Legacy

by Bob Mauldin

  The factory section had a foreman/chief engineer heading up the construction project. The job of directing the huge space-borne factory complex was normally directed from an office Simon had found on one of his trips around the ship, but Flight Control operated from the bridge Communications console and Daniel Baylor, Chief Engineer and production foreman of the construction process, could often be found there. He had developed into Simon’s alternate, taking control of the ship when it was in construction mode, even so far as to having the ship moved when a particular section of the belt was mined out. On those rare occasions he called Simon, Kitty, or Lucy Grimes and their on-duty bridge crew to settle the ship into a new location.

  Staff meetings became increasingly more complex as time went on, to Simon’s consternation. Whenever possible, all three shift commanders from the operations crew were present, often with their seconds. Also present would be the heads of Engineering, Computer, Life Sciences, Astrogation, and Flight Control, along with their seconds. Navigation and her second would be along when the need for moving the ship was to be considered. If everyone attended, they would constitute a fair-sized group, so normally the only time a second would show up would be to replace a busy senior officer, keeping the meetings to a manageable size.

  This particular meeting coincided with the completion of the fuel station and would deal in part with the movement of Galileo to its new location for the pièce de résistance, the six-month construction of the space dock Orion, so everyone and their seconds planned to attend. Kitty scheduled the meeting to be held in a mess hall on deck three allowing everyone some breathing space. A few of the attendees had had little prior experience with Simon, so Kitty wanted the extra space to allow those who felt less comfortable at a slight remove to indulge themselves.

  Simon waited until the last arrival was seated and stood up. “I want to thank all of you for being here, and I’d like to get right to business. It has been brought to my attention that we need to have more people in on some aspects of the decision-making processes. Now, we have two distinct and separate divisions aboard this ship: those whose job it is to run the ship, and those whose job it is to build the new dock. We also have the distinctions of more-or-less military versus civilian, male versus female, younger versus older, and religious versus non-religious. Add any other differences that come to mind. These divisions are not being enumerated to cause any problems, but rather to highlight the fact that we have a lot of diversity here, and we need to take advantage of it. Different people, and different peoples, think in different ways and see the world from slightly different perspectives. That is why I am so insistent on everybody sharing information.”

  Simon looked out at the sea of faces before him. This meeting, involving moving the ship warranted more than the normal group of attendees. “In six more months, we will be done here and some of us will go home. I hope most of you choose to stay on, filling the roles of teachers for the next wave of volunteers. I believe that there will be a problem for those who do leave us, and that is going to be with our government.” Simon looked down at Kitty who found herself suddenly very interested in the notes on her pad. Finding no help from that quarter he forged on, hoping that he wasn’t stepping on too many toes. “So far, it seems that most people have the idea that we’re coming out here to build something and go home. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are here to establish a permanent deep-space presence, and not the haphazard type of thing going on in Earth-orbit.”

  Several looks of confusion and a couple of downright anger greeted his statement. “I said haphazard, and I meant it. Look at what we have back there. Several governments are putting people into space trying to gain an advantage over the others. It is only recently that we have seen any cooperation, and actually damned little of that, between nations to get the International Space Station up and running. And what will this bold endeavor allow? A paltry half-dozen scientists at a time to go up at incredible expense to perform experiments that won’t have any effect on the planet for years. Letting those in power know what we are building out here will put a halt to those projects eventually and the funds funneled to them can be redirected to other programs as we eventually take over the extra-planetary part of humanity for the foreseeable future.”

  The confused looks had faded and the angry looks had morphed into confusion. “Once we reveal ourselves to the world at large, that is. The government already has some knowledge of us. This group, you people right here, is going to be our think tank. You are the smartest and the best of the people we have recruited so far. There will be other recruits, to be sure, and some will be brighter and smarter. Your advantage is that you are the first. You won’t be the last, and you will have to work to keep that advantage, but that is what is going to make this such a great opportunity for everyone.”

  Simon looked at Kitty again and saw that she had boldly written the word, “Yes!” on her pad. Heartened, he went on. “I’ve asked you here today because, as individuals, you each see situations differently. The discoveries we make aboard this ship will impact all of us immediately and directly, and sooner or later, every member of the human race. It is going to be your input that will help determine which direction we take at different points in time. Stephen, would you repeat the example you gave me?”

  Stephen stood up and related the story of the crewman and the shields, finishing up with a plea. “It is going to take the combined minds of everyone on board to figure out the applications to which a lot of our discoveries and innovations can be put. It is therefore necessary for everyone to become familiar with these concepts.”

  Simon started to get back up when Stephen sat down. A hand raised in the back of the room and he recognized Navigation’s second and nodded his head. “Sir, Lt. Commander Jeremy Hoke. Some of us spend a lot of time discussing the ... political ramifications of our situation. Will that be something that we discuss here?”

  Simon nodded, smiling. “Yes, Commander, it is. Along with anything else that affects us. Crew morale, discipline, disciplinary actions, personal problems, personnel problems, you name it, we can discuss it. And hopefully come to a decision that will be acceptable to everyone.”

