STAR OF EPIPHANY

by OMAR FINK

  Lee smiled again and added, “Even though our astronomers assure us that most of the comet fragments will no longer be a danger to Earth, the planet is not completely out of the woods yet. The larger fragments are easier to track and to predict changes in their orbital paths. But there are many smaller fragments and even some clouds of dust that cannot be measured with the same degree of accuracy. Some of these may not be deflected into the Sun and will likely be scattered around in an almost random fashion. That means they are not likely to strike Earth, but it’s not impossible that some may. If the dust reaches Earth, it may produce some extravagant meteorite showers but no serious danger. Some other pieces may be large enough to penetrate the atmosphere and actually create some damage on the surface of Earth. While this could be serious, it won’t threaten the entire planet, and we can’t predict any of that until after the entire train swings past the Sun one more time, and we can see what is left and where it is headed.”

  +9 years, 3 months, PRIVATE HABI-CRAFT, AU 1.7

  Zorba Omega ran a hand across the desktop in front of him. He looked up at Artemis, “This is amazing, Arty. I could swear this is the same desk we left behind in Pireaus.”

  Arty replied, “Thank you sir. Since we were not allowed to take anything at all with us up the elevators, we had to make a plan to recreate some special items. The engineers assured me that the digital scans would allow us to print a copy of the desk, but I was not sure how well it would actually turn out. I must say, I too am impressed. They have even duplicated some flaws in the wood that we both have become familiar with. I assume you’ve tried out the wallpaper programs?”

  Zorba smiled, “Yes! That is also amazing. I can make this room appear just like my old office or any other location we had stored or thousands of others, some appear to be purely fictional. This is just incredible! Does everybody in the asteroid belt have this technology?”

  Arty said, “Basically yes. It’s my understanding that this is in common use in all habitats, but you must realize that we have purchased the version that currently offers the most options and also nearly unlimited variations in the locale and appearance. You also have a lifetime update subscription, so new choices will be constantly arriving. While most people may not have all the bells and whistles at their disposal that you have, they do in fact have the basic software that makes it all work.”

  Zorba shook his head slowly in disbelief, “It truly is going to be a brave new world out here.”

  Arty smiled silently.

  Finally, Zorba broke the silence, “Okay, Arty, back to business. Fill me in on our agenda.”

  Arty spoke, “As you know, we are currently positioned near AU 1.7, which is just beyond the orbital path of Mars, even though we are not at the moment very close to Mars itself. We are on a trajectory that will take us out to the second major Kirkwood gap near AU 2.5. Habitat 58 is already located there. It’s a class E ring, five kilometers in diameter, with a second ring nearing completion and plans to build a third. That will give the collection an estimated population capacity of tens of millions.”

  Zorba interrupted, “Yes Arty, that’s old news. When will we arrive, and where do we stand with negotiating our deal to buy it?”

  Arty replied, “The normal transit time for this trajectory would be around eight months, but our recent extra fuel expenditure has pushed us into a new intercept window. We should be there in three months. As you know, we’ve been dickering with the HU over price, and they have rejected our last offer as we expected. Our next offer has been sent to them, and we anticipate about a fifty-fifty chance they may accept it. If not, they will almost surely make a counter offer that is acceptable to us. All the price levels we have discussed so far have gone according to our predicted schedule with no surprises. By the time we arrive at the HAB, we will own both rings and all associated resources.”

  Zorba commented, “Excellent. Oh, also make sure Billy Street gets updates to our arrival schedule. And Helena too. Do the same for Helena. Keep her updated on our schedule and us on hers. The last time we spoke, she read me the riot act about not telling her what I’m doing.” Zorba paused, then asked, “Now, how about our partners?”

  Arty said, “Tony was in from the beginning of course. Peter Anderson has also agreed pending a successful contract with HU. Ulrich Giger has expressed strong interest but remains waiting for a contract to state his commitment. We will not have any financial strain in handling this deal without him.”

  Zorba said, “Good. Keep Giger apprised of our progress. Even though we don’t need his money, he will make a good partner for future enterprises, so I want to solidify our relationship.”

  Arty responded, “I understand.”

  Zorba said, “Okay, that’s all going well. Now, I want you start something new. As HU becomes more willing to unload their resources, and as the implications of the cosmic billiard shot begin to sink in, people will realize they have a choice about whether to migrate to space or remain on Earth. For that matter, it will become possible for those already living in space to return to Earth, although I suspect that return traffic will be small. The point is that when the HU project began, their objective was to buy the entire planet, all resources included. At some point very soon, that process will begin to unwind as people who decide to stay on Earth attempt to buy back their old property. This offers us a major opportunity, specially if we can get in front of the curve. Do you follow me?”

  Arty said, “Yes sir.”

