The Man Who Sold Mars
Page 6
There was only silence for a while and George spoke. “Stephen, tell them the next step.”
“Tomorrow, I have an appointment with the Secretary General of the United Nations. I would like for all of you to be there.”
Gardner asked, “What time?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t made it yet.”
Kevin asked an obvious and important detail. “How do you know he’ll see you?”
Beyond certain George answered, “He will.”
Still stinging Selena asked, “Is this going to be something we like?”
I tried to be diplomatic. “Probably not.”
George was a hammer. “No. You will not like it.”
Hemmingson took a sip from his bottle. “Whoooo Hooooo. Sounds like a party. I’m there.”
13. A Gift To The United Nations
And on the following day as I said we would, our ensemble – Selena, Kevin, George, Gardner, Hemmingson, and I met with the Secretary General, the head of the United Nations.
And, he was not pleased. “Mr. Young, in a week, you’ve become the wealthiest man on the planet. They estimate that if you were a nation you would be the 15th wealthiest. All this “earned”, and I use the word “earned”, loosely, by inducing global panic. And yet, you are in my office talking on the behalf of humanity.”
“Did I kill anyone? Invade a country and steal their wealth? Steal their people? Steal from anyone?”
“Yes, you did—“
“No, I did not. I went on international television repeatedly and told everyone not to panic. I’m spending billions to go to Mars. And, they chose not to listen to me. They sold and I “openly” bought and bought and bought. They lost. I gained. That’s their fault. Not mine. But that’s not what we’re here for.”
“Now you’re trying to steal the moon and later Mars. I’m a lawyer too.”
“Really? Stealing the Moon and Mars? I think I’m expanding the rule of law to space.”
“By saying that because you were the first to “appropriate” the moon’s “atmosphere” and surface for advertising—“
“That I own that right and only that right. Nothing more.”
“At this time, Mr. Young. At this time.”
“Yes, at this time. But, I’m here to give it to your August body, the United Nations, for the benefit and stewardship of all humanity, provided no one else is allowed to advertise on it.”
“And, if I accept that “gift” I extend the doctrine of prior appropriation to the stars.”
Reserved, George said, “You already have. It’s the same rationale your August body used when you usurped the sky above the equatorial nations for geostationary satellites for non-equatorial nations and corporations.”
“That was—“
“When countries located near the Earth's equator created the Bogata Declaration in which they reasserted their legal claim to control the use of space above their territory. The nations who’d appropriated their airspace along with the “United Nations” ignored them.
“That was—“
“Ignored.”
Every time the Secretary General attempted to speak, George cut him off with a country that signed the Bogata Declaration of 1975.
“That —“
“Brasil,”
“That —“
Colombia,
“That —“
Congo,
“That —“
Ecuador,
“That —“
Indonesia,
“That —“
Kenya,
“That —“
Uganda,
“That —“
Zaire
“That was—“
“Theft”
I echoed George’s words. “That was theft. For centuries the rule of law has been that the sovereign owns all the land to the center of the Earth and the skies above to the heavens out towards infinity.
And George continued, “The fourteen or so wealthiest nations and the UN stole something that belonged to those poorer, smaller nations.”
“Are you through?”
I answered him. “No, Mr. Secretary. No.”
And so did George. “We are not through.”
“Well I am.”
In control George told him. “Sit down!”
And in support I said, “You are done when we say you are done.”
He glared at us and reached for a phone. “I can have you removed from this building.”
And I told him a simple truth. “I can have you removed from this job before that happens.”
George told him another truth. “I think I can do it faster, with or without cause. By the way, I would be the 12th wealthiest nation.” Nonchalant, he pulled out his cell. “No more games.”
I explained to the Secretary his terms. ”Here are your options. Accept the lunar land grant and keep the moon free of advertising.”
And so did George, “Don’t.”
“And this night and forever, you will see everything cross the moon’s face from Eat at Joe’s to –“
“Girls, Girls, Girls.” George added.
Hemmingson chimed in. “That was my idea.”
In front of the Secretary General I stood hammering in our point along with George. “And when the other companies deploy their own advertising modules above the moon—“
“Which they will.”
“Our hunter killer satellites, deployed with our advertising module, will shoot them down.”
“In time, they’ll figure out what’s happening and deploy their own HKS’s.”
“We’ll send more and better HKS’s.” I let him know.
“And so will they.” George added.
“And in no time, we will have the first intra stellar war.“
“All waged by corporate states.”
Everyone stood in shocked silence.
I broke it. “You have a choice to make.”
George started to outline it for him. “Do you want history to hold you responsible for being able to prevent that war—“
“And not.” Were my words.
Again there was more silence.
“Or—“ George said.
Calm the Secretary General interrupted. “Congratulations, Mr. Young, Mr. Carleton and your fellow pirates. History will remember you too. The first of the intra planetary robber barons.”
I grinned, “I take it that’s a yes.”
