“This isn’t a case where someone’s life is in jeopardy, or like on the moon when the soldiers were on their way. Ethically, there’s no impetus for us to deal with those people at all,” Phillip said.
Sarah chimed in asking, “How do you feel about talking to Joy’s father, Syd? We shouldn’t ignore the situation, should we?”
With a wry grin, Sydney said, “I’ve made up my mind that I don’t want Joy to speak with John. It’s not going to serve either of them well at all.”
“That’s fine, Sydney. That takes it off the table. How about you? Are you interested in speaking with him? This is your best opportunity. You certainly can’t once he’s back on Earth,” Maxwell reminded her.
“I think so, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. Is there some rush to decide?” Sydney asked.
“No, not at all,” Sarah said, quickly speaking to reassure Sydney, who was obviously ambivalent about the situation.
“It looks like there’s really two issues on the table,” Christopher said, gathering everyone’s attention. “The first is what do we do about the two missions? Assuming of course that the Russian/EU spacecraft also just parks out there. And what do we decide, with Sydney’s input, to do about Mathews on the NASA spacecraft. Is that about it?”
Looking around the table, Maxwell saw all the council members nodding in agreement. He steepled his fingers in front of him and said, “I don’t care one way or another if we communicate with either or both of the missions. I’m in Christopher’s camp in that they can all go to hell for all I care, but it’s not just up to me. We do things by consensus here, so that’s what we have to work out. I know that it may be uncomfortable going against Chris, or me for that matter, but if there’s dissenting views on the issue I truly want to hear them.”
No one spoke for a few seconds, then June said, “I have absolutely no desire to deal with Earth at all, especially America, but we just sent a mission to retrieve items that we need and want. It might be handy if we could make a trip like this every now and again without having to come and go like thieves in the night.”
“She’s right. The ambassador’s message mentioned two things: the first is membership in the United Nations, the second is that Brazil is offering normalized trade with us. Shouldn’t we at least look into the options?” Margaret asked.
“It’s doubtful that we can trust either offer. You all know if we landed a jumper anywhere in reach they can overwhelm us and steal it out from under us. You also know that if they need to kill us to get our tech, it’s a safe bet they’d do it in a heartbeat. This is like déjà vu all over again. We lived with the same fear every day when we were based in Chicago. The fact is that we can never trust an ally not to betray us. The stakes are entirely too high.
“And if you look at the Brazilian offer, they have no way to ensure our safety if we do land in their territory, and we have no way to guarantee their trust. So we can never seek safe harbor on their, or anyone else’s, soil. So their offer is worthless, as is the United Nation’s. Being offered sovereign nation status has absolutely no value to us. It gets us nothing because whatever protections are customary will not apply. We’re the ones holding all the cards, have the biggest stick on the block, and have absolutely no need for allies who would kill us for our technology,” Christopher concluded.
The room was silent. No one could find any argument to refute Christopher’s reasoning.
“Well shit then!” Maxwell exclaimed, startling everyone.
Christopher laughed, and in moments everyone else joined in.
“So in conclusion… ” Christopher began, sending everyone into even greater gales of laughter.
Maxwell let the laughter go on for a few moments, then tapped on the table for attention.
“Thank you, Christopher. Your analysis is pretty much what most of us were thinking. To visit anywhere on Earth when and where someone is expecting us is just an invitation to disaster. But we do have an open item before us, and I think we have to allow Sydney the time to consider what she wants to do concerning Joy’s father. I know you have decided not to allow the two to speak, but if you decide to talk with him, you have our blessing,” Maxwell said to Sydney, getting nods around the table, even from Christopher.
Sydney gave a wan smile, and simply said, “Thank you.”
“I think we should adjourn and give Sydney time to think it over. And no pressure, take whatever time you need. I can’t imagine how you feel about the situation, but you have my complete support,” said Maxwell.
Everyone got up and started moving toward the door except for Sydney and Christopher, who were both waiting for the room to clear.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know,” Christopher offered. “Even if it’s just someone to bounce ideas off of, whatever.”
“I appreciate that, Chris. Do you mind going with me to get something to eat? I skipped breakfast because my stomach was tied up in knots.”
“Absolutely, I was up early checking into our mission this morning and I only had coffee myself.”
The two left the council’s office and made their way to the colony commons, getting in line to choose their selections.
Once seated, Sydney asked Christopher out of the blue, “If you were me, what would you do?”
Christopher thought for a few seconds, then said, “I have no idea. I can’t imagine how many factors a situation like this has for you. I suppose it would be a lot easier if he wasn’t Joy’s father. But like almost all of us, you left people you loved behind. I’m sure there’s not a single person living here who hasn’t had the desire to talk to someone on Earth. I remember when Jaylynn arrived, she was pretty torn up about leaving her boyfriend on such a bad note.” He paused a second watching for her reaction. “I guess your situation isn’t unique in that respect,” Christopher admitted.
“But would you contact John if you were me? Is it even worth it, digging up ten-year-old memories?” she asked.