  Zorba continued, “What I want you to do, Arty, is to build a map of how we can anticipate these reversing transactions to occur. Just as we scoped out what resources HU would need at the beginning and were able to profit from cornering some of those, we can do the same thing in reverse now. You should still have our old map of everything HU bought. The trick to doing this well will be in correctly anticipating what will become dear and in what sequence. We may also be able to benefit from ‘fire-sale’ prices on some things that appear to be worthless now but will appreciate later. Got it?”

  Arty nodded, “Yes, I understand. It’s basically the reverse of what we did before, but with some obvious variations. I can start on this immediately. It will take some substantial staff and computer support depending on the time frame involved, and I’m guessing timing will be essential.”

  Zorba nodded, “Yes, you’ve got it. You’re a good man, Arty. Thank you.”

  +9 years, 4 months, HABITAT-75, AU 2.5

  Marco Lagorio walked through the open archway into the city council conference room. In the sunken center of the room, there was a large circular conference table surrounded by comfortable looking seats. Several raised tiers with railings and more seats surrounded the center in concentric circles. Two men and a woman sat around the table. and stood to acknowledge Marco’s entrance as he walked down into the center of the room, then shook his hand and encouraged him to sit.

  When everybody was settled, the woman began speaking, “You’ve probably already seen our little announcement, but it lays the foundation for our discussion nicely, so we’ll begin with it. Please watch.” She spoke to the center of the table, “Table, play ‘GORDIUM fundamentals announcement’”

  A circular holo-prism display rose from the center of the table and an AV file began to play. Moving text changed from ‘HABITAT-75’ to ‘GORDIUM’ and a voice spoke, “HABITAT-75 has been a recently completed class E habitat ring located in the ‘B’ Kirkwood gap near AU 2.5. A group of citizen investors are forming an organization to purchase the ring from HU and create a new city group and self-government with an economy based on a think tank enterprise. We have selected the city name of ‘GORDIUM’ after the ancient home city of the legend of the Gordian Knot. The legend tells of Alexander the Great solving an impossibly complex knot by simply cutting it with his sword. Our think tank group will likewise take on difficult problems and establish a reputation of solving them with similar ease. We have recruited some of the best minds in the Solar System and have an excellent
computation infrastructure already established. We have already reached the critical threshold for financial viability in the purchase, and intend to offer variable levels of property ownership as have other recent newly formed cities. A council of representatives will be elected to compose a Constitution and form a Republic.” The AV file finished with the name of the file and the circular display sank back into the center of the table.

  The woman turned toward Marco and spoke again, “That was current several weeks ago. Since then we have gained final approval for the purchase from HU, and we are beginning the election of a temporary Constitutional council. We’d like you to consider participating in this council at any level you feel comfortable.” She waited for a response.

  Marco flashed a warm smile, and raised both hands in the air, “I’m flattered, but you should know that my field of expertise is space engineering and specially habitat design and engineering. While I’ve been outspoken with my opinions about self-government, I really don’t consider myself an expert in that area.”

  The woman replied, “We are aware of that, but we think you can make valuable contributions to our efforts in both areas. It’s up to you of course, but please consider taking on a role in the Constitutional Council. An awareness of the history of government is an attribute of particular concern and some of your public statements show you have studied that area.”

  Marco nodded slightly, “You are making a convincing argument. My beliefs on self-government tell me that there are two main courses a new government design can take: one is that of casting the primary role of government as a needs providing organization, and the other is that the primary role of governing is to protect the rights of the individual. The first course leads to large and powerful governments that are invasive with their level of control, and history says they will inevitably progress to a concentration of power and corresponding increase in corruption and then tyranny. The other course requires a Constitution that is specifically designed to limit the power and scope of the government, and in so doing may seem to ignore some needs of the people. Personally, I see little choice. It should be obvious that government must be limited and kept as small as possible. However, that still leaves some social needs to be addresses through some means other than government. I have some ideas in that area, but no clear and obvious solutions yet.”

  The woman smiled back at Marco, “You should consider that the kind of thinking you just spoke about can be a product of our think tank group just as much as your experience in space engineering. This new developing civilization in the asteroid belt is in need of both.”

  Marco replied, “You’ve convinced me. I will join your effort financially and as a citizen and I’ll be glad to add any of my experience in space engineering that can help your thinking group. I need a few days to decide about the council position but will let you know shortly.”

  +9 years, 5 months, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

  Ulrich Giger and Tony Azaria sat at the AGT conference room table. Ulrich said, “Begin recording. This is Ulrich Giger in Zurich, Switzerland on Earth. Tony Azaria is here with me. This AV file will be going out to Sam Hoffman in Korea, and Peter Anderson and Bill Decker on HAB-58 in the asteroid belt. These individuals compose the core group that helped to start HU and implement the buyout of Earth. The reason for this communication is because HU is beginning to devolve or collapse and the process now seems inevitable. I have made some efforts to convince some key players that it would be in their best interest to keep the organization together, but I’m afraid I have not convinced them. Some have emigrated to space and started new lives there, while others already in space are trying to reconstitute old organizational boundaries and holdings. Some have now decided to stay on Earth and seem to smell the possibilities of accumulating power in a vacuum. And all of this is happening in the middle of huge disruptions caused by the transfer of value back to the people, the so called reversal transactions.” Ulrich paused.

