Freedom's Last Gasp

by M. A. Rothman

  “Just keep your eyes peeled. Once these guys are out of our hair, we’ll still have a few sleepless nights ahead of us. There’s going to be a lot of movement, so spread the word among the team that we’ll all be pulling some massive overtime.”

  “Copy that.”

  Just as Terry cut off the comm, Gene spoke into his microphone. “Earth shuttle Vancouver, this is Chrysalis tower. You’re coming in too hot for safe entry. Slow to 14,000 mph and an entry angle of forty-five degrees.”

  “Chrysalis tower, our normal entry is at 17,500 mph with an entry angle of forty degrees. Earth shuttle Vancouver.”

  Gene rolled his eyes. “Earth shuttle Vancouver, this is Chrysalis tower, you go with that vector and speed and you’ll scorch your thermal tiles. You won’t survive Earth reentry. If you want a round trip, then I would suggest a 14,000 mph approach at forty-five degrees.”

  “Roger, Chrysalis tower. Adjusting speed to 14,000 mph and entry attitude of forty-five degrees. Earth shuttle Vancouver.”

  Terry nodded with appreciation at Gene’s patience. “I think you’ve gotten a good handle on your job.”

  Gene shrugged as he studied the satellite imagery showing the shuttle making adjustments. “These pilots, I swear, sometimes they just want to argue.” He leaned into his mic once more. “Earth shuttle Vancouver, this is Chrysalis tower. You’re cleared for entry into Chrysalis air space. Lock onto beacon signal kilo x-ray tango.”

  “Roger, Chrysalis tower. Breaking orbital trajectory. Lock onto beacon signal kilo x-ray tango. Earth shuttle Vancouver.”

  “Gene, just a heads-up, in short order we’re going to be closing all air traffic on the colony except what goes through this airport.”

  “Really? What’s happening?”

  “The governor will make an announcement to explain. I’m just letting you know so you can be prepared. As soon as this last shuttle is off to Earth. There’ll be a flurry of local shuttles coming and going, but once those are squared away, one of my guys will let you know what to do. Okay?”

  “This sounds ominous.”

  “It’ll be fine, just wait for the announcement, one of my guys will give you guidance.”

  “Okay.” Gene leaned into the microphone. “Earth shuttle Vancouver, turn right heading one-eight-zero to intercept the localizer, cleared ILS runway Charlie into Chrysalis, maintain two thousand five hundred feet until established.”

  “Roger, Chrysalis tower. Turn right heading one-eight-zero, cleared ILS runway Charlie into Chrysalis, maintain two thousand five hundred feet until established. Earth shuttle Vancouver.”

  Terry waved to Gene as he left. Things were under control here, but he wasn’t so certain about the rest of the colony. Once the governor told the over three million residents of the colony that they’d all have to go into the mines for their own safety… well, if things were ever going to go sideways, that would be the time.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nwaynna motioned toward the forklift operator as he unloaded one of the 4,000-pound spools of graphene and yelled across the hangar, “Be careful with that! We need one in each of the shuttle’s cargo bays. Make sure they’re strapped in tight; those shuttles will be taking off as soon as you get these loaded.”

  Two dozen of Carl’s most trusted roughnecks were gathered around her, suited up for a mission they’d been secretly practicing for since the governor had set the roles for Operation Freedom almost two years ago.

  “Okay guys, this is all about establishing some geosynchronous space anchors and dropping the landers on their mark. The pilots have the signal beacon for each of the connection points. Are there any questions about what you need to do?”

  Everybody shook their head.

  “Okay then, fists in the center…” Nwaynna stuck her fist in the middle of the team of miners and as soon as everyone had their hand in, she raised her voice and said, “Freedom!”

  “Freedom!” the others echoed and almost immediately, the crowd dispersed, each of them rushing to their respective shuttles.

  Nwaynna turned to Carlos. “Make sure you get this done, get back down safely, and tell our girls I’ll be there as soon as I’m able.”

