NEO: Near Earth Objects

Book Three, the New Frontiers Series

By Jack L Knapp

COPYRIGHT

NEO: Near Earth Objects

Book Three, The New Frontiers Series

Copyright © 2016, renewed 2023, by Jack L Knapp

Cover by Blair Howard

 

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The persons and events depicted in this novel were created by the author’s imagination; no resemblance to actual persons or events is intended.

Product names, brands, and other trademarks referred to within this book are the property of the respective trademark holders. Unless otherwise specified, no association between the author and any trademark holder is expressed or implied. Nor does the use of such trademarks indicate an endorsement of the products, trademarks, or trademark holders unless so stated. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark, registered trademark, or service mark.

 

Prologue

The original Sneyd-Tesla Impeller was invented by Morton “Morty” Sneyd and his grandson Chuck, who sold the rights to a company formed by investor and Chief Executive Officer T. French “Frenchy” Fuqua. The inventors become officials of the company, which soon takes the name New Frontiers, Incorporated.

The impeller, based on a newly discovered principle, is able to convert electricity directly to motion. The new drive is far more efficient than rockets. The secret of the drive is not shared with any other entity.

NFI’s ships earn money by transporting spent nuclear fuel rods off Earth and launching them to the sun. Later on, the rods are used to generate free electricity for Moonbase. The system works by collecting heat from the rods and using it to operate Stirling-cycle engines. The company also contracts with nations and private companies to launch satellites and keep them operational.

China enters into a similar contract with NFI to establish a base on the moon; she subsequently abandons the base and its people, who are rescued by NFI. The Lunar Chinese choose not to return to Earth, opting instead to ally with NFI in exchange for help building a base of their own on Mars.

NFI earns a lot of money and plows back most of it by growing the company. The majority of the company’s funds go to purchasing more ships. As a result, NFI soon has the only space fleet in existence. The crews who operate the ships are recruited from around the world, most from smaller nations. NFI is their only chance to go into space, and as a result they are fiercely loyal.

Chuck’s wife, Lina, has been threatened, so he convinces her to move to Australia. He hopes she will be safe there. Lina delivers twins prematurely soon after arriving in Brisbane. Roberta (Robbie) is a normal child, but Robert (Bobby) has mild cerebral palsy as a result of the premature birth. Bobby compensates for his physical limitations by developing an extraordinary intelligence. Both are loved by their parents and grow up well-adjusted, happy children. There is another child, a baby named Ellyn.

Frenchy retires and Chuck takes his place as CEO and Chairman of NFI’s Board of Directors. Freed of responsibility for day to day operations of the company, Frenchy spends his time caring for the children; Chuck’s world-wide responsibilities take up too much time for him to have a normal family life. Still, he tries to balance the needs of his family with those of the company. Considerable effort is required, because NFI has now become the largest company in the world in terms of value. As such, it is a major influence on international affairs.

Larger nations such as Russia, China, and the US are not only envious, they feel threatened. Smaller nations now look to NFI instead of the superpowers, which resent the loss of influence. The large nations become increasingly hostile, forcing NFI ships to avoid their airspace. The company works instead with smaller nations such as Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Japan, and South Korea.

An unanticipated side effect of NFI’s business model is the company’s effect on the economies of the world. NFI collects from wealthier nations and distributes the money to smaller nations by purchasing goods and services. The transfer of wealth destabilizes a number of international relationships.

Economic and military pressure from the major nations eventually forces NFI to transfer their ground operations to a base in the Australian Outback. They also have a base on the moon, but because of the challenges of operating in the moon’s hostile environment, they begin building bases on Mars. NFI intends to mine the asteroids, and the Mars-based refinery will make the process more efficient.

The impeller electric drive is the key to space. China, Russia, and the US continue their attempts to break NFI’s monopoly. Russia has attempted to capture one of NFI’s spacecraft. Their efforts fails, but not for lack of trying. The US attempts to seize an impeller-driven surface ship, resulting in the destruction of MV Tesla, a ship belonging to NFI. The ship’s captain is killed when the Tesla breaks apart and sinks. Chuck is enraged, but a personal conversation with the US President defuses the situation. China has its own more-subtle plan, which so far has produced no better results than the actions of Russia and the US.