  He hesitated for a second and his expression went carefully blank before continuing. “But don’t let it go to your heads. This is not a democracy! It can’t be. Only one person makes the final decisions. At least for the indeterminate future. My vision is for a whole new segment of the human race. At least for a while. There is no doubt that we need the Earth. For recruits, for vacations, for retirement, if things get that far, for raw materials that we can’t get out here, and any number of other things. Plus, that is where all of us have families. Not to mention that Earth is genetically coded into us. I don’t think we will ever escape a need for Earth. And the people in power back there are going to have to come to the realization that they need us and what we will shortly be able to provide.”

  Simon thought for a moment. “There is no doubt that our situation is political. Every government on Earth is going to want to get a piece of this pie. And we can’t let them have it. At least not in any way except at our direction. It would tear them apart and no one would benefit ... possibly ever.” He shook his head. “It is a sad fact that governments are like any other entity: they have a desire for self-preservation at any cost. And to survive, an entity needs to work its way to the top of the heap or be beaten down by some other. Natural selection. Darwinism.

  “We will be hounded,” he predicted. “Coerced, pressured, intimidated, bullied, to give up what we have found and gained. All so that one regime can expand its sphere of influence over another. It is my opinion that we need to see to it that the balance of power on Earth be kept as it is and not tipped one way or the other by the ownership of this vessel and its knowledge. It is to that end that I have decided that it will stay out of Earthbound hands and stay in ours. The cost of doing anything else is just too high.”

  Simon noticed a young b
runette raise her hand. Damn! So many of them are so young! he thought. When did that happen? I didn’t get married until I was older than these kids. Aloud, he said, “Yes, Commander?”

  “Miranda Lee, Sir, Flight Control,” the woman responded. An odd look was on her face and it took Simon a minute to see both reluctance and determination warring there. Determination won. “Sir, I’ve spent more time listening to these discussions than getting into them, but it seems to me that I’m involved. How can we possibly stand against Earth?”

  “Good question, Commander,” Simon answered. “The answer is really easy if you take two things into consideration. One is that we have the right to say, ‘No,’ and the other is that we have the power to enforce it. Aside from the fact that we can build ships and docks, we can come and go as we wish, undetectable by radar and at speeds they can’t match. That last one means, if you haven’t already figured it out, that we are now essentially UFOs.”

  A nervous titter ran around the room for a second before Lucy Grimes’ second spoke up. “What about our families and friends, Sir? We’ve already seen how governments react to threats, and this one is going to scare the sh ... I mean, well ...”

  Kitty took pity on Simon and fielded this new question. “Commander Greene, isn’t it?” At his nod, she went on. “This is a time in the history of the human race like no other. The Greeks, Hannibal, Napoleon, Hitler, Genghis Khan, Pol Pot and others whose names I’ll never remember all wanted to control the world ... or at least that portion of it that they knew existed at the time. And look what happened to them. The big question is why it happened to them. Because of fear. Which we have going against us, I admit, but those people didn’t have this ship. And they don’t have our motivation. Theirs was and always will be to dominate everything around them. We want to give all of this to the world as soon as possible, making it a better place for every nation. Which, by the way, will be measured in years rather than the decades that we figure would happen if we turned her over. To directly answer your concerns about friends and family, I’d say that they are going to take some heat, yes, as the government tries to find a handle on us. It’s just a fact of life we’ll have to deal with until we can make them understand.”

  Kitty had come to her feet and caught herself before she started to pace. “But, and this is the part that you will have to take my word for, they won’t take heat for long, because they aren’t part of this. Our system, the one we left behind and will someday return to, is basically sound. Internments of Japanese and Germans in World War II and other transgressions have happened and will again. Quite probably in this case as well, but the outcry of the common people will put a stop to it. Especially when we go public and start releasing some of the technology. One of the requirements will be that anyone being held in connection with us be released. With the abilities this ship gives us we will be able to make sure that everyone on the planet knows what happens and one thing that I can say for sure is that wrongdoing just can’t stand up to the light.”

  Lucy walked into the rec room. Two weeks had passed since her embarrassing encounter on deck eighteen. The funny thing was that not one word had come back to her about it. Nothing from the Captain or Commander Kitty, nothing from her bridge team, and no rumors or snide comments from the rest of the crew. The fear with which she had started meeting each day began to fade as time went by. Now she walked confidently.

  Rumor had it that David Sipes was in the running for his soccer idea, as well as Rob Greene, who had been in close consultation with Commander Walker for days. His was the one she secretly hoped would win, even not knowing what it was. It would bring prestige to the shift. Of course, several other ideas were on the table, too, so anything was still possible, but one could always hope.

  She looked around and found that third shift, bridge, had commandeered one corner of the room and held a chair for her. She sank gratefully into it and groaned. “I think I spent too many hours in that damned fighter. And whoever had it out before me doesn’t know how to change socks!”