  Carlos leaned down, gave her a kiss and smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell them not to worry because Mommy is saving us all.” He glanced at the forklift lifting another spool of graphene and winced. “I have to go, I love you.” He gave her one last peck on the lips and jogged out of the hangar.

  Nwaynna looked at the clock. Just a little more than a handful of hours left. She fast-walked toward the nearest gate as she activated her lapel mic. “Folks, it’s almost go time.”

  Carlos felt a bit queasy as the shuttle’s vertical thrusters ceased their acceleration, leaving him in a weightless environment.

  “Mister Stewart, we’re approaching the requested 7,000-mile altitude from the colony surface. I’ll be opening the cargo bay doors in approximately five minutes.”

  “Roger that,” Carlos replied, easing himself to his feet and latching his safety harness to one of the metal loops on the cargo bay’s floor.

  With the magnetic soles of his spacesuit now activated, he plodded very much like Frankenstein’s monster, struggling to lift his foot and place it ahead of him as he marched toward the giant spool of graphene ribbon. This ten-foot spool was three-feet wide and weighed nearly two tons on the colony, but thanks to the lack of gravity, Carlos was able to easily turn the spool on its spindle and grab the metal rod that had been melded to the end of the ribbon.

  He slowly pulled on the rod, and watched as the dull semi-transparent ribbon unfurled behind it. Dragging the end of the ribbon toward the lander, he fed the metal rod and about two feet of the attached ribbon into a slit on the top of the four-wheeled vehicle and slammed his gloved fist onto a button next to the opening. The opening immediately clamped shut, securing the end of the sheet of graphene to the lander.

  Running his fingers along the seemingly fragile ribbon, it was hard to imagine that even though the ribbon was less than the thickness of a hair, it could easily hold many tons scrambling up and down it. After all, that was the purpose of a space elevator.

  But he knew better than that. His wife may be one of the best scientific minds in the colony, but he wasn’t an idiot. This wasn’t going to be used for a space elevator. There’s no way. Why suddenly, during the evacuation of the entire colony does the governor suddenly need twenty-four space elevators installed right now. Even if he didn’t really know… he knew this project was more than just installing a space elevator, he wasn’t an idiot and neither were the rest of the miners. There was more to it, and they didn’t need to know, that was fine. Hopefully, after this was all done, Nwaynna would tell him what he’d helped put together.

  The pilot’s voice spoke through the speaker in his helmet, “Evacuating the air from the cargo bay in three ... two ... one....”

  Suddenly, a horn blared in Carlos’s helmet. The graphene fluttered with the whoosh of air escaping from the cargo hold. He leaned over the lander and checked its settings. “Hey, Pilot, have you detected the infrared designator on the surface for the rover to home in on?”

  “Of course. It’s broadcasting at the designated 1,033 nanometers.”

  Carlos grabbed the lander by one of its handholds and wheeled the weightless vehicle over the still-closed lower hatch of the cargo hold.

  Staring at the wide ribbon of graphene attached to the lander, his gaze followed the transparent film up to the giant spool and nodded with approval. “The lander is aligned with the spool. I’m ready here.” He took a few steps back, away from the cargo doors, as the yellow warning lights flashed through the cargo bay.

  “Roger that. Opening the lower cargo hatch in three...”

  Through the soles of his boots, Carlos felt the vibration of the heavy latches unlocking, then he watched as the cargo bay doors yawned open. The lander floated above the opened doors; its programming automatically activated. With its vertical thrusters,
the rover slowly lowered itself below the deck, following the beacon that had been planted on the colony’s surface.

  The ribbon unspooled faster and faster while the rover thrust itself toward the colony’s surface.

  Just as he began to wonder about his transport, Carlos felt another vibration in the shuttle and smiled.

  “Mister Stewart, your transport down to the surface has docked.”