After salvaging the sunken Tesla, the US secretly begins working on its own impeller drive. Denied access to the secret, China and Russia become increasingly expansionist.

Russia pressures her western neighbors militarily, Ukraine first, then Poland. The Baltic nations are likely to be her next target. They join the EU, hoping for NATO protection against an increasingly-aggressive Russia.

China covertly attacks Japan and pushes south, building an airfield on an artificial island in the South China Sea. Fighter planes begin using the new field, expanding Chinese influence over a huge region. Her planes threaten all shipping in the region, including ships of the US.

The European Union, now a military alliance as well as an economic entity, attempts to remain neutral even as tensions between NFI and the two major nations grow. Germany exerts a controlling influence over the new European Alliance, which maintains a friendly relationship with the US-led North American alliance. The EU is unwilling to be drawn into supporting Russia or China as they try to expand their influence.

Small nations, enriched economically by their relationship with NFI and anxious about the future, begin buying weapons and forging new alliances. Japan allies with South Korea. Other south Asia nations negotiate to also become part of the alliance. Australia breaks away from Britain and joins the Asian Confederation. Invited to become a partner in the alliance, NFI refuses, despite doing business with many of the Asian nations.

Faced by a growing threat, the various alliances begin arming, while keeping an uneasy eye on their neighbors.

Such is the situation when North Korea, a Chinese ally, launches a thermonuclear attack that destroys NFI’s Moonbase. A number of NFI employees are killed and Chuck reacts. A targeted strike by meteors destroys Kim’s palaces and presumably kills him. His body has not been found, which causes even more confusion as various factions in North Korea contend for power.

One such bloc is the NK military, which has been shelling an island claimed by South Korea. Angered by the shelling and sensing weakness, South Korea responds with artillery fire. Tension grows along the demilitarized zone between the Koreas.

The smaller Asian nations, though not yet formally a part of the Asian Confederation, support South Korea and her ally Japan, while China supports North Korea. Russia is expected to support its ally China. Australia has ties to the smaller Asian nations, but also is the host nation for NFI’s base, complicating matters.

The US and the EU hope to stay out of the worldwide war that appears ever more likely to erupt. As a part of their strategy, they offer NFI the right to operate company spaceships within their respective airspaces and also grant company ships landing rights. This angers Russia and China.

Chuck decides not to engage in further retaliation for the thermonuclear attack on Moonbase, hoping cooler heads will prevail.

Meanwhile, NFI, busy with company concerns, has developed an improved matrix space drive. It requires a lot more electricity to function. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors provide the needed power, although even that source is barely sufficient. The SMRs are also too large and heavy to use in the older (and smaller) Farside class ships. Lead-scientist Dolph’s fusion generators will provide the power needed by the new drive—if he can get one to work!

Meanwhile, NFI builds larger ships. They begin using the SMR power plants to power matrix drives, although not to the new drive’s full potential.

NFI’s older, obsolescent, fuel-cell powered ships are no longer needed, so Chuck offers them to members of the Asian Confederation. This effectively ends the company’s monopoly. Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, and South Korea each get a pair of the impeller-driven ships, enabling them to begin space operations.

The US has been hard at work on a second Manhattan Project. Researchers reverse-engineer a salvaged impeller from MV Telsa and immediately discover ways to improve the unit. While engaged in research, they also invent an antigravity device although it is so weak that it has no practical use as yet.

As if this didn’t present enough problems for Chuck and NFI, one of the company’s ships finds a device made by an unknown civilization near the edge of the asteroid belt.

Such is the situation as our story opens.

 

Chapter One

Chuck kissed Lina goodbye, hugged the twins, and nuzzled the baby’s tummy. The happy gurgle and toothless smile grabbed at his heart; another day, he might have been tempted to take a day off, even a weekend, but not now.

