Live images were being broadcast of what would, a few moments before, have been a completely unimaginable event, and for a few moments overshadowed all other events. It concerned every single person on the planet: ordinary citizens, politicians, representatives giving their standing ovation in the European Congress …, and some stern faced directors at the Energy Alliance of the Middle East's headquarters four thousand five hundred kilometers away.
Those in the media room had no interest in the panoramic view of Almaty city's buzzing midnight delights at the south-eastern tip of Kazakhstan. The local nightlife was blooming on the picturesque Kingey Alatau mountain's range where youngsters did not care about the threat to their country's largest energy exporter. Their carelessness was rather understandable as they had never directly benefited from the natural resources that blessed their country; benefits that always went to the small group of individuals that governed, and always had.
“This is an unprecedented breach of contract,” growled Nikola Gromoff.
“It will not go unpunished, I assure you. They will reap the consequences, and they will not be thankful,” said Dmitry Furmanov, angrily.
“It's only one power plant. This will not remove Europe's need for fuel. What in the name of hell are they thinking?”
“This is a desperate move. They have natural gas reserves for up to six months at the most, no more. I wonder how they wish to solve the issue of winter,” laughed Gromoff.
“They will experience the feel of a frozen bed, and the true price of hot running water.”
“This winter they certainly will not feel like skating!” said Furmanov, blowing out a dense cloud of cigar smoke.
*
After a less than one hour of work, the electricity generator was connected to the power grid, and at signal from the chief engineer, it was switched on. The city of Athens – till that moment dark in anticipation – suddenly lit up with power produced only by the Gravitor. Then Neil Gibbs, on behalf of ASEC, officially handed the power station over to the Athens mayor, who was representing Greece at the event.
The research team was then picked up by a separate airborne passenger vehicle, and they quickly departed. The airborne robotic guards gathered around the cargo craft, and they rose to a much higher altitude than when they had arrived, then disappeared at supersonic speed.
The lighthouse looked rather insignificant next to the power station, and did not shine as brightly. The city of Athens had received a perpetual energy source that placed zero burden on the city budget.
Many felt that day that the beginning of something, the beginning of a more sustainable future was coming, but like everything, there was a price that had to be paid as well.
Reconciliation
The problems started to arise the following day. The president of the UNE sent a personally addressed invitation to Sean Steersman, inviting him to join the next congress meeting to give advice regarding the crisis situation.
On that Tuesday, the storm beat furiously at Steersman's passenger plane, the Condor as it emerged from sector two. Air guards flew close behind, but they were barely visible in the torrential rain. His personal guards stood close by, and the rest of the guard units were spread out in amongst the other machines.
Because they could fly in any conditions, they could travel at incredibly low or high altitudes, where no conventional plane could fly.
At an altitude of forty thousand meters, they went almost unnoticed among the drone weather balloons that floated, broadcasting weather information back to Earth. The Condor had been also tested at an altitude of 80,000 meters, but any higher had proved infeasible because the anti-gravitational force weakened as altitude increased, and another twenty kilometers would have meant that they were in space.
From this height, storm clouds could be seen coming in from the west, where the sky had been becoming clear.
“This short journey can tell us a lot about how the new systems are behaving,” said Steersman, moving over to stand next to Trenerry.
Trenerry did not respond. He was trying to maintain his balance.
“The ground is a bit uncertain,” he said.
“Yeah, it's a little like we're standing on floating ice,” added Hofferstein.
“At this altitude, the force of gravity is much weaker which makes adhesion lower. The ship isn't falling so there's no feeling of weightlessness, but we do notice the slightest changes in lateral movement under our feet, therefore, we feel as if we're sliding,” explained Gibbs.
“At this altitude, the auxiliary drives help us to stay on track,” said Steersman.
“So, can't this technology be used for interplanetary travel?” asked Martins. The astrophysicist had tagged along with the team to gain experience.
“No. It's only capable of movement in a strong gravitational area. Paradoxically, the stronger the gravity, the less energy it needs to operate.”
“It would be useful to be able to journey to more distant places,” observed Martins.
“The time will come for that also,” said Steersman.
The others looked at the astrophysicist, their expressions revealing that they didn't quite follow the context of his remark.
Shortly after entering Belgian territory, they arrived in Brussels, the capital city of the UNE. They began the vertical descent over the Capitol at rate only slightly less than an all-out free-fall.
Below them, the irregular city texture slowly unfolded the streets and buildings, emerging from the distant blur in more and more detail. Just under the aircraft stood a white building surrounded by a myriad of red-backed air-borne defense SRT units. They had secured the area in advance. The dome of the Capitolium seemed to rush dangerously up towards them as the craft descended. Groups of people began to appear in front of the main door and in the grassy park in which the building stood, all staring upwards. Although the ship slowed considerably as it approached the ground, some felt it safer to retreat as the giant craft drew closer.
