“Tissue regeneration. Think about it. No more of people saving up for retirement. Now it will be people saving up for a trip to my regeneration saunas. Why do you think I built my own Arcology? Just to get away from everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Well that was part of it. You’re not the only one to have a research lab underneath their home.” Senator Williams shifted slightly. Tubes were connected to his ribs, giving him various fluids to help his body recover from the procedure.
“I concede that point.”
Senator Williams looked down towards the circular ring in the chamber. It would help stabilize the warping of the space-time fabric as the wormhole was open, practically negating any gravitational side effects.
Williams had this regeneration technology now for almost forty years, perfecting it all that time. It filled him with guilt that he wasn’t able to release it sooner. But with the current population of Earth at near forty billion, the population explosion would cripple humanity’s infrastructure and lead to its collapse. He was not going to be the cause of the second Global Collapse. But with humanity expanding to the stars and planets already picked out, it was just a matter of time for humans to map out the planets and find out if they are truly habitable or not.
People in sealed white environmental suits lined up in front of the ring. The wormhole opened, its edges traveling to within the ring where they were stabilized. The other end opened up in the space near a planet. The instruments now picked up the exact position of the planet.
The wormhole was closed and a new one was opened up. This time the wormhole was in the atmosphere. Instruments quickly analyzed the air, finding it to have a suitable air mixture for normal breathing.
Closing and opening again, this time the wormhole formed slightly above the land. Fields of a green matted plant like organism filled the view for as far as the eye could see. Over in the distance, dark objects could be seen moving slightly. A whole new ecosystem to explore. A whole new world to colonize. Senator Williams just hoped humanity would not ruin this planet as well.
Humans had a bad track record so far.
***
Darvin sat down on next to Exsid on Exsid’s couch, both of them with beers in their hands. Betty was playing with some colored balls that switched colors as they hit one another. She was playing excitedly, squealing when her favorite color, purple, switched from one ball to another. “Remind me why you’re in my house,” Exsid said to Darvin.
“Because mine was destroyed in the Rebel rampage.” It was now a bit less than two days after the Battle of Jupiter ended when Admiral Jevins destroyed ARI Jillian’s ship. Commonwealth Marines have since reduced the rebellious militia to next to nothing. Other less rebellious rebels, the majority, surrendered without a fight.
The telescreen was turned on to one of the many news channels. It was repeating the same story over and over, that the Governor Al Chipman was responsible for the Rebel attacks and for violating laws against tampering with artificial intelligences, among other war crimes. But nothing on General Sola, which Darvin thought odd since he was there when the Marines arrested him.
It also brought back memories of a Captain Andris arresting General Sola. Darvin would have to appear for that court date as a witness for the numerous laws General Sola had broken over the years. But Darvin didn’t look forward to it. It reminded him of that person Trev who was the one who killed his father. It reminded him that Trev was still loose, now probably among the asteroids. Now soon to be among the many planets as the news also reported. Wormholes, Darvin thought with a smirk. Who would have thought?
“I am so tired,” Darvin said as he leaned his head back against the couch.
“You and me both. Maybe this time I won’t have to talk you into taking vacation time?” Exsid asked.
“Nope, no argument there.” Darvin thought for a moment. “How long until you think Chief Watson reforms the police force?”
“Months. That can’t happen overnight.” Exsid looked over towards his partner. He could always read Darvin ever since he was a little kid. “You want to leave. Don’t you?”
Darvin thought for a moment, and only a moment. “Yes.”
“I really don’t think you should.”
“You know why.”
“That’s exactly why.”
“It’s why I have to go.”
“He will kill you.”
“Thanks for the confidence,” Darvin said sarcastically. “Besides, I am not sure I will have a job here soon. Not after what I did." A flashback of the event passed through his mind, the regret over leaving his fellow officers digging into him. He tried to smile it away, but that smile wouldn't come. He looked over at Exsid, the one person who always stayed with him even when he was at his worse. "Will you come with me?”
Exsid thought for a few minutes about that question. He thought about Darvin’s father, his promise to always watch Darvin and to make sure he would grow up into a man. But as Exsid looked at Darvin staring up at the ceiling his gaze turned towards the little playing on the floor in front of them. “No. I got work to do here.”
Darvin looked down at where Exsid was staring. “Try not to screw up like how you did with me.”
Exsid laughed at that statement. “I’ll try not to.”
This time, the smile came to Darvin.
***
“Thank you for your work Joseph,” the ambassador said.
“It ended up better than we hoped,” Joseph replied, his avatar merely a blacked out figure in the ambassador’s terminal. “That’s why you will be paying me more.”
“More?”
“Yes more,” Joseph said with unwavering confidence.
“Why?” the ambassador asked, knowing it was the wrong question as soon as it left his mouth.
“You asked for a few asteroids. Maybe even a moon around Jupiter. You also asked for an alliance with a space faring government.” Joseph paused, seeming to take a breath. “While I didn’t give you an alliance, per say, I did manage to grab two planets on your behalf.”
“The planets were not even of your working or your intention,” the ambassador nearly yelled.
“Nonetheless, it was my work that allowed the whole process to be facilitated. Besides, you have the blessing of the Commonwealth now. You should pay me what I asked or else I will make certain things come to light. They still believe all those bombings were the work of the soon to be late Governor Al Chipman. Even he believes that the bombings were of his behalf as well. I’m sure you don’t want that to change. It might make the deal you have right now with the Commonwealth disappear,” Joseph said, almost light-heartedly.
The ambassador shrank in his chair, looking at the terminal dismally. “You will have your money.”
“Thank you.”
“I thought you were in the Jupiter system. How did you get back to Earth so fast?”
“You think the Commonwealth is the only one with wormhole technology?” Joseph said with a smile.
***
-34 years later in the year 2623-
“And then I remember waking up in the hospital after being knocked out by that cop.”
“They had to do something Matt,” Darvin said.
“Keep calling me Matt and I will call you Darv. Darvy Darv,” Matthew said.
“Alright, alright. Matthew.”
The two were sitting down in the shade of an open front restaurant to keep out from the hot sun. The planet Gibarene was known for its safe beaches, laid back lifestyle, hot weather, luxury shops, and sunburn. It was a rare luxury and recreation planet. Most took to finding any type of reprieve from the heat during the planet’s high noon, just like how Matthew and Darvin were doing right now. Yet, it was a fitting reminder of how the Silver Hearts now operated. Hiding in the shadows while the rest of the world marched on in the light. Yet, Darvin thought, at least we are sponsored by the Commonwealth.
Darvin looked over to Matthew, another member of the organization. Matthew apparently also ha
d a vendetta against Joseph’s shadow organization as much as Darvin did. For the void, Darvin thought, I wish we knew what the name of his organization even was. From what Matthew told him, a friend of his died on the same day that Darvin learned that Trev was the one who killed his father.
“So who are we meeting again?” Matthew asked.
“A very old friend,” Darvin responded with a smile.
“Have you heard anything new lately?”
“In regards to?”
“Joseph.”
“Scott dropped us a line,” Darvin said and took a drink of water from the glass in front of him.
“Oh?” Matthew said with a little bit of excitement. Scott was a father figure to Matthew.
“Apparently planet Leon has been sealed off from the Commonwealth. Senate is debating either isolation or intervention. We believe the recent ongoing civil war there was incited by Joseph.”
“Leon… Isn’t that the one with the large gold deposits?”
“You got it.”
“Why would he incite a war there?”
“Well, that’s what we will soon be finding out.”
“How are we going to get to a closed off world?” Matthew asked. He was nearly Darvin’s age, but he acted almost like a teenager at times. Darvin suspected it was because of something done to him in the Arcologies, during the time after he was captured during the riot. The time that he no longer remembers.
“I forgot this will be your first operation on the outside.”
“Yes. Well… I have been working hard on the inside for us.”
“I know you have. That is why you are with me after all.”
“So how are we going to get there?”
“We are going to use a wormhole. Our sponsor is very angry about this civil war.”
“Charles Bo-,” Matthew managed to say before Darvin slapped him across the head.
“Don’t say his void damned name.”
“Sorry boss. I forgot the rules.”
“Use your memory crystal for once and remember it.”
“Got it.”
Darvin looked out past the tables in front of the small restaurant and out to the endless looking ocean. Humanity had now spread to seventy eight solar systems in the short time that wormhole technology had been available. Dramatic reductions in civil unrest and hate crimes resulted from the spread to the stars and from the regeneration saunas that opened up immediately after the failed Jupiter Uprising. The standard of living went up for the average person, and so did happiness.
No one could say that happiness increased for Al Chipman or General Sola. General Sola had gone missing shortly after being ushered onto the new Commonwealth ships. No one knows where he went and the brass of the Commonwealth Military demanded answers be found. Al was tried for his crimes against humanity, as the Senate had so aptly named them. To some people on the Jupiter Rings, he was their savior. They believed he had saved them from the oppressiveness of the Commonwealth and had in the end given them the ability to govern themselves to a greater degree. Al was sentenced to death and died shortly after the end of the trial thirty years ago.
People now could theoretically live forever, if they could afford it. People put their savings away in funds to pay for the regeneration saunas instead of into retirement funds. But, most living in the deepest depths of the Arcologies were stuck where they were. Government sponsored lotteries for those willing to move into the wildernesses of the new planets, where they would be spearheading the formation of the agricultural society on those planets at their own risk, could only move so many people out of the lower sublevels.
Other people who had money to move did so to the planets that were quickly building factories. Those planets were typically owned by several Senators, while only a few Senators could boast of owning a whole planet themselves. Only three could say they owned more than one. Senator Williams and Kino were two of them. Senator Bodd, the main sponsor of the Silver Hearts, was the third. His planets used the gold standard for their currency. The loss of the potential gold deposits of Leon was a fairly large problem for him. If he couldn’t find a new source or rectify the issue, his currency value could face deflation and stagnant his planets’ economy. The situation immediately became Darvin’s top priority, as well as that of the Silver Hearts.
“We will catch the train back to the Moon. From there we will go to Leon,” Darvin said to Matthew. The existing Maglev rail system was easily converted to run through the wormhole Hubs, becoming the dominant form of transportation for materials and people throughout Earth and its colonies.
“Sounds good,” Matthew replied, trusting in Darvin to know how to do things. “We should go cloud diving sometime over near Jupiter.”
“Maybe as a reward after this operation.”
The first 78 planets were not the only places that were settled. Jupiter, receiving its own representation in the Senate and given the ability to form its own government operating underneath the Commonwealth, not only expanded the number of Rings around Jupiter to twelve but also began settling Colony Rings around other gas giants near the Sol system. The mining of the gas giants for fusion fuels remained the basis for their economy.
The expansion of the Rings and Colony Rings also lead to the creation of several recreational activities, such as cloud diving. People would don a skin tight suit and free fall through the upper atmosphere until they were picked up by aircraft before they went too deep into Jupiter and ultimately crushed by the intense pressures. Although the radiation among the majority of the gas giants made this sport impossible, those planets that did have this sport often sported floating life forms in the upper reaches of the atmosphere that added to the excitement of the jump especially with people taking pictures of them as they plummeted past.
Wormholes were not just used to connect planets to each other through transportation methods, the most common being railroads, but they were also used to connect planets with utilities such as power and water. With the completion of the Universal Energy Grid the Commonwealth connected all of the planets and most of the Colony Rings and Jupiter Rings into one large intelligent and self-regulating electrical grid. With this, the Commonwealth bought the fusion fuels from the Jupiter system to supply free, but rationed, electricity for all citizens. People could buy more if it was needed while businesses had discount rates if they held to environmental requirements. This dependence on helium-3 is what was driving the rapid expansion of the Jupiter Ring Republic and it's Colony Rings.
It was also this dependence that caused Darvin to take over the leadership of the Silver Hearts organization and move its activities away from Jupiter. Or at least that was what Darvin kept saying to himself. The Police discharged Darvin without a pension or any benefits because of his actions in abandoning his brothers and going against the standing orders at the time. But due his actions in capturing General Sola he was not dishonored by the government and was pardoned.
After learning that Joseph and Trev were also wanted by the Earth Commonwealth, Darvin focused the Silver Hearts into finding and breaking Joseph’s organization. They had made some progress so far. Helping with the Islamic Border Conflict, involving some of the last known religious extremists, and with the Ural Arcology Gang War, the Silver Hearts had gathered sponsorships from many within the Commonwealth. But it was with Senator Bodd that Darvin found his greatest sponsor. Apparently, Joseph stole something from Senator Bodd. What he stole, Darvin did not know. But to have someone give him a bottomless expense account to get revenge against Joseph and Trev, Darvin wasn’t one to complain.
“So where is this friend we are meeting?” Matthew asked after the long silence.
“She will be here soon,” Darvin said.
“She?” Matthew asked incredulously. He looked out across the busy street and down the block, luxury shops and restaurants lining the street. There were no cars here on this street, but there were plenty of people. “Speaking of shes. Check out that number right there,” Matthew
said while nodding to an attractive brown haired woman walking down the street towards them.
“Which one?” Darvin asked, turning his head to see which woman Matthew was talking about. The woman was only twenty feet away from them now.
“The one with the long brown hair.”
“I see. She is cute.”
“Definitely,” Matthew said in agreement.
“Hello big bro,” the woman said as she walked to their table.
“Big bro?” Matthew asked and looked at Darvin.
“Hello little sis,” Darvin replied back to the woman.
“Little sis?” Matthew asked again, this time more to himself as he looked back to the woman.
“Shouldn’t you introduce me to your friend here?” the woman asked.
“I guess I should,” Darvin said.
“Your manners never change through the years,” the woman replied.
Darvin smiled and looked at Matthew, who was overwhelmed and didn’t know who he should be watching. “Matthew, this is Betty. She is my little sister.”
“Little sister?” Matthew asked.
“Yes, technically adopted, but she is still my sister. And she is coming with us to Leon.”
***
Joseph looked down at planet Leon. Standing in the observation bay of his ship, he admired the colors of the once pristine world. Humanity had come to this world only twenty eight years ago. What surveyors had found was a mountainous world with a very heavy content of precious heavy metals. Its discovery was significant. None of the other seventy eight worlds settled so far had such a high volume of heavy metal deposits.
Stroking his chin slightly, Joseph’s eyes traced the long coastline of the single continent present on the planet. The cities between the mountains were at odds with the cities at the coast. It was easy enough to convince a few of the radical young ones. The mountains acted as excellent areas for training camps. He smiled at the thought of some of them in their excitement for learning how to take power into their own hands.
The long window of the observation deck darkened slightly. A flash of light erupted where one of the coastal cities stood. The first thing he had the young men do was take out the wormhole ports, a collection of Hubs that connected the planet to the greater Commonwealth and was very similar to airports or seaports. Senate imposed isolation, while they slowly debated on what to actually do, followed as the terrorists attacks degraded into open civil war.
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