Lina collected the children and boarded Chuck’s personal ship, Lina, for the trip to their home in Brisbane. Chuck watched the takeoff, then left the villa. The rising sun cast long shadows across the Australian Outback as he walked the short distance to his office.

Adelheid, his starchy Finnish executive secretary, was already waiting when Chuck walked in and poured coffee, his third cup of the day.

“Morning, Adelheid. Who’s first on my agenda today?”

“I am, Chuck. Would you like something with that coffee before we begin?”

“No, I had breakfast at the villa. Lina and I have too little time together as it is! You need a meeting? Is something wrong?”

“Yes! You’re working too hard and you’re not getting enough exercise. You need to delegate more, and I’ve got a few suggestions.”

“Suggestions?” Chuck stalled and sipped at the coffee. “What kind of suggestions?”

Adelheid began obliquely. “Does the Prime Minister meet with everyone who wants a bit of his time?”

“No,” said Chuck slowly, “but he’s heading up a country! Same with any other head of state.”

“Just so! He doesn’t have time, and you don’t either. You need someone else, two someones actually, and we want you to take more breaks and exercise more.”

“We? Who’s we? Lina put you up to this, didn’t she?”

“We talked.” Adelheid’s tone was noncommittal. “She’s really more concerned about you getting more exercise, but it’s also obvious that you need more help.”

“I’ll schedule exercise times," Chuck agreed. "I’ve actually been thinking about doing just that. Make a note; I want an instructor.”

“Certainly! What kind of instructor?”

“I was thinking about those swords, the Japanese ones. They make a fetish out of being able to use them, so I wondered how hard it would be to learn how it’s done. Maybe I’ll need two instructors, one in kinjutsu and the other in kendo.”

Adelheid made notes. “I’ll see what I can find. I’m not sure the two subjects are taught in Australia, but if they are I’ll see what can be done.”

“I’ll also need equipment. Have someone find out what I’ll need and order it, billed to my personal account. Get me another pair of swords too, good quality. The others are masterpieces, and I don’t want to damage them by using them to practice with.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“Thank you. Now what was it about more assistants? I’ve got you to keep me on the straight and narrow, and Wolfgang to run flight ops. Will’s working with the Australian government—by the way, ask him to stop in when he has time—and I’ve got people heading up other offices.”

“You need a real chief of staff, someone I can report to! I’m managing the office staff, but you need a full-time assistant who has no other responsibilities! You also need an assistant to handle negotiations with foreign officials, and if you’re going to continue being involved in military matters, you need someone to take charge of that too.”

“You’re talking about a cabinet, the kind the US president has.”

“I am. You also need someone to head up the company education system. You won’t need as many people for that, because the Australian government and the states and territories deal with most of the matters that concern the US cabinet.”

“Maybe I do,” said Chuck. “I hadn’t thought in those terms, but that’s part of what I want to talk to Will about.”

“So we’re agreed? I can begin my search for suitable assistants?”

“Sure. There’s something else. Buy a large safe for the villa, one for the Brisbane house too. Bill them to my personal account.”

“Very well. How large is large? Did you have something specific in mind?”

“I do. Lina doesn’t want me to leave my swords out where the kids can cut themselves, but I don’t want to give them up. I earned those things!” Chuck rubbed his nearly-bald head, the result of a radiation overdose while he and Frodo loaded waste canisters of contaminated dirt. Some of the hair had begun to regrow, but it appeared patchy so he shaved it off. Maybe, at some point—but that was for later, and it might never happen.

The contamination had been caused by a Chinese air strike that broke open fuel rods waiting to be loaded on NFI’s Giant. Japanese men, all elderly, had chosen to clean up the spilled fuel rod contents and put the dirt in plastic containers. Chuck and Frodo, inspired by the old men, had flown the containers to space and launched them toward the sun. None of the volunteers who cleaned up the spill had survived, and Chuck and Frodo had been exposed to enough radiation to make them very sick.

“I understand. I’ll see to ordering the safes. She’s right, you know.”

