by James Rosone
Fifteen years we’ve been slaving away at this—it’s finally going to happen, Captain Liam Patrick thought as his shuttle approached the station.
“I can’t wait for you to see the final touches we’ve made to the station while you’ve been gone,” Sara Alma said as she squeezed him excitedly.
Looking around the shuttle, Liam felt an energy and excitement he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Turning a massive asteroid, practically a planetoid, into a habitable station was no easy feat. It had taken them the better part of fifteen years working in secrecy. Liam wasn’t proud of what he’d done to make this dream a reality—the piracy, stealing, and killing.
Liam’s shuttle connected to the docking arm, making a few mechanical clunks and noises. A couple of minutes later, the hatch sealed. One of the shuttle crewmen unlocked the connecting doors and opened them up to the station.
“Come on, Liam. You have to see this,” Sara beckoned as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along. She was like a giddy little girl dragging her parents into the toy store the day after Thanksgiving to start buying Christmas presents.
Walking off the shuttle, Liam followed Sara as she dragged him through the hangar where the ships would dock to the station and they would offload cargo. The terminal of sorts was immediately connected with the local warehouses and storage facilities. This would facilitate the various trade functions that would take place at the station.
Moving past this section of the docking port, the two of them followed the other passengers as they made their way through the corridor toward the vast promenade that lay beyond. This part of the station had some digital signs providing newcomers some necessary information about the station as well as the rules they’d need to abide by.
Next, there was an entry control point all new arrivals had to pass through. Here, they’d have to register with the station. They’d be given some information about where they could stay, job openings, and other residency and permits they might need to acquire. They also had to pay a visa fee—all part of monetizing the station and paying for the services it’d be providing its residences and visitors.
As they made their way through the long hallway that connected the outer part of the station with its inner works, Liam started to hear a lot of people talking excitedly and laughing. As they got closer to the noise, it suddenly began to calm until it was practically gone.
Liam smiled when he realized what was going on. Sara had arranged some sort of surprise or welcome home party for him.
When they exited the corridor, he saw a massive crowd of people waiting there for him with bright smiles on their faces, holding up handheld signs. Kids sat on their parents’ shoulders, and a loud, raucous cheer erupted.
“Surprise!” they yelled in unison.
Liam felt his face redden at all the attention. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that all these people had come to welcome him—the man who had fought so hard and risked everything to build this oasis in the stars.
Well-wishers came forward and shook his hand. Others wanted to get their picture taken with him. Many just wanted to say thank you for creating a welcoming place and a new home—a home away from the central governments and politics of Earth, a place where people could start over.
A short while later, Sara pried him away from all the people and began to take him on a private tour of their new refuge in the stars.
Craning his head up to look at the expansiveness of the station, he couldn’t believe they had finally gotten this place livable. It had taken them nearly ten years to carve out the center of this enormous floating rock. Once they had, they started turning the inside of it into a functional living facility. The ground floor of the asteroid was approximately three kilometers by two and a half kilometers. In height, it was twelve hundred meters tall. It was a giant cavern they had turned into apartments, businesses, shops, a school, hospital, research centers, and agricultural and farming facilities. In terms of food, they were completely self-sufficient.
Along the sides of the stone walls hung intricate flowery vines and other plants. Interspersed throughout the station were small sections with large bamboo trees and other trees and shrubs that would act as carbon sinks to help keep the air clean and fresh. They had a state-of-the-art water reclamation and treatment facility and their own artificial gravity generator to make it all work. What they needed now was people—that was the reason for Liam’s recent absence.
“Come this way,” Sara said with a mischievous look. She led him over to the foyer entrance to the largest building in the facility. They walked over to an elevator bank and climbed into the first one that arrived.
Moments later, they were getting off on the top floor. The one-hundred-and-eightieth level to be precise. Sara coyly led him over to a large double oak door. The hallway itself was ornately decorated with beautiful marble floors that had been specially delivered from Italy. The top floor of this building was truly marvelous. Sara waved her hand near a small electronic pad, and the doors hissed softly as they unlocked. Smiling, she led him into the penthouse suite.
As she walked into what was perhaps the most elegant living space Liam had ever seen, Sara waved her arms about. “These, love, are our new quarters. No more living on a cramped ship. No more having to share our living arrangements with dozens of workers. We have this two-hundred-square-meter flat to ourselves. The new residents of Gaelic insisted on turning this place into a bona fide palace in the stars for us.”
Sara gave him a quick tour of the place, making sure he saw everything. Then she walked toward the largest room in the suite, the grand living room. It was adorned with some famous painting, a bookshelf with actual books on it, and several framed pictures of the two of them over the years.
While all that was great, the view of the outpost below was incredible. The suite had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking what they had spent more than fifteen years building.
Turning to look at him, Sara beamed with pride. “The view from this living room is unrivaled in the station. You can see just about anything you want from this vantage point while also knowing that no one can see inside. Our suite is also completely sealed from the outside. So if, God forbid, there was ever a containment breach and the facility was compromised, we could survive in this suite for months until help arrived.”