“Hell, I don’t know. Haven’t you noticed that I’m really not the most emotionally well adjusted person living here?” he said, getting a giggle from Sydney.
“But who of us really is? After all, everyone here, except for you all in the very beginning, had no idea what they were really getting into until they got here.”
“That’s pretty much my point. It’s almost impossible for me to give you advice about—about this John. I don’t know him at all.” he paused for a few moments then said, “Let me ask you a question. Do you still love him?” Christopher asked.
“That’s such a hard question to answer, it’s been so long and so much has happened. I do feel he has a right to know he has a child, but telling him and then denying him the chance to meet her doesn’t seem right either. The GST board of directors are real sons of bitches!”
Christopher laughed despite himself, and a second later, so did Sydney. He then said, “Yes they are. Like Maxwell said, there’s nothing you have to decide right this minute. Think it over. Who do you usually talk this kind of thing over with around here?”
“Most often, Lucius. But I have no desire to bother him while he’s on the mission. Besides, the comm lag would drive me nuts. Dammit, I’ve got to run. I promised Joy I would help her with something she’s doing in class. We can pick this up later,” she said getting up.
“No problem. Leave the tray, I’ll take care of it. Say hello to Joy for me.”
“I will. Thanks for listening, Chris.”
Chapter 27
SUSPICIOUS MINDS
The Svoboda mission was less than an hour away from matching orbit with the separatist colony and everyone had mixed feelings about the prospect of its arrival.
Svobada’s journey wasn’t nearly as friendly or carefree as the NASA mission, mostly due to the colonel’s insistence on maintaining military discipline. His prickly mood was augmented by the fact that neith
er woman had shown the slightest interest in him romantically, even going so far as to openly express their displeasure with his imposing unneeded regulation during the mission.
So far, they provided a united front against any sort of hanky-panky during the voyage, maintaining that the amount of maintenance, experiments and daily living chores should have been spread among a larger crew. It wasn’t unusual for every crew member to have sixteen or more hours of tasks to complete in a day.
Needless to say, they were all looking forward to matching orbit with the colony’s habitat and shutting down the engines, then the workload would mostly consist of observations of Jove and the massive space colony.
The current debate was over exactly where to park their spacecraft.
“Radar shows that the Americans have chosen to park one hundred sixty kilometers from the colony, but for what reason I do not know. It is my belief that there is no reason to park that far away,” Levkov stated.
“Maybe the Americans were warned to stay that far away,” Gina suggested
“We were sent no such warning and there is no reason to believe any such was sent to them either. It is my belief that the Americans are playing it too safe. We should halve the distance we park from the habitat as the Americans. What if the colonists see it as a greater commitment to dialogue?” Levkov pointed out.
“One thing we definitely should not do is approach at such an angle that our exhaust sprays the colony or the Americans,” Xavier reminded. “There’s no telling how ‘hot’ it is; probably not very. But no sense in provoking someone into taking offense over something that can easily be avoided.”
“Once we shut down the engines we should do a complete inspection of the drive,” Chux suggested.
“Suit up and go outside? That is an excellent idea. I’m sick of being cooped up in here, a walk around the block will be great,” Xavier agreed.
Svoboda corrected its path to enter matching orbit with the colony, its exhaust aimed well away from everyone. Video of its approach was monitored by the colony’s satellite cameras and high-resolution telescopes on Jove, which was transmitting the feed back to Earth. Spectroscopic analysis of the glow of the engine’s discharge and exhaust was sent back to NASA for analysis, which was of great interest to Patrick Jensen’s engineering team.
* * *
President Laughlin, along with Debra Dawkins and a couple dozen White House staffers, watched the Jove feed from the bunker’s observation gallery, eating, drinking and speculating about the possible outcomes from the two missions visiting the colony. However, there was no mention or sign on the various screens of the search for the colonist’s spacecraft currently on Earth.
Svoboda’s arrival wasn’t noted by the colony’s ground crew because they were busy eating at one of Chicago’s best steak houses, just north of the downtown area. Lucius had insisted, especially in light of the hard work everyone had put in that day. Meanwhile Chuck, Todd and Sondra were all spending a quiet evening underwater.
* * *
“How does the saying go? Hail, hail the gang’s all here?” Christopher said to Maxwell. They had chosen to watch the orbital insertion of the Svoboda spacecraft on the screens in the common cafeteria.
“And I’m betting parking only fifty miles away from the habitat was some dick-waving move of that Russian colonel,” said Maxwell, finishing off a piece of cake.
“Did you get the analysis of their exhaust? By the time they get back, they’re never going to have a human service those modules, they’ll cook their gonads in a New York minute!” Christopher said, making Maxwell laugh.
“You talk to Sydney?”
“Not since yesterday,” Christopher answered.
“Any idea if she’s going to call her guy?” Maxwell asked.
“It’ll be a first for this place if she does. I have to admit that I’m kind of curious to see what she’ll find out if she does,” Christopher confessed.
“Me too. It would be the perfect fact-finding conversation for us.”