“I know that, but part of me wants the swords around for protection! I’ve got enemies, and I don’t even own a pistol now As for the arms owned by the company, you know how tight the regulations are, and the Australian states are loath to grant us an exemption. Although that may change, now that I’m giving them spaceships. We’re also providing space on our satellite fields for Australian military planes. I’ll tell Will to work on that too, when I see him.”

“Yes, Chuck. Will there be anything else?”

“I don’t think so, not right now. I need a couple of hours to finalize notes, then I’ll begin meeting with people. Who’s first?”

“The Japanese Ambassador would like to see you at your convenience.”

“Move him to the top of the list. Who else?”

“The US Ambassador requests a meeting, and the South Korean Ambassador as well. See why you need someone to handle foreign relations?”

“Things were easier when I was a customer meeting with sales reps!” Chuck grumbled. “You meet with the US ambassador! If I want anything from them, I’ll call their damned president! Give me half an hour between meetings and schedule the Korean after the Japanese. What’s the status on the Korean Demilitarized Zone?”

“Latest reports say that the buildup continues on both side of the line, but for the moment all they’re doing is yelling at each other and occasionally firing an artillery shell.”

“Better than open warfare! Although it may yet come to that, depending on who assumes power in the north. Still no sign of Kim’s body?”

“No, Chuck. We have very little information, but it appears their army is still cleaning up after the meteor strike.”

“If he’s alive, he’ll turn up, and this time I’ll make sure! I want the message to be clear; if you attack NFI, kill our people, then expect us to go after the one who ordered the attack! If we miss him once, we’ll keep trying until he’s dead.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Adelheid. “If there’s nothing else—”

“Not at this time, thank you.” Adelheid nodded and left. Chuck topped off his coffee and woke his computer. He needed to make notes, as he’d told Adelheid, and after that a number of overnight reports were waiting for his attention.

***

Wolfgang Albrecht finally overcame Adelheid’s resistance, half an hour before Chuck planned to quit for the day. She showed him in after admonishing him not to keep Chuck past his planned quitting time.

“I thought you might have a few minutes for me,” said Wolfgang.

“For you, certainly! What’s up?” asked Chuck.

“If you’ve got half an hour, I’ve got a briefing for you.”

“About space?”

“That, and the progress we’re making converting the Giant-class ships. Do we have delivery dates for the first ten fighter ships we ordered?”

“Not yet. I hoped the Asians would play nice together, but they’re not willing to forget past issues and that’s slowing things up. The Japanese don’t really want to apologize to the South Koreans, the Koreans don’t trust the Japanese, the Indonesians and the Australians are wrangling over who should block the flood of would-be Asian immigrants! As for the Israelis, they’re part of the bloc, although not yet ready to fully ally themselves with the Asians. The rest of the group is willing to deal with them, but they understand that if they get too cozy they’re inviting terrorism from the whack jobs in the Middle East. Including the Saudis, who are pissed off at us and the world in general these days.” Chuck’s voice was weary; he’d been dealing with the disputes for weeks.

“Is one of the countries refusing to work with the others? The fighters—Chuck, we need those! If one country won’t help, it’s time to find another source!”

“That’s not it. They’ll work with us, even though we’re not Asian, but they don’t want to work together. As for the Israelis, the Japanese and the Koreans have bought Iron Dome systems for several of their bigger cities but they consider that ‘just business’. It’s frustrating!” Chuck walked to the window and stared outside. “We need them working together, but they can’t see beyond their own prejudices! Anyway, what else did you want to talk about?”

“I thought you might want a progress report on what’s happening on Mars.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m going to have a cup of coffee. Want one?”

“I guess so. Anyway, I’ve got updates. The Mars Chinese have a problem, but we can deal with it.”

“I thought they were doing well! They started farming, didn’t they?” Chuck poured the coffee and handed Wolfgang a cup.

“That’s part of the problem. They had a dome on the surface and tried planting stuff underneath it, but it’s no longer transparent, it’s more translucent I guess you'd call it. They get some sunlight, just not as much as they’d hoped, and since the sun is weaker on Mars, they had less to start with. The farm is producing, but they’re not getting enough photosynthesis to renew their atmosphere. They’re putting in underground hydroponic farms now, but they’re not operational yet so they plan to swap labor for oxygen until the farms take over.”