Shaking his head at what Sara had accomplished during his absence, Liam sauntered toward her. His eyes clearly fixated on the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, the one and only true love of his life.
Sara smiled coyly. Reaching her right hand up to her shoulder-length curly blond hair, she twirled it briefly as she turned her body to look out the window. Liam made his way up behind her, pulling his body tight against hers as he wrapped his arms around her. Brushing the hair away from the left side of her head, he leaned in, his lips brushing against her ear.
“You truly are amazing, Sara,” he whispered softly.
Sara squirmed a bit in his embrace, turning around so she could look him in the eyes. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you, Liam. I love you.”
She leaned in and kissed him on the lips with the fire and passion of a woman who hadn’t seen her man for a long time. The two continued to kiss, and in barely any time at all, they were tearing each other’s clothes off and passionately making love.
Several hours later, lying in their new bed together, Sara turned to look at him. “For a little while there, I wasn’t sure if you were going to return.”
Smiling softly as his hand brushed away some hair on her face, Liam gently replied, “I was starting to think the same thing at one point, Sara. I told the authorities at the MOS that our corporation would pony up half a billion dollars to be paid to the families of the piracy victims. I didn’t have to admit my own role in it, just that employees in our company had been involved, and they had been dealt with.”
Sara wrinkled her brow at him. “And they bought it? They didn’t suspect that you were either involved or the leader of
the pirate force?”
Liam chuckled. “Oh, I suspect they thought that. They probably would have done something about it too, if they weren’t in such a frenzy over other matters. But I think their attention and focus is purely on the threat that new alien race poses and not some past acts of piracy.
“You should have seen the shipyard, Sara. That place is humming with activity. I’ve never seen so many warships being built. And not small ones either. Space Command is even building its own colossal shipyard. I’ve never seen anything like it. It has to be bigger than the entire MOS or even the John Glenn Station. It’s enormous.”
Turning over on her back, Sara sat up. “Really? How many of these warships did you see?”
Feeling himself starting to recover from their earlier romps, Liam didn’t really want to talk about warships. He wanted to go for another round with the love of his life.
Seeing him looking at her like he wanted something, she quickly snapped him out of it. “Hey, Liam, this is important. We can have more sex later. How many warships did you see them building?”
A little annoyed, Liam let out a sigh as he lay back on the bed to look up at the ceiling. “I saw the hulls being laid for three new destroyers. They had also started construction on four other ships. I’m not sure what they are, but they look huge—probably two or three kilometers long. Probably a new battleship or something. Why are you suddenly so interested in what they’re building? We’ve brokered an incredible deal with the Republic and the TPA. They’re going to leave us alone here in the Belt to build our own little community. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”
Shaking her head in disagreement, Sara explained, “They’re leaving us alone, Liam, because this new threat is serious. I know you haven’t paid much attention to what’s been going on, but the Republic apparently discovered some hideous new alien species that actually cultivates humans like cattle to feed their population. It’s horrendous, Liam.”
Liam snorted. “I’ve heard a few rumors about this new species. Some say they eat humans; others say humans are just slaves. I don’t really know what’s true, but right now, my only concern is making sure our people have food in their bellies, a place to sleep, and if at all possible, some money in their pockets.”
“We need to start paying attention to this, Liam,” Sara insisted. “We have a station to manage now—our own little world that’s depending on us to do more than give them a job or a place to stay. We have to protect them. I think we need to start looking at creating our own self-defense force.”
Liam almost laughed. “Our piracy days are over, love. The Republic and TPA now have frigates patrolling the Belt and the trade routes between everything these days. The shipyards aren’t going to sell us warships when they’re busy trying to build a fleet of them for the major powers.”
Sara tilted her head to the right. “Then we build our own,” she countered. “We’re nearly done with our own shipyard. We can build our own ships, train our own people how to use them, and defend our outpost.”
Liam shook his head. “No, we’d be better off turning the station into a well-defended fortress. We may have an endless supply of raw materials out here, but we lack a lot of essential technology and equipment we’d need to create real warships. I think we should look at creating our own pulse beam and magrail sentries we can anchor near the station or on some of the asteroids around us. We have the resources and money to do that, but not to build our own warships like you’re proposing, at least not right away.”
Sara pouted. She turned away for a moment before she finally sighed and turned back around. “OK, Liam, I concede your point. Sometimes my mind just races. I saw some images of those Zodark things and got scared. They’re really evil creatures, Liam—terrifying. I just hope the Republic and this new alliance they’re working on can take them out.”
Smiling, Liam pulled her close to him. He softly whispered, “I’m sure they’ll do fine. Now, let’s get back to celebrating the completion of this station.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Decision Point
Kennedy Space Center
US Space Command
“So it’s been decided?” questioned Captain Hunt, unsure if he was happy about the decision.
Admiral Bailey looked at him and Rear Admiral Halsey. “It has. You two will lead the assault force to capture New Eden and the Rhea system. Once we’ve secured a foothold, we’ll look to turn the place into a fortress.”