  Ulrich continued, “While it seemed inevitable that HU would need to devolve or evolve into something new, it was my hope that we could keep the organization intact enough to continue the positive aspects of what has been accomplished. History will record that Human civilization has gone through a revolutionary metamorphosis of innovation, production, efficiency, learning and more in accomplishing the emigration so far. We are seeing a new kind of civilization being formed in space. Old paradigms of government and society and industry have been shattered and are being replaced with better forms. The Human race is much more survivable now than it was before.” He paused again.

  Ulrich resumed, “Now that the urgent need to accomplish the nearly impossible seems to have been removed, too many people seem intent on returning to the habitual lifestyle they languished in before the crisis. This is wasteful, but it’s possible that the new society in space will remain different, and our efforts will have been responsible for that change.” He paused.

  Ulrich looked over at Tony, “Tony, do you have anything to add?”

  Tony said, “You’ve done a good job of summing it up, Ulrich.”

  Ulrich looked back at the viewpoint and resumed, “In effect we are standing down this team. I have enjoyed working with all of you, and hope that we find future opportunities to collaborate on new ventures. With all of my resources here liquidated, I plan to move to the asteroid belt. With several of you already at HAB-58, that seems like a good place to go. Please consider the possibility of forming a group of investors to purchase this habitat ring from HU and focus it on the task of continuing to improve Human civilization. Contact me with your thoughts if you are interested.”

  Tony added, “I’m all in with that and if you’d like a travel companion, I’ll join you on the voyage out to space.”

  +9 years, 6 months, HABITAT-58, AU 2.5

  Nabith sat in the Astro Navigation Center on Habitat-58 and tapped his fingers on the work surface.

  TYCHE asked, “Nabith, are you nervous?”

  Nabith replied, “Yes, yes, I am.”

  TYCHE offered, “You know it will be quite some time before we have a high confidence of success in this effort.”

  Nabith said, “Yes, I know, but I can’t wait to see if the next key point is successful. There is so much hanging in the balance.”

  TYCHE said, “Would you like me to play some music? That might relax you some.”

  Nabith said, “Sure, go ahead.”

  TYCHE said, “Now playing ‘Pinball Wizard’ by ‘The Who’.”

  The music began telling the story of a boy playing pinball.

  +9 years, 8 months, RRRT HABICRAFT, AU 3.2

  “Sonny” Barton met Kaz as he came out of the airlock door after shedding his pod-suit. He stuck out his hand toward Kaz, “Welcome aboard.”

  Kaz shook the hand offered to him and replied, “Thanks. I’m glad to be here.”

  Sonny asked, “Would you like some coffee? We don’t have the best food here yet, but we do have decent coffee.”

  Kaz said, “Sure, that would be nice.”

  Sonny led Kaz down a curved corridor and kept talking, “I know what it feels like to spend several weeks in small wheels and shuttles. And that is one of the down sides to this duty in a way. With our small wheel and the nature of our rescue missions, we don’t get much time in full gravity, so we need to exercise constantly to maintain a high state of physical readiness. On the other hand, we have some state-of-the-art exercise equipment and simulation software, so the work can be actually enjoyable.”

  Sonny motioned to a small alcove on the side of the corridor that held several tables and asked Kaz, “How do you like your coffee? We can make a full range of lattes and cappuccino-style drinks.”

  Kaz replied, “Just black is fine if it’s good coffee.”

  Sonny smiled, “It is.” then spoke to a machine in the wall, “Two coffees, black.”

  While Sonny waited for the coffee, Kaz asked, “Tell me more about the exercise machines.”

  Sonny replie
d, “Well, I’m sure you’ve seen how they merged our exo-skeleton frames with the multi-couch idea to create the Exo-Multi-Couch. That gave us a very versatile framework that both adapts to fit our body, and can morph the basic purpose from acceleration couch to bed to chair and more. We took that EMC base and made some simple modifications to it and added some amazing software developed out here, and we’ve ended up with an exercise machine that can simulate just about any form of movement, and levels of resistance and articulation and power support. Add in the wall display software that's becoming commonplace, and we can give you any simulation background you like. This machine can fly and swim and do anything else you want.” Sonny nodded to reinforce his statement.

  Sonny handed a cup of coffee to Kaz, who took it and said, “That sounds fantastic.”

  Sonny paused for a moment, “I know quite a bit about your background, from special forces to oil platform, to mining operations here in the belt, so let me refresh you on our mission here. RRRT stands for Rapid Response and Rescue Team, but I’m afraid that people are starting to call us just RATS for short.” He frowned, but Kaz just chuckled.