“You need to explain that. I’m tired.”

“Too tired to think? Chuck, you really need to back off!”

“I will, I will! I’ve already got Lina and Adelheid on my case, I don’t need you too! I’m going to start exercising as soon as she finds an instructor.”

“That’s a cop-out! You could just go for a walk, maybe a jog.”

“Jogging is out! The knee is better, but it’s still stiff, always will be. Scar tissue buildup in the knee joint, but I guess I could walk.”

“Suppose I start showing up at lunch and we walk together? I can have one of the crews scrape out a dirt track around the perimeter and we could walk on that. The soft dirt would be easier on your knee.”

“Let’s do it. But about the Chinese, what happened to their dome?”

“It got sandblasted! They’re south of the equator, so it’s Martian summer down there right now and the south polar cap is sublimating. The carbon dioxide freezes in the winter, the dry ice then sublimes as soon as the temperature rises. It’s not exactly warm, but it’s warm enough, and all that carbon dioxide creates a kind of polar high. The winds start blowing, and they can reach 400 kilometers an hour. They pick up dust along the way, and the dust pocked the armored glass panels in their dome.”

“I think I understand. Less efficient photosynthesis, the plants grow slower, and they can’t convert enough of the carbon dioxide. So the Chinese have to buy oxygen instead of harvesting it from under the dome?”

“That’s it. They intended to set up fans between the underground farm and the habitat clusters, which will help as soon as the plants grow big enough, but I think they’ll probably wind up doing what we’re doing, put everything underground. Grow lights are more efficient than sunlight anyway, at least they are when you’re that far out.”

“Yeah. They work just fine for marijuana cultivation, and I’ve never heard any of the growers complain that they’re not efficient! What else?”

“The tunneling operation is doing well. Mars will soon have a highway, only one way for at least another year, but they can already send vehicles from our settlement to the Chinese village. They can also come to us if they need to, there are pullovers every five kilometers so vehicles can pass. Six months from now they’ll have two tunnels, but it will take time to build the second road.”

“How deep are the tunnels?”

“We settled on 100 meters and it's going okay. The tunneling machines don’t break down as much, now that we’ve got the bugs out.”

“Same kind of diesel engine we used on the moon?”

“Right. The oxygen feed to the engine was the problem up here, we weren’t filtering it enough. The injectors got plugged, and in some cases the tiny grit was enough to erode them. They had to be replaced.”

“Expensive!” commented Chuck.

“Money wasn’t the problem; the machine just stopped, right in the middle of the tunnel! And the boring head was right up against the forward wall. The crews had to dig out the rock on the sides just so they would have room to work on the engine. The escape ramps helped, the ones that go from the road-tunnel to the surface. Getting through the airlocks also took time, and that’s the real problem, time. The boring machines were down for a standard day, sometimes more. We couldn’t even use more workers, there was no room for them to work.”

“What about running the tunnels in parallel, one machine working only a few centimeters from the other? People could cross from one to the other in case of a breakdown.”

“Can’t. We could order enough machines and hire more crew, but then the block-setting machines wouldn’t work.”

“You’re talking about the tunnel-lining machine.”

“That’s the one. It sets the blocks in position, squirts cement in the joints to make them airtight, then the shaker collapses the dirt on top of the arched top. We don’t pressurize it right away, of course, we have to install the airlocks first. Otherwise, we stand a chance of losing too much air if the lining does spring a leak! It shouldn’t be a problem, though. There’s a hundred meters of Martian dirt and rock overhead, that’s enough to keep the pressure in the tunnels. Even considering how many square centimeters of lining the tunnels have.”

“Lots of kilograms of air pressure per square centimeter, and huge numbers of square centimeters. And don’t forget that in Martian gravity, the stone blocks and the overburden doesn’t weigh as much as it would on Earth.”

“We accounted for that, Chuck.”