But the ship did not land on the ground, it came to a stop just above the roof of the Capitol building, where helipads were built. Steersman exited the craft in the company of Gibbs and Trenerry, who were followed by a handful of security units. Above them, in the bright sky, a few of the SRT units maintained reconnaissance formation.
There was no delegation to meet them. Just a few elegantly dressed civil servants were there to show them to the internal elevators as soon as they had disembarked from the Condor. More security gates led the way to the meeting room, but these were now ignored. Steersman was aware that the forty federal states senators and representatives were waiting for them, but as they entered the oval state room they could see that it was filled with far more politicians than expected.
Steersman's team was led to a section marked ‘reserved’, where they took their seats while robot guards remained in the background. Indignation at such an affront to protocol was plainly visible on the faces of some of the politicians.
The fourth president of the UNE, William Doyle, began to speak.
“Today, I would like to welcome a civilian – of whom we have all heard much – to join us in this unprecedented event that has been rendered essential in light of the current extreme crisis. Welcome Mr Sean Steersman. The purpose of today's special session is to address the fact that yesterday the biggest energy supplier, the Energy Alliance of the Middle East made announcements, citing breach of contract; and they immediately ordered the shutdown of natural gas deliveries to European territories. Yesterday evening, the pressure in the supply pipes was close to zero.
Their primary condition was that the Gravitor installed in Athens must not be used for the duration of the contract. In other words, it must be put out of use for twenty-five years!” The president took a deep breath. “I would ask the senator and representatives to speak according to the rules of the house and state your position on this issue,” he concluded.
Greek Senator Gus Xanthopoulos spoke first as the official with the c
losest ties to the problem at hand. A few years before, after a presidential proposal, it was voted that official greetings be abolished in times of crisis which meant that the speaker did not have to separately welcome everyone in the House, and was allowed to cut straight to the chase.
“At seventy-eight years of age, I still feel so much determination and am willing to pay the price of introducing a revolutionary technology that offers us the opportunity for clean, cheap and abundant energy. This has always been, if I'm not very much mistaken, the dream of modern man. Now that we have the technology available, the fact that I have to choose whether to keep it or decline it because of vile threats to our nations is a welcome dilemma in spite of the possible arguments and counter arguments,” finished the Greek senator.
“I am in sympathy with this revolutionary innovation, and in my opinion, we should be more focused on how to maintain the use of this technology, and on how to avoid the disadvantages we may suffer as a result of standing alongside our Greek friends,” replied the lady senator from Italy.
“This comes with a great deal of risk. One point one billion people will be affected, no matter what we decide. We cannot take up the shining role of technological revolutionaries! We are not scientists! Our responsibility is to the people and protecting them. I propose that we temporarily suspend the operation of the power plant and normalize relations with the supplier,” argued the Polish representative.
The senator for Germany stood. “Unfortunately, I have to agree on this point. It may be possible that we are willing to make sacrifices in order to gain a better future result, but we can not expect the same from the rest of the population. The elderly, or mothers with children cannot be expected to understand the situation while they have no hot water or heating in their homes.”
“Here here,” called out a few voices from around the room.
A rumbling murmur broke out as people began to discuss the issue, and it disrupted proceedings for a few moments. The president was also speaking to his advisers briefly until the house speaker called the meeting to order.
“How much do you have in gas reserves?” Steersman interjected suddenly.
William Doyle looked at Steersman, and the house went silent.
“We have enough reserves, at the moment, to last for a period of up to four months at the current rate of consumption,” said the Hungarian senator.
“Which will last till about Christmas,” added the Austrian senator.
“I have a suggestion,” said Steersman.
“Please, Mr Steersman, the floor is yours,” said the President.
“It is difficult to make a decision when each argument has an indisputable legitimacy. I would therefore suggest playing for a little time. I don't know exactly what the contract with the Energy Alliance binds you to, but I'm quite sure that they are not interpreting it as they should. I suggest that you turn off the Gravitor-II and try to restore relations with your partners,” he stated briefly.
“And why do we need to stall for time?” asked the President.
“The capacity of ASEC factories is such that we will be able to produce as many power plants as are required to supply the energy needs of the whole region within three months. Neil Gibbs, our chief energetics engineer will outline the details.” Steersman made way for his colleague.
Gibbs felt awkward at first, but quickly got into his stride.
“I can tell you that, based on preliminary calculations, the total energy demand of the European region can be met by installing forty-five generation plants, using our current technology. This rate of energy production allows for the replacement of all types of power generators that are currently in use: nuclear reactors, wind turbines, dams, and coal-fired and natural gas plants. Since, however, there is not only a need for electricity, we ought to do some restructuring to provide hot water service.”