Admiral Halsey as she nodded at the news. “OK, are we going to wait until a few more of the ships are complete before we ship out?” she asked.
Once it had been decided that New Eden had to be captured, the shipbuilders had done a quick inventory of the Trimar and Morean they had left to see how many new ships they could build. They could build one battleship or eight destroyers. The decision had been made to build the eight smaller warships and do what they could to beef up the Voyager’s and the Rook’s weapon systems a bit before the fleet would head out. But they could only build the ships so fast, even with the help of the Synths.
“We aren’t going to have all eight destroyers ready for you,” said Admiral Bailey. “I only want you to stick around until ship number four is complete, which won’t take that long now.”
They nodded grimly. It had been nearly a year since they’d left New Eden. Undoubtedly, the Zodarks would have reinforced the system—the question was by how much.
“What about transports for the ground force?” asked Halsey next. She was already trying to plan ahead, beyond the initial battle to secure the system.
“That’s going to fall to us,” Bailey responded. “The TPA doesn’t have any orbital assault ships like we do. They’ll be sending a squadron of eight heavy transports to carry additional soldiers, but they won’t be able to assault the planet, not like we can. We’re going to send everything we have.
“The Voyager will deliver a full battalion of Deltas. We’ve got three other orbital assaulters right now that can deliver three Republic Army battalions each, and their accompanying equipment. That’ll give us seven battalions that can hit the planet at once. Beyond that, the heavy transports will be carrying another twenty-one battalions that’ll have to be ferried to the orbital assaulters or wait until we get a space elevator constructed,” Bailey explained. This was by far the largest troop deployment they’d ever attempted: twenty-four thousand soldiers across twelve light-years.
“Are we going to bring any combat Synth units with us?” asked Hunt, not sure if he should bring them up or not, as he’d only just been read on to the covert program a week ago.
Bailey sat back in his chair for a moment, eyeing Hunt and Halsey before he replied. “We thought about it. If it were my decision, we would. But I’ve been overruled for the time being. Let’s see how things work out on New Eden with the RASs and Deltas. I’m confident our soldiers will be up to the task. The units that have been slated to deploy are currently being put through their paces, training against the Zodarks on a near-constant basis in the simulators. They’ll be about as ready as we can get them for the real deal.”
Hunt nodded. “OK, then when do we leave?”
Admiral Bailey chuckled. “We’re still a few months out,” he replied. “The Rook and Voyager are still having their main magrail turrets and loading systems swapped out for the larger-caliber thirty-six-inch shells. They’re also being outfitted with the new Havoc missiles and given a complement of sixteen variable nuclear warheads per ship.”
Captain Hunt grunted. For better or worse, the Rook and the Voyager were going to be the capital ships of this fleet. As such, they were being outfitted with the most firepower possible to ensure they won the day.
As the meeting ended, Bailey asked Hunt to stay behind for a minute. When Halsey and a couple of their staffers had left, Bailey motioned for Hunt to follow him over to his private study. It was a small room that connected with his main office.
Inside the room, several large bookshelves were buil
t into the wall. There was also a fireplace, which seemed odd, considering they were in Florida. In front of the fireplace were a couple of overstuffed leather chairs and a table between them.
“Take a seat, Miles. I want to talk to you about something that’s come to my attention,” Bailey said as he motioned for Captain Hunt to sit.
Bailey turned on the electric fireplace and sat down. The two didn’t say anything for a few minutes; they just watched the artificial flames dance. Bailey finally sighed. “Miles, what’s going on with you?” he asked in a soft, almost fatherly voice. “Since you’ve returned from the Rhea system, you haven’t been yourself.”
Hunt was taken aback by the question; he immediately felt a little defensive. “I’m not sure I know what you mean, sir.”
“Miles, it’s just the two of us. No sir, no Admiral. When I promoted your XO, Commander Longman, to take over command of the destroyer squadron, he mentioned you had been going through a rough time. Are things OK with you and Lilly or the kids? Is there something I can do to help you?”
“After all I’ve done to help Asher,” Hunt muttered hotly to himself.
“Hey, it’s not his fault, Miles. He greatly respects you. He considers you a great friend and mentor. He’s just concerned for you. What’s going on? How can I help you, Miles?” Bailey countered in a calm, reassuring manner.
Hunt suddenly let his body fall deeper into the chair. He took in a breath and held it for a moment, trying to hold it together. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of the fleet admiral, even if he was a friend.
Bailey reached a hand out and touched Hunt’s arm. “It’s OK, Miles. You’ve been through a lot. You can talk to me—I won’t judge. I’m here to help.”
Hunt continued staring at the flames as he spoke. “During the battle with that Zodark ship, I had been so focused on the battle going on…I wasn’t staying on top of the damage the ship was taking. I was more interested in destroying that enemy vessel than in protecting my own ship or staying abreast of the damage we were sustaining. I lost a quarter of my crew, Chester. Men and women who trusted me with their lives, families who lost a loved one because of my orders…I failed them, Chest. I failed to save more of them…”