  Glancing at the other team members, Rob walked around behind her and began to knead her shoulders. “You need to take a break, Boss. And, speaking for all of us, we have a surprise for you. Come on.”

  Lucy shuddered. “I think I’ll pass. Your last surprise is still too painful to think about.”

  The team laughed good-naturedly. “No, Boss. This one is from all of us. Do a favor and play along, okay?” Ginny begged.

  “Oh, all right. But it better be good!” Ginny grabbed one hand and Mustafa the other and pulled her groaning, protesting body to its feet. They led her to a door she didn’t remember being there a few days before.

  Marcus Randall, security officer of the team, whipped out a cloth and blindfolded her. “Hey! What’s this?” she cried as she was propelled through the door that had been opened after her eyes were covered.

  “A surprise, Boss. A couple of the guys down in Fabrication and Reproduction owed me big-time,” bragged David. “So, I called ‘em on it. Okay, take a look.” Lucy removed the blindfold and gasped.

  “Yep,” Velma confirmed. “The only, at the moment, hot tub on the ship. And it’s all yours. For the next hour, at least. After that, there’s a waiting list, I hear. You have the privilege of being first, so we’ll just leave you alone.”

  Marcus was the last to leave. He pointed to the door. “The door unlocks about five minutes after the warning light and buzzer come on. So don’t let any grass grow under your feet when your time is up.”

  Lucy’s ability to move returned about the time her body started to rid itself of the effects of the surprise just handed her. A slow grin spread over her face and her hands began to pull off her shirt almost of their own volition. For the next hour all thoughts not connected with pure animal relaxation banished themselves from her mind.

  All except one. All of her life she could remember a sense of knowing. Knowing, ultimately that her future was preordained. Now the heat and water acted like drugs, focusing her mind on a thought: that the place she found herself in sure added another dimension to her universe. A small smile at her own wit was soon followed by a light frown as her mind free-associated the possible futures that lay ahead, and she shivered at the fear she finally recognized at her core.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Simon fired up the systems on the sleek little fighter. He held it in neutral and called Flight Control. “Control, this is Fighter One. Status green. Prepared for launch.” Sensors told him that the air was being removed from the bay and that when the doors opened a gentle pressure on the control yoke would move him out into space. He was aware that, if necessary, the doors could be opened almost instantly, wasting the air and allowing the fighter to exit the bay much faster. As the door finished sliding out of the way, he caressed the accelerator and watched the doors of the bay slide past him. Clearing the bay, he angled the little ship slightly so the drive field wouldn’t cause any damage to the ships’ hull. Moments later, he was in a loose formation with the other two fighters. Lucy Grimes flew one. The other was under the control of a man Simon had met only a few times before. Dieter Rausch was an ensign from one of Chief Baylor’s manufacturing crews. Apparently he was a natural pilot. He had out-scored Simon in every way despite all of Simon’s practice. Lucy had finished a close third.

  The three pilots would be in their cockpits for the next twelve hours, flying to the site of the fuel plant and back. Plus the time on-site observing the docking. They flew just above the plane in which the asteroids orbited. Fighters, being smaller craft, had correspondingly shorter scan ranges, so it took a while to come into range of the fuel plant’s transponder. They spent the first five hours in straight line flight, until Ensign Rausch, who was leading at the time, reported receiving a signal from the fuel plant. Stephen had engineering reconfigure the transponders of all vessels and installations to operate on a frequency that was unlikely to be discovered by unwelcome visitors making anything less than a full
scan of the system. They continued to fly sun-ward until the Sundiver’s signal was picked up.

  Simon and his companions cautiously flew into visual range of the automated shuttle. Engineering had replaced almost the entire surface of the squat, ugly vessel in preparation for its first trip into Earth’s primary, but one would never know that from the sight that greeted the three pilots. The effects of its trip left it looking much as it had when he had first seen it in Galileo’s launch bay: armor plating warped, projections melted, a section of plating missing. His sensors detected a wobble in the drive field and a small antenna projecting from the hole left by the missing plate was the source of the signal they homed in on. They followed the stubby vessel until it finally mated with the plant, and Simon turned his ship toward the Galileo. “Okay, folks, mission accomplished. Let’s go home,” he said.

  Lucy was leading the flight as the fuel plant disappeared behind them. Simon signaled to her, “Commander Grimes, report.”

  Seconds later, Lucy answered, “Yes, sir?”

  Laughing into his headset, Simon accelerated past her. “Tag, you’re it!” Watching his instruments, he saw both of the other ships traveling together. First one sped up, followed almost immediately by the other.

  “Hey! Wait a minute! How can we tag each other in spaceships?”

  Dieter answered first. “You don’t need to tag, Commander. All you have to do is pass one of us.”

  The three fighters slid into their bay and technicians began to go over them as the pilots went their separate ways: Simon found Stephen and reported on the success of the Sundiver’s mission, Dieter went back to his department, and Lucy off to shower, change, and go to the rec room.