“So what’s the buzz with the other council members? Are any of them thinking we should be talking to either group out there?” Christopher inquired.
“They do and they don’t. Everyone wants to see what the real offer is, but no one wants to talk to them—maybe to Dr. Roscoe, but not to the ambassador or the colonel. And I get the impression that they would just like to talk to someone from Earth.” Maxwell shook his head, thinking of the futility of doing so.
Peanut’s crew was constantly monitoring the habitat’s shields, in case something untoward should occur. Several engineers interested in the technologies had been scheming over how they could sneak up on either ship to give them a thorough going over.
Genesis had infiltrated the Svoboda computer network as it had done to the Jove spacecraft. The difference between them was that not all of Svoboda’s computers were networked together. There were several systems that Genesis was not able to get into or even discover, one of which was the fire control system for the spacecraft’s hidden missiles. Every few days during the trip out to the colony, Colonel Levkov manually switched his pilot’s console to the computer that controlled the hidden arms and ran diagnostic programs, inspecting the hardware when no one was around. When the diagnostics completed, he manually switched his console back into the network with no one on board the wiser.
* * *
“Mom, what’s going to happen to those two spaceships out there?” Joy asked when she arrived home from school.
“Nothing, sweetheart. Why do you ask?” Sydney said, hoping it wasn’t another bout of doom and gloom fostered by her classmates.
“Everyone’s been talking about them since the first one showed up. I told them that they were wrong about the spaceships coming to attack us!” she said triumphantly.
“Good for you. What did everyone say?” Sydney prompted.
“Nothing!”
“It sounds like you had a good day. You don’t think you made anyone feel bad like some of them did to you, did you?”
“No, Mommy, I was nice. I just walked away and worked on my science with Genesis,” Joy said proudly.
“That’s my girl! How is your science project coming along? And while you’re at it, how was gymnastics today?” Sydney inquired.
“I had a lot of fun. Luther’s dad said we could use one of his lasers to make holograms! He’s bringing it to the lab tomorrow with a bunch of safety glasses! And in gymnastics I didn’t fall off the parallel bars not once, even when I practiced my flip!”
“That’s great! You’re really coming along. Now what would you like for dinner? I made some soup, would you like a sandwich to go with it?”
“Could I have a grilled cheese?” Joy pleaded as she gave Sydney her biggest toothy grin.
“Of course. Go get a start on your homework and I’ll call you when it’s ready,” Sydney said as she ruffled Joy’s curls.
“Genesis?”
“Yes, Sydney. How may I be of assistance?”
“Maxwell, please, and conference in Christopher too.”
When she was connected, she said, “I’ve decided I want to do it. I want to talk to John and get to the bottom of why he was sent.”
“Very well, when?” Maxwell asked.
“Shortly. I want to talk with you both first, maybe the whole council, so we can decide exactly what I should try to find out,” she replied.
“Let us know,” Maxwell said, then disconnected the call.
* * *
After Bobby Parker dropped off Neil and Julius to pick up a small cargo truck and a sedan big enough to hold the whole team comfortably, everyone went in different directions to start their prep work.
Neil first picked up coolant for the refrigerator unit he was going to attach to one of the shipping containers, several large rolls of insulation and some other supplies; then at a gro
cery store he got several bags of fruit, sandwich makings, ice, soft drinks and coffee. He briefly considered getting several cases of beer but reconsidered, not knowing how Lucius would react.
On the way back to the warehouse, he pulled onto the frontage street to the abandoned landing where they had hidden their underwater gear. He was relieved to find that no one had bothered the two cases in their hiding place. After loading them into the truck, Neil immediately drove to the warehouse. As he pulled into the parking lot around back, he saw that the cargo containers were inside and the loading door was open, so he drove right in and parked.
Seeing him pull in, Albert pushed a cart over to help unload. They unloaded the groceries first and Albert took them to the break room and began to put everything away. After he unloaded the supplies for the reefer container, Neil dragged both watertight containers to the front of the building and stashed them in one of the offices.
Wondering where Lucius was, he wandered out into the open storage area to see who was around. Finding Lena, he asked where everyone was.
“Albert’s here—”
“Saw him.”
“—and Julius drove Lucius downtown. It would be quicker with the two of them instead of parking at every stop. They should be back later this afternoon.” she explained.
“Cool. Need a hand?”
“Sure,” she said, separating several sheets from the bottom of the stack she had. “I already marked each item with the number of the container it’s going to be stashed in. What you can do is find the box each item is in and stage them alongside the others for that container, like I’ve started doing.”
“No problem. By the way, I got a bunch of sandwich makings and all kinds of soft drinks. Do you think Lucius would mind if we had beer here?” he asked.
“Damned if I know. I can’t see why, it’s not like we’re kids or anything. Ask him when he gets back.”
For the next few hours the three rearranged crates in the warehouse, organizing according to their designated container. When they were done, Albert and Lena insulated the interior of one container while Neil welded a protective cage to surround the refrigerator unit mounted on the top.
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