And in the central auditorium of the United Nations, smiling and full of feigned camaraderie, I and the Secretary General of the United Nations stood before a packed audience full of representatives of the world’s people and its press.
Before them, the Secretary General announced. “And it is with great pleasure that on behalf of The United Nations, I accept for the stewardship of all mankind this moon grant from Young Stellar Resources. . . ”
14. You Armed The Moon?!
In the penthouse boardroom of Young Stellar Resources, George tapped a remote turning off the television and the news broadcast of me and the Secretary General of the UN, he, Selena, Kevin, Gardener, Tatyana, Hemmingson and I were watching.
Kevin laughed. “That was a great bluff about the hunter killer satellites.”
Gardner chuckled. “Yeah. HKS’s. Cute.”
George and I answered with silence.
Hemmingson was shocked. “You weren’t bluffing?”
And he was not alone. Selena was livid. “You two armed the moon?!”
Selena, Kevin, Gardner & Hemmingson looked at Tatyana with accusatory gazes.
“Why do you keep looking at me? I just work here.”
Becoming increasingly angry with each moment, Selena continued. “I can’t believe you two. Just tell me they weren’t nukes.”
Quick I said. “No, they’re not.“
George was significantly more candid than I or than I would have liked for him to be. “We simultaneously deployed the robotic mining modules with the lunar advertising module and they li
ke the HKS’s are powered with weapons grade plutonium.”
Selena was beyond furious and escalating. “So you can access it later, if you need to. Plus, you’re going to strip mine the moon. That’s where the Helium 3 is coming from.”
This was getting painful. Selena and I had been through a lot. She was the most important thing in my life. I could see I was losing her and tried to soften her concerns. “Yes, that’s where the additional Helium 3 is coming from.”
She still was not pleased. “Strip mining?! And we haven’t really been there to see what we have and you’re ruining it.”
George stepped in. “Selena. It’s not as bad as you’re thinking. There are untold billions of tons of Helium 3 on the moon in its regolith — the lose, heterogeneous material covering it.”
Grateful as always for his help, I stepped in. “It’s not as intrusive as it sounds. The Moon is rich in Helium 3. Largely created by the sun and blown by solar winds to land on the moon unimpeded by an atmosphere.”
Soft George said. “We have no desire to ruin anything, but everything has a use. And YSR has entered into contracts with hundreds of nations to provide fusion reactors. And for the rest of the world too poor to afford them, we will pay for them. There will be life giving electricity brought to so many parts of the world that have never had it. This is a boon for all mankind. Without the moon’s Helium 3 the cost of fuel for those reactors will be monumental. We would essentially be bidding against ourselves for the scarcity. And even then, there’s not enough Helium 3 here to meet that obligation.”
I tried to touch Selena, but she moved away. “Harvesting Helium 3 will be more like scooping up sand. It would then be distilled from the mass and brought back to Earth as a liquefied compressed gas.”
George poured himself a drink. “One hundred tons of Helium 3 is enough to power all of the Earth’s electrical needs for a year.”
I added. “Granted we will do a “nominal” amount of damage to the moon’s environment.”
George finished the sip of his drink. “Whatever that environment might be. And we admit that.”
I went to Selena and she took a slight step away. “But look at the good we’ll do here. More and cheaper energy with a nominal impact on our own life giving environment.”
George took another sip from his drink, “And immediate economic windfalls for YSR to justify investor and public faith in the company and its mission.”
I know she wasn’t interested in the business aspect, but I knew if she connected the dots, she’d really see what we were trying to do. “One ton of Helium 3 will sell for billions upon billions upon billions, more than paying for the cost to harvest it.”
George glanced at his watch. “And will allow us to continue what we started and expand it.”
Soft and sad, Selena said. “I can’t believe you armed space.”
Gardner now let his anger flow. “With conventional and nuclear weapons.”
And Kevin. “We have children seeing a new future of peace amongst the stars.”
Selena shook her head no and wiped away a tear, “More like pieces amongst the stars.”
I caressed her hair. “We are on very new ground here.”
George named it. “We are looking at the rise of the corporate states.”
“Selena, they’ve always existed since the birth of mercantilism, but in the back, in the shadows.”
“That will end this century.”
“And if government is not brought along with us to the stars—“
“Even kicking and screaming.”
“The outcome will be ruthless. Remember that issue we had in Nigeria.”
The faces of my friends soured tremendously with that memory, all but Tot’s, who was not with us then and she stood there silently questioning.
George answered her. “Diplomacy failed and we had to hire a PMC to resolve our issues with that government and the corporations it was illegally in bed with. The PMC resolved our issue and resolved it well.”
Tatyana asked, “PMC?”
George’s answer was not well received by her, “Private Military Company”
Mercenaries?! You hired mercenaries.
Hemmingson nodded yes.