  Walking to the airlock, Carlos imagined the lander in a controlled descent, speeding ever faster with the long ribbon that would form the basis of the space elevator’s scaffolding trailing behind it. He knew there had to be something huge at stake for everyone in the colony. These things they were putting in place would be so much more than a simple way of transporting stuff off the surface; Carlos suspected that this would maybe be a part in saving all of their lives.

  There were two dozen thermal pipes sticking out of the ground along the colony’s equator, and Nwaynna stood at one end of one of them. It felt weird to be wearing the comms headgear, but they’d all need the eye protection as well as the visual assistance. There was almost no breeze, which was good; it would make things easier.

  She turned to the two men who’d accompanied her. “You guys ready?”

  The two burly miners nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She activated her lapel mic. “Okay everyone, this is site one reporting in. We’re about to hit the ready mark. I need confirmations from everyone that you’re in position, because once we start, this’ll all happen very quickly. One at a time, please. Site two, what’s your status?”

  “Ready and on site.”

  “Three?”

  “We’re ready.”

  Nwaynna continued through to site twenty-four. Everyone was ready.

  And then she heard the words she’d been waiting for. “Chrysalis is now on the far side of Epsilon.”

  “Folks, a quick prayer before we start.” She closed her eyes. “Dear Lord, please listen as I pray to you, and proudly defend the people of the colony. I will always serve you and our people, and be the best person that I can be. Amen.”

  A chorus of amens came across the comm.

  “Okay, folks. It’s go time.”

  Nwaynna clicked on her remote, and a video feed popped up in her viewfinder. It showed an open hatch high above the colony, out beyond the atmosphere, and a rapidly rotating spool spewing out what looked like a string of clear tape.

  “Everyone, your viewfinders should now be showing a feed from a shuttle directly above your site. What you’re seeing is a vehicle pulling a very long but thin sheet of graphene. That’s the stuff I talked to you guys about. It’s already been dropping for some time. We do this just like we drilled earlier, but if there are any questions, now’s the time.”

  She was met with silence.

  “Okay then. We’re less than three minutes from the landers’ arrival. Make sure the seal is tight. One person seals it, the other confirms that it’s a tight fit. No mistakes. All of our families are depending on us.”

  One of the miners with her pointed up at the sky. “There it is! But it’s not quite above us.”

  Nwaynna shielded her eyes from the sun. A dark object had indeed broken through the haze. “The clouds probably shifted the homing signal a bit, but the rover will auto-center. Just watch.”

  The speck grew larger and its engines grew louder. She didn’t see the graphene ribbon, and for a moment, she was concerned. But then the sunlight glinted off the nearly transparent material trailing above the descending lander.

  They all had to cover their ears as the staccato of the lander’s horizontal thrusters altered the course of its fall and slowed its descent. The landing was perfect, and the four-wheeled vehicle touched down right next to the thermal pipe. Above it, a graphene ribbon rose, as if by magic, into the sky. Over seven thousand miles long, and yet it just hung there as if immune to gravity. Nwaynna’s mind had trouble wrapping itself around the sight before her.

  “Amazing.”

  She activated her lapel mic. “The landers should all be down. If any are not, speak now.”

  Silence.

  “Good. Just like we rehearsed. Let’s do this.”

  One of the miners pushed the rover forward a few feet and pressed a button on its control panel. The graphene sheet with the metal bar attached spooled further out from the bottom of the lander.

  The other miner removed the cap from the thermal pipe and applied a nanotube joining compound to the end of it. The first miner lifted the heavy bar and slid it horizontally into the slot at the end of the pipe while the other miner used a clamp to seal the connection. Both miners took signal measurements from both the pipe and the clean ribbon coming down from the sky, then conferred.

  They looked to Nwaynna. “They’re the same.”

  Nwaynna smiled and got on the comm. “Site one has a confirmed connection. Site two, report.”

  “Confirmed. We’re good.”

  “Three is good.”

  “So is four.”

  Nwaynna’s feeling of relief grew as the other sites reported in.

  When all had reported successful connections, she said, “Great job, everyone. Let’s go underground and meet up with our families. The rest is up to others to do.”