“I know—I knew it all along. I’m just tired.” Chuck rubbed his face, then refilled his cup. “Better wind this down, the coffee will only keep me going so long. I need time off, but it all starts again tomorrow!”

“John’s people have also started moving one of the asteroids to Mars, a small one. It’s mostly nickel-iron, but there are some low-density metals too.”

“Not like the ones we recover on Earth?”

“Not quite. Most of the lighter elements burn off in the atmosphere, so only the dense stuff makes it to the surface. But everything else is going well, and the Saucer-class ships are a major help. Morty had that figured too.”

“Grandpa was brilliant, no question. I miss him! Anyway, Disco II is working out?”

“No problems at all! The North Koreans did us a favor, in a sense when they blew up Disco. For all we know, we’d still be trying to get that collection of problems sorted out if they hadn't!”

“Yeah. And if they hadn’t blown away our crew, maybe I could see it that way too.”

“I know. I didn’t mean it like that, Chuck!”

“If that’s all, I need to head for home. The building maintenance crew is waiting to clean the office.”

“That’s it. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Oh, right. We’re walking at noon.”

“You’ve got it. See you tomorrow, boss.”

 

Chapter Two

The day dawned hot and humid, usual in the tropical South China Sea.

The first destroyer of a three-ship screen, the advance element of a squadron, plowed through low waves, heading north. The new CVN John F. Kennedy, screened by cruisers to port and starboard, followed the destroyers. Unseen, a pair of attack submarines trailed the surface group. They were skippered by nervous captains; no submariner likes operating in shallow water, and shoals occasionally shift position in response to storms and currents. Behind the ships was the new US base in Cam Ranh Bay, and Spratly Island lay 15 nautical miles to starboard.

“Think they’ll be back, Skipper?” The speaker was the executive officer of the destroyer Edward Byers Jr., DDG 1004.

“You a betting man?” asked Farragut Childs. “I’ll give odds they’ll buzz the Johnny between, say, 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.”

“Not on sure things, I’m not!” replied his exec, Ennis Schwartz. “Our radar feed is being passed back to the Kennedy. They've acknowledged receiving the stream.”

“Good enough. The Johnny has her combat air patrols up by now. According to the last briefing, they intended to launch the Hornets as soon as they cleared the bay.”

“Just a question, Skip. What happens if the Chinese buzz the carrier again?”

“Admirals and carrier captains don’t discuss their plans with lowly destroyer skippers, X.O! They give orders, and ours are to patrol ahead, keep our eyes open and our mouths shut.” The two chuckled.

Behind them, officers on the John F Kennedy were also discussing the situation.

“What have you got for me, CAG?”

“The CAP is on station, and I’ve got two standby birds ready. No change in orders?”

“None. Proceed as directed.”

“Aye, aye, Sir. I’ll be in Pri-fly.” The commander-air group headed for his duty station. The flight crews already had their orders; no further action was necessary unless someone in the chain of command amended what had been briefed.

***

A pair of F/A 18 fighters cruised high above the squadron. The flight lead was known by his call sign, Cowboy; he kept a picture of his barrel-racer girlfriend in his tiny stateroom, and his squadron mates had tagged him with the nickname. His wingman was known as Menace, not for his fighting prowess but because he’d experienced an unfortunate hard landing during an early flight. Parts of a wheel assembly broke free and scattered across the flight deck, barely missing several crewmen.

In the lead jet, the pilot and backseater were tense, waiting; neither had spoken in the past ten minutes.

“Talk to me, Wizzo!”

“Four launched from Hainan. They were at radar max range, and I had them for a second, then lost two when they went down on the deck. The other two are still heading for the ship. It’s possible the ones I’m not seeing are hidden behind that pair. I’m guessing they know we’re up here.”

“Don’t seem to give a shit, do they?”

“Nope. I guess they think we’re afraid to push the button.”

“What about that guy upstairs?”

“I make it one of NFI’s bigger ships, probably Giant class. He’s just hanging out up there, a big-assed light in the sky. I hear the light has to do with that secret drive system they use. He’s just about over the Johnny.”

