“He is proud of all of us.”
She reached into her flight coveralls and drew out the two small boxes her mother had given her at Goddard and opened them up. In one was Erich’s Victoria Cross, in the other her own great-grandfather’s Order of Lenin. Franklin just gazed at them in silence, her mother coming over to her side, smiling.
“After we stop at the Five Hundred Mile Station,” she whispered, voice choked, “I will continue on up as planned. I’ll make sure these are placed where they belong … up there at the top of our dreams.”
The three were silent as she tucked the medals away.
“Pillar Ascent Pod, this is Morgan Station.”
Victoria looked over to the monitor screen, Singh and Kevin by her side, smiling.
“Good to see you, my friends.”
“Welcome home, Victoria,” both of them said.
She smiled and her eyes clouded over.
They were right. She was indeed coming home. This was indeed where she belonged now.
“Your father was right,” Franklin whispered, looking straight up. “My God. What a heavenly view.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has become almost pro forma that when I think of who to acknowledge when a book is done, the thought always forms that for any author, we build our dream castles on the works of those who have gone before us, and those who help and shape what I work on now as a writer.
Up front is the team at Tor/Forge. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a new author with my first paperback book, the new kid on the block invited to a publishers party at a legendary Boscon. (For those not sure what that was, Boscon was a sci-fi convention in Boston.) It was there that I first met Tom Doherty and left that party with a desire if ever there was a publisher I hoped to some day work with it was Tom and his team. My expectations were one day fulfilled and far exceeded. Tom has shaped this business for over fifty years, and I am honored to say I am a member of “his house.” Part of that Doherty team are editors like Bob Gleason, with special thanks to the patience of Whitney Ross, Linda Quinton, and so many others. The mechanics of creating a book far exceed what you, good reader, find on the shelf; it is a team effort and without such people like Tom and those with him, you would not be reading this. (But I must add, you are certainly dedicated if you are reading this acknowledgments rather than just digging straight into the book.) If the book works for you, know that the Tor/Forge folks made it happen, and I will take the heat if it does not work!
When Bob Gleason called me with what I thought was an off-the-wall idea, “Would you be interested in working in cooperation with NASA,” I actually thought he was joking. NASA? My heroes want me to work with them? It was like asking a kid if he wanted a free pass to Disney World, and the results have been such a wonderful adventure. So thanks, Bob, for that call.
And then to my agent, Eleanor Wood. We’ve been together for over twenty-five years. I am blessed that Eleanor is not just an agent but a friend I can always count on for guidance. Thanks as well to Josh Morris of Content House and to Joanne McLaughlin, for all the times when people have overlooked the good you have done, where credit never came, know you have made a difference.
The fear with writing acknowledgments is missing someone important, while at the same time worrying about dragging it out into a half dozen pages like the ramblings of some Hollywood type on Academy Awards night. Bill Butterworth, who some know as W. E. B. Griffin IV, was my editor long ago when I was writing short stories for Boys’ Life, that realm where heroes such as Heinlein, Bradbury, and others first ignited my dreams of space exploration. A tough editor and always a darn good guide and to this day always a good friend. I must mention as well other guides such as Professors Gordon Mork and Dave Flory of Purdue, Tom Seay of Kutztown University, and my ever-patient administrators at Montreat College, where I have been blessed to teach in what is now my twentieth year. My comrades in flying, Don Barber, Danny McMullen, and Brandon NeSmith, who taught me how to handle my beloved Aeronca L3, should be mentioned as well. I think in reading the book you’ll see that flying is definitely in my blood. And, of course, Jeff Ethell. If St. Pete hands out P-51 Mustangs when you cross through the pearly gates rather than wings, I am certain you received one, Jeff. Our last flight together still haunts my dreams. A warm mention as well of heartfelt gratitude to Robin Shoemaker, who already offers so much inspiration and hope.
This book was the fruition of an idea first hatched by Tom Doherty and some NASA personnel long years ago to again merge those of us in science fiction with the team that does the real stuff and to try to tell their story. The days spent at Goddard when first kicking around the idea for this book were a whirlwind of conversations, “what ifs,” a coming together of dreamers such as me in the realm of both novels and also my background as an historian, teaming up with the men and women who actually crunch the numbers and by the thousands worked in the background to put us on the moon and most recently a high-tech rover on Mars. Others might sail the ships of the future, but without the team at Goddard and our other NASA facilities, we never would have gotten off the ground. I believe our future renewal as a vibrant force for good and the protecting of our environment for future generations really does rest in their hands, hearts, and brilliant minds.
Regarding what some will see as a leap of faith, that a space elevator is already within the realm of hard science, I hope this book just might serve as a booster to their hard efforts. Granted it is fiction, but it is fiction based on reality. This historian, who specialized in the history of technology, learned that so many of the dreamers of the past such as Hypatia of Alexandria, Galileo, and Newton, engineers like Brunel and the Roeblings faced mocking criticism only to be hailed later as the guides to the future. The legendary Arthur C. Clarke, mentor for a whole generation of young emerging authors, in his seminal work The Fountains of Paradise first presented to me the idea of a “space tower,” a “Pillar to the Sky.” Even that visionary believed in the 1970s that the technology to build one was two hundred years away. Sir Arthur, you were right in so many other dreams, but technological innovation has compressed that timeline from two hundred years to just thirty years since you finished your work. Though I’ve written a novel, I drew my research on the here and now and fervently pray that some, after reading this book, will say, “We can do this now!” And in so doing truly open up space while also addressing so many problems confronting us here on Earth. A space elevator might very well be The answer to the problems confronting us in this second decade of the twenty-first century. What a dream for this author if Pillar to the Sky helps to ignite interest in the subject and inspire brave new innovators who will see it happen not a hundred years hence but within the next decade or two.
The best days can indeed still be ahead of us and thus in closing an acknowledgment to my wonderful daughter, Meghan, who has shown such patience across the years when her father promises something but then has to say, “Just let me finish this chapter first.” This book is for her because if it actually serves to shape her world for the better, to lay in its grave once and for all that dystrophic tome The Limits to Growth, and helps in some small way to fire the dream that a better future is ahead, I will most certainly be content.
So in closing, yes, it is a novel. But it is also a dream that can become a reality, for to paraphrase the legendary Goddard, the dreams of today can indeed become the realities of tomorrow.
Book by William R. Forstchen from Tom Doherty Associates
We Look Like Men of War
One Second After
Pillar to the Sky
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN is the New York Times bestselling author of One Second After, among numerous other books in diverse subjects ranging from history to science fiction. Forstchen holds a Ph.D. in history from Purdue University, with specializations in military history and the history of technology. He is currently a faculty fellow and professor of history at Montreat College, near Ashev
ille, North Carolina.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
PILLAR TO THE SKY
Copyright © 2014 by William Forstchen
All rights reserved.
Mention of “Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate” and “Sanctum Sanctorum” by permission of Constance Demby. Find her online at www.constancedemby.com.
Cover art by Paul Youll
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Forstchen, William R.
Pillar to the sky / William R. Forstchen. — First Edition.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7653-3438-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-1077-8 (e-book)
I. Title.
PS3556.O7418P55 2014
813'.54—dc23
2013025945
e-ISBN 9781466810778
First Edition: February 2014
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