A senator for Spain stood up. “It's not that simple. We use a lot of gas run industrial and household appliances that will need to also be replaced or converted to electricity!”
“I see. Then we need to discuss the possibility of importing gas into Europe in the short term. Can gas be imported from elsewhere?”
“That's the most salient point in the contract, in fact. European countries may not obtain natural gas from any sources other than the Energy Alliance.”
“But we're not even talking about that,” noted Gibbs.
“We know that. Yet the acquisition of other resources has been brought into the equation.”
“It seems to me that it's them committing a breach of contract. You will need another gas supplier, and meanwhile, it would be worth installing Gravitors in order to be less vulnerable,” suggested Gibbs.
“Unfortunately, because of a disagreement, we halted imports of gas from Russia several years ago,” said the senator from France.
“I think the situation can be resolved quite easily,” said the Ukrainian senator. “The Ukrainian state has enough reserves to cover the area at full capacity for a certain length of time, but in return we will need investments.”
The House once again erupted.
“What period of time can you guarantee?” asked the President.
“At best, we have enough to hold out until spring.”
“And what investments do you expect in return?”
“Any investment that will create jobs for around a million people,” he replied.
More rumbling. No state would be able to put an investment of that scale on the table, otherwise they would've done so well before.
“It will be possible … from next year,” Steersman interjected. “I am willing to build new factories in Ukraine.”
“Then, I see no further objections to us opening up our reserves to the entire area,” stated the Ukrainian senator, and sat down.
The whole room looked at the president to gauge his reaction.
“Mr Steersman, what is the cost of delivering Gravitors?” the President asked.
“They are thirty-two billion each,” he answered.
“Thank you. I now call a one hour recess. Voting will take place at exactly midday.”
“Then, if you will excuse us, we must leave. Please let us know your decision,” said Steersman standing.
“Thank you for honoring us with your visit, Mr Steersman,” said the President.
“We thank you,” Steersman replied with a bow.
Steersman and his team walked out, their departure followed by many silently watching eyes.
Rising, the aircraft moved off and quickly left Belgian air space.
New possibilities
After the vote, the European Congress ultimately decided to order delivery of sixty-four Gravitors from ASEC. They didn't release the details of the strategy with which they were hoping to solve their energy woes. Contracts were signed, however, guaranteeing investments that would effectively create one million jobs in Ukrainian territory within two years.
The UNE sent peace envoys to the premiers of the three Middle Eastern Energy Alliance leader states, giving rise to the assumption that they did not want to burn their bridges, and wanted to continue doing business with the Energy Alliance. The question was, what did they really want.
The leadership of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were known for their reluctance to do favors for the United Nations of Europe, which was why the UNE Government had for many years been unable to decide whether replacing the Russian supplier had been the right decision or not. In any case, the concession was made to normalize relations, but it was difficult to negotiate with partners who were convinced that without them the western world would fall back into the Middle Ages.
Three weeks later, the UNE authorities had selected all of the installation sites for Gravitors, and ASEC had by that time prepared itself for production; a new factory unit had been completed in the northern area of the center, the sector three, where the production of aircraft and atmospheric devices, as well as DCG drive and Gravitor production were being car
ried out.
Neil Gibbs had finally been freed of the responsibility for manufacturing, and he was once again free to return to his sanctuary in the central R&D block, which had been renamed the Department of Energetics and Transmission Technologies.
Gibbs was then given a project that cause him to freeze in his tracks.
“Choose two separate teams to work on further development of the Gravitor and DCGs. Appoint two leaders, I'll speak to them later,” Steersman told him.
Gibbs blinked. “Okay. And what are we going to be focusing on?”
“You'll be concentrating on the technology necessary for space travel.”
“Space travel?”
“We are slowly exhausting all of our options. We need to search for new sites, discover new materials with better properties than those available at the moment.”
“Okay. Understood. Where do we start?”
“We'll be starting a lot of things simultaneously, but your team will have to solve the problem of long distance space travel. You'll need to design a drive that can be used for interplanetary travel, since the DCG drives are not applicable. Do you think you and your people are up to the challenge?”
“Well, I'm pretty excited at the prospect, but I don't really know where to start.”
“Don't worry! All you have is this one thing to concentrate on. Start from an area you know well and then move out into the unknown. We'll all do the same.”
“One of my former colleagues worked in the space industry, designed engines, conventional liquid fuel injection propulsion units. He told me once that the construction of a drive unit for space travel seemed a trifle compared to all of the other problems and necessities that needed to be accounted for. Space travel is not a simple thing.”
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