“I wish I knew what he thought he was doing!” fretted the pilot. “I’m more concerned about those Chinese J-15's. I hope you’re right, that the other two are down there too. I guess we’re about to find out. Hang on to your hat.” The pilot pushed the stick gently forward, watching the Mach number climb on his HUD.

“Copy. You should have good position when you pull out. Distance from Johnny, two zero klicks.” The WSO peered at his scope. “Menace is conforming, he’ll be on your port when you pull out. Still no target separation—I’ve still only got two images on the scope. That NFI ship is still hanging up there, no change in position.”

“With luck, he won’t pee in our soup bowl.” The pilot grunted as he leveled the plane and the gees built up. Ahead in the distance, the John F Kennedy serenely sailed on. “Any sign of those other two?”

“Not a peep. Range to bogeys, designating them bandits at this time, seven klicks. I’m watching our six, nothing back there.”

“Range, bandits to Johnny?”

“Five klicks.”

“Time to see how serious they are.” Moments later, one of the Chinese fighters appeared to jump left on the radar screen as it took evasive action, breaking off the course that would have led it over the carrier.

“I don’t think he liked it when I lit off the tracking radar! Aw—I’ll bet it was a lot more fun when they thought this was just a fun flight.”

The weapons systems officer’s voice was tense. “Watch yourself, Cowboy! I’m picking up a track from that Chinese island. I’ve got two more bogies, inbound! Maybe they were sitting on that airfield, waiting. Designating them as bandits too, now four inbound.”

“Okay, let’s go back upstairs. I’ve still got a few reserve knots to play with, so I should have legs on that bird. More J-15s, you think?”

“Probably the two I lost earlier,” agreed the WSO. “Shit—I’m picking up a transmission from the ship! That second bandit didn’t change course, he clipped the island and crashed! Johnny got the rescue helo off, but no reports yet. Watch your fuel state, Johnny is advising that we may have to recover at Cam Ranh Bay. Pri-fly is out, the automatic carrier landing system is down, and they’re checking the flight deck for damage. If we do manage to recover on the ship, it will be manually with the landing signals officer.”

“Well, we’ve got fuel for the moment," the pilot mused. "The extra fuel tanks always give me a warm fuzzy feeling. No chance of launching a tanker, I suppose.”

“Not until the deck is cleared.”

“Casualty reports?” asked the pilot.

“Not so far.”

“What about the other J-15, the one that got nervous when I lit him up?”

“He joined up with the other two and they’re headed back for that island. Want to take a look? Maybe buzz their base? I’m really pissed at them!”

“No. We’ll be professional, and hope that the investigation board won’t decide I waited too late to light those two bandits up.”

“You think they might blame that crash on us?”

“They’ll be looking for someone to blame! You and me, or the admiral. What do you think?”

“I think I’m glad that Delta is hiring!”

“Drive a flying truck? I never expected you to say that!”

“It’s flying, and I would get a lot more stick time than I’m getting now. Waste of time getting my wings if I can’t fly! Wait one—okay, the deck is clear. You want to go home or divert to land?”

“Might as well see whether we’re grounded. I’m heading for Johnny.”

***

Chuck was studying the latest delivery estimate for the first of the fighters he’d ordered. There was finally movement among the various nations who were producing the component parts, the first airframes had been delivered to Japan, and most of the remaining parts were on the way. The Japanese consortium projected that installing the avionics package would take at least a month, while adding in necessary pilot support and control equipment such as ejection-equipped seats, fly-by-wire controls, oxygen systems, and displays would take an additional month, and testing might take as much as two months. The modules that made up the avionics, easy to install and maintain by design, might reveal problems when they began working together in a real airframe.

There might be no way to speed up the process, but on the other hand there might; money can solve a lot of problems. Chuck began making notes, and Adelheid’s interruption couldn’t have come at a worse time. He sighed and accepted the call. “Is this important?”

“The Japanese ambassador is here with the Korean ambassador. They insist it’s urgent.”

“Give me a minute to put the reports away. I need to talk to them anyway, so maybe it’s for the best.” Chuck put the documents back into folