in the in the war we’ve agreed to let you go, but you will not be returning to the Chinese shipyard. It has been seized by Star Force, along with all the warships contained within. China has been slapped with disarmament protocols, forbidding them to build, own, or operate any weapon systems above Earth’s atmosphere. If Solaris continues to do business with the Chinese, you will be held accountable to this ban as well.”
Liam pointed into the umbilical connecting ship to ship. “Go.”
Eager to get away, the first of the Solaris personnel pulled their way forward via the ceiling holds and ducked into the umbilical, scooting across to a corporate rep ‘standing’ on the other side of the connection along with several other recovery personnel. They counted, cataloged, and assessed the physical health of each prisoner being returned in precise fashion, making sure that Star Force didn’t hold any back.
As Nathan progressed up the line towards the umbilical he couldn’t help his curiosity and pulled aside just before he got to the man letting them go. “What war are you talking about?”
Liam starred him down for a moment, then realized that word of the fighting might not have been as widespread as he assumed it would be, especially for engineers working in a foreign facility.
“Your employers launched an attack on our Lunar zones,” Liam said as two others engineers lingered behind to hear his answer. “We neutralized them and their fleet, then we came to take the station that built the warships. All caught up?” he said with a trace of anger.
Nathan swallowed hard, realizing that they’d been caught up in a mess without even knowing about it…and also realizing how fortunate they were that Star Force was letting them go.
“We didn’t know,” he said apologetically as the other two engineers scurried ahead, wanting to get off the ship as soon as possible.
“I suggest you find some new customers,” Liam said, pulling him forward by the collar and pushing him into the umbilical, but holding him at the entrance for one last word of advice, whispered into his ear.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t accept any more contractor assignments.”
Nathan looked over at the man’s chiseled face, mere inches away. “I think you’re right about that.”
Liam stared back expressionless and shoved the man down the umbilical with decent accuracy, delivering him to the other side without bouncing him off any of the walls. He closed their side of the airlock, undoing the double door override and sealing off the ship from the Solaris personnel.
Nathan caught himself on the other end, with the female Solaris rep pulling him inside and into the hands of a medic while another employee shut their side of the connection. Nathan felt a considerable amount of relief when the door closed and the umbilical retracted back into the other ship.
&nbs
p; “Are you alright?” the medic asked, looking at his flushed face. “Did they hurt you?”
“Just my pride,” Nathan admitted, holding a hand to his head. The transition back into zero g had left him with a headache. He looked over at the rep. “Why weren’t we pulled out when the fighting started? Or at least warned?”
“I don’t have an answer to that,” she said honestly. “I’m just here to make sure you were all returned safe and sound.”
“You’re the last one,” the head counter said from behind the rep. “238/238.”
“Then we’re done here,” the rep said with finality, floating past Nathan.
“Come with me,” the medic insisted, leading him back into the ship to an analysis and treatment area. “Even if you’re alright, we have to do a standard physical on everyone.”
“Ok,” Nathan said as his mind wandered. As he pulled his way across handhold after handhold he got the distinct feeling that he’d dodged a bullet and was happy to just be alive.
Several meters down the hall that ran along the edge of the Solaris-manufactured starship he crossed by a small window, pausing to look outside as the Star Force Jaguar-class cargo ship pulled away underneath them, with the gravity disc already having passed by. He waited and watched as the cargo compartments transitioned through to the engine banks and marveled at the sheer size and power the ship possessed…far above and beyond anything Solaris could presently manufacture.
“We need to move,” the medic urged after giving him a long moment to reflect.
Nathan nodded and pried himself away from the window, making a silent resolution to resubmit his engineering application to Star Force.
8
April 6, 2060
“I’d heard you’d arrived in the city,” Davis said from behind his desk as a man walked up into his panoramic office, “without the typical fanfare. I take it you’re here on clandestine business.”
“Clandestine…interesting word choice,” President Jamison noted as he walked up and stood behind one of Davis’s guest chairs, placing his hands on the shoulder rest. “I felt it best if we talked face to face without making a political scene.”
“What do you want?” Davis asked the US President amicably, but with a hint of disinterest.
“To be of assistance in ending this conflict,” Jamison said bluntly.
“How do you figure you can do that?” Davis asked, putting down his touch pen and leaning back in his chair to listen to the American’s proposal.
“The Chinese are a proud people. They don’t take defeat well.”
“I think you’re confusing me with someone who cares,” Davis replied icily.
Jamison conceded the point with a nod. “I can understand that, and given what they’ve done I privately agree with your sentiment, but the situation still remains that you’re in a de facto state of war with China, and they’re not inclined to publically surrender. I’m offering to arbitrate an armistice agreement, behind the scenes, to put this to an end.”
“We are in a state of war with China,” Davis corrected him, “and have been ever since they attacked and killed my people on Luna. And whether they choose to surrender or not, this conflict will be coming to an end shortly.”
“I heard you’re seizing their civilian ships now?”
“They’re still running without active transponders, making them a menace to navigation. Until they choose to turn them back on we’ll keep taking their ships until we’ve eliminated the threat.”