  As her two miner companions walked back to their transport, she hung back a bit, placed a call, and put her communicator to her ear.

  The voice of the man who answered always sent chills through her. “Is it done?”

  “Yes. All twenty-four are verified to have a sound electrical connection.”

  “Good job. Now go relax. Your family needs you.”

  Nwaynna knew that her job was far from over. The next step terrified her.

  The governor spoke into her communicator. “Yes?”

  “Madam Governor, it’s Tina. I’m sorry to call, but I stumbled across something pertinent, and you did say to reach out if there’s anything about the colony I thought you might need to know.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “It seems that one of the reasons the UN guys are so keen on the colony is that they think you’re hiding something. I just sent you the record I found—just in case there’s something you want to move.”

  “Hold on, let me look.” Welch pulled out her handheld PC. “I don’t see anything.”

  “I only sent it a couple minutes ago. The bits might still be flying in your direction.”

  “Never mind, I just got it.” She tapped on the file: a scanned UN record.

  * * *

  Date: 151.99 AE

  Subject: Classified Briefing – colony concerns

  * * *

  GHD: We have intel from various sources that there’s a secret level in the Chrysalis colony mines that none of the miners have access to.

  * * *

  SGNP: You think they’re hiding something down there?

  * * *

  GHD: We have several working theories, but the one that we deem most likely goes back to the Exodus days. When Holmes died, the engine he developed was never found. If it’s down there… well, it’s not good for us. Our science team believes that what Holmes produced could be turned into a devastating weapon.

  * * *

  SGNP: A weapon that could be turned against us…

  * * *

  GHD: Exactly.

  * * *

  SGNP: If all they’re doing is grubbing around in the dirt, then there’s no reason for them to hide anything down there, especially from their own people. Okay, let’s see what we can do about finding out what’s down in this hidden level.

  * * *

  GHD: Yes, ma’am.

  * * *

  “Do you know who these speakers are?” the governor asked.

  “It’s safe to assume that GHD is General Heinrich Duhrer, head of UNIB, and SGNP is Natalya Poroshenko, secretary-general of the UN.”

  Welch laughed. “To think, that bitch is so insecure that she’d risk everything on something that could have been solved with a
phone call. Those idiots could have just asked, because we have nothing to hide down there. Is there anything else, Tina?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Thanks for the information. We’re going to be going into lockdown soon, so if I’m out of reach, just send an email. I’ll get it eventually.”

  As the governor hung up, Terry walked into her office with a duffel slung over his shoulder. “You ready?”

  She stood, wearing fatigues for the first time in longer than she could remember. “Son, I’ve been ready for this for a very, very long time.”

  Priya’s shuttle taxied past the gate and stopped amid controlled chaos on the tarmac. The hatch opened, an escalator was wheeled over, and moments later a half dozen armed colony security officers swarmed the cabin.

  “It’s fine,” whispered Tom beside her. “They’re just clearing the normals out of the way.”

  Once the Earth-based crew had been led off the ship and colony pilots had taken the helm, one of the men stood at the front of the cabin and made an announcement. “Per the orders of the governor, this shuttle will be acting as her security detail as we go planetside for the upcoming event. You’ll want to remove your weight vests—you aren’t going to want those on when we hit Epsilon’s gravity. We’re refueling, but we’ll be taking off again in fifteen minutes. Be ready.”

  Priya’s eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets.

  “Epsilon?! Isn’t the atmosphere poisonous? And it’s like an oven! And the gravity is like half as much as Earth’s. And—”

  Tom squeezed her hand. He didn’t seem fazed at all. “It’ll be fine. I’ve been there a couple times. Yes, the gravity kind of sucks—it’s about double that of the colony and forty percent more than Earth—but it’s not like an oven and it’s not poisonous. Average daylight temperature is about one hundred and thirty Fahrenheit, dropping to around ninety at night. Not comfortable, but not a killer.”