I massaged Selena’s neck. “All of us still own shares in that company, individually and as The Group. And as we reach for Mars. I’m at least trying to do all these things, still with a conscious.”
George was frank, “PMC’s are the modern mercenary corps. In the wrong hands they are Armageddon. Pure and simple.”
I massaged Selena’s neck with one hand and her waist with the other. Tot watched. I don’t think she was displeased. But . . . “What will corporate states unchecked by human states be with PMC’s or their own armies to inflict their will?”
George said the same thing, I felt. “I’m not letting it happen.”
“Selena, we do have a conscious.”
Her tears flowed. “If you call it that. I wouldn’t. You sold Mars and you stole the moon. I’ve got to go.” She walked off.
“Selena, don’t go.”
Crying she stopped and turned. “What did you get me involved in? I thought I would be doing something to help the world’s problems. We’re just magnifying and exporting them.”
Still crying, Selena snatched up her things and left. George, stung, pretended to be unfazed, and returned to work. The others, helpless, stared after her. Not knowing what to do, they sat for a while in silence. Still not knowing what to say or do, I bolted after her, sprinting through the halls to leap into the penthouse elevator just beating the closing doors, to join Selena.
Tearing I spoke to her. “Selena, I love you. I didn’t mean to hurt you or anyone. I’m just trying to do what I need to do to keep all of this together. And, I don’t want you to go. You are the heart of all this. The humanity. Our conscious.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me some things so important.”
“George wanted to.”
“You?”
“When I met you, you were wearing a white sundress and the sun was reflecting and filtering throughout your hair. You looked like the angel I’ve learned you to be. You are. . . . we live in a world of ugliness and to fight it or to protect yourself from it, you sometimes have to be ugly too. Even uglier. I’m ugly for both of us.”
Through tears, Selena smiled with deeper understanding of many things. The elevator door opened onto the first floor and she left without looking back at the closing doors.
I had lost her.
15. Selena Returns
Tired, I worked tirelessly late into the night at my desk within my YSR penthouse office. Long ago, the staff and the building’s cleaning crew had left. Soft taps at my door interrupted me and I smiled with love. “Come in.”
Exhausted, beautiful, her hair shortened and highlighted, smiling, looking very much in love Selena entered. “Hi.”
The love shining in my eyes I returned her greeting. “Hi. Again, thanks so much for coming back to work us. When I didn’t here from you for ages I was scared. I would be lost without you. I want you in my life forever and beyond.”
She blushed, “You’re welcome. I’m heading home. You?”
“No. Too much to do. Sit down for a second.”
She sat on my couch and I picked up a remote and sat close beside her, her thigh warm against mine.
“Watch this.” I keyed a button and footage of the international space station played across the screen. Beside it, glistening among the stars was the space dock and moored at it was the Prometheus; construction crews swarming over its skeleton, assembling it.
She grinned, “Wow. Construction is going quickly.”
“There’s still a long way to go. But look at her.”
“She’s a work of art.”
“There were a whole lot of times I thought we’d never make it.”
Selena took my hand and kissed me on the cheek. “Congratulations. Have you eaten?”
“Some of that orange space
gook.”
“Yuck.”
“Actually, it’s not bad. It tastes like—”
“Gook, but orange?”
I laughed. “Funny. It is good. It tastes like Gerber’s baby food. Bananas.”
“It’s supposed to. It’s bananas.”
“Actually, it was steak. But we’re working on it.”
We laughed.
“Steph, you need real food.”
“I’m fine. You should go and I should work. After all you have a family.”
She stood and I rose. She gave me a long loving hug and I returned it and we held one another for a long time in the silence. She kissed me on the cheek and I kissed her back.
“Steph, get a good meal and some rest.”
“I will.”
“You won’t.”
We exchanged smiles, acknowledging she was right. She grinned broader and left; while I watched the world I rose and set for leave.
# # #
Leaving Moscow was an excellent choice for a whoooooooole lot of reasons. Stephen on my mind I felt gorgeous. And, in a particularly amorous mood, radiating eroticism like the sun, and carrying two bags of carryout, I walked into the YSR lobby and was greeted as always by the building’s security officers watching me with appreciative eyes and I as always enjoyed every minute of it.
The lead officer spoke to me, “Good evening, Ms. Fedorova.”
In a Russian accent, I said, “Good evening gentleman. Enjoy the night.” They were making me feel exotic, why not play the part? I walked to the bank of elevators and once there tapped the call button. The door opened and I entered.
Beside me, the adjoining elevator rang in its arrival and as my doors closed I could hear its opening.
# # #
My visit with Stephen still on my mind, my elevator door opened, as the one beside me closed and I put away my cell phone.
Stephen everywhere, I was feeling stunning and radiating sexuality. I walked past the officers watching me with appreciative eyes and enjoyed every minute of it.
One of the guards spoke with me, “Good evening, Ms. Luce.”
“Good evening gentleman. Keep us safe.”