“And if they did turn them back on?” Jamison hinted.
“They will still suffer a permanent ban from all Star Force related activities, and must voluntarily comply with full disarmament…not that we’ve left them with anything to shoot at us with, but we’re not going to let them rearm, even for defensive purposes.”
“So…you’re still open to letting them retain orbital installations and ships?”
“If they comply with disarmament, yes.”
“And if they don’t?”
Davis stared him in the eye. “We kick them back dirtside, permanently,” he said, borrowing the metaphor from Greg.
“That could cause more political trouble than it’s worth,” Jamison warned.
“What’s the worst they can do? Start a war? They already did that and got their asses kicked, so what exactly are you so afraid of?”
Jamison took the criticism without so much as a twitch. “You defeated them in space. That’s not the same as a surface war…and I needn’t remind you that mainland China isn’t that far away from Atlantis.”
“Appeasement encourages wars, Mr. Jamison. The Chinese are going to be held accountable for their actions regardless of how big a fit they throw over it. And don’t concern yourself with Atlantis’s safety, we’re prepared to defense ourselves from a naval or air attack.”
The President raised an eyebrow at that caveat. He hadn’t been aware that the city was also armed…and by the Star Force standards recently displayed in orbit he doubted that Davis’s definition of ‘prepared’ was anything less than considerable firepower.
“None the less, we have to live with the Chinese down here. Do what you think you have to with regards to them, but if the U.S. is in a position to…alleviate some of the conflict, we’re prepared to do so.”
“I take it you’ve already spoken to them?”
“Discussions only. Our current policy is to not get involved unless our assets, or those of our allies, become targets.”
“And the so called ‘pirate attacks’ don’t qualify?”
“As long as Star Force was doing the fighting for us, it was better to take a seat and watch how things played out.”
“An honest answer, I’ll give you that,” Davis offered. “Now you want in on the politics post conflict, after we saved you from potentially having to fight World War 3.”
“That point has been brought to my attention,” the President noted gratefully, finally sitting down in the chair he’d been holding onto. “Let us help repay the favor now.”
“You’ve obviously got an idea…let’s hear it.”
“Allow them to stay in the game, otherwise they’ll try to disrupt it for the rest of us. You’ve already stated that they can retain their space interests if they concede disarmament. Does that go for their Lunar territories…not the ones they leased, but the ones they owned?”
“No,” Davis said flatly. “Their attacks forfeited those territories, along with all future allotments.”
“Some would argue that Star Force doesn’t have the authority to strip China of territorial holdings.”
“Out of curiosity only, mind telling me who does?”
“The international community, through the UN.”
“If a nation is subservient to the international community, then there is no longer any concept of national sovereignty,” Davis argued.
Jamison smiled. “A fair point, that.”
“Also, Star Force doesn’t answer to the international community, or the UN, of which China is a founding member and holds veto power, so no resolution to punish them would ever see daylight there.”
“So we’re left with what then, if there is no law. Rule of the jungle?”
“Star Force represents civilization, not the jungle,” Davis lectured. “And at the end of the day, the law is nothing more than ink on paper. It’s those who have the means that dictate the course of history.”
“You’re dating yourself with that analogy, you know.”
“Perhaps,” Davis admitted, losing a touch of his animosity.
“And you intend to dictate the course of events by making an example out of the Chinese?”
“Their fate may serve as an example to others, but we are not inflicting any punishment that they don’t deserve. They brought this on themselves and we’re not going to let them wiggle out of it.”
“And if the international community decides otherwise?”
“Then we’re back to the point of my not caring.”
Now it was Davis that raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“China needs a political beatdown, but no nation is in a position to do so without potentially starting a much bigger war. You’re in a slightly different position, not having any real presence on the surface. You beat the Chinese militarily in space…and yet down here people look at it like it’s one big game. From a sociopolitical standpoint space has become a separate entity, with events up there not automatically triggering a response down here.”
“And you’d like to maintain that separation by allowing the Chinese a foothold up there?” Davis surmised.
“Not a gimme. That too would send the wrong signal. But if they had to sacrifice a great deal to stay in the game, then yes, I think letting them maintain that foothold would stabilize the political situation greatly.”
“And you think you can get them to accept terms?”
“I think they’ll be more applicable to a neutral party than to dealing with you directly…especially since you kicked out their diplomatic delegation, apparently never to return?”
“I did.”
“That’s what I like about you. I envy your ability to make decisions with such finality. As President I can’t do that. Everything is fluid with regards to the future, so we have to keep our options open as much as possible. The Chinese know that and have been kicking us under the table with it for decades. You seem to have them pegged down, and we’d like to contribute to the effort, while maintaining public deniability.”
“Have you discussed terms with them?”
“We broached the issue.”
“And?”
“They want their ships back.”
Davis shook his head firmly. “Not happening.”
“What about the rest of their civilian fleet that you haven’t captured yet?”
“If they turn their transponders back on before we get to them, they can keep them…save for the ships that participated in the attack on Luna by ferrying troops down to the surface via dropship. There are still two that we haven’t caught up with. Those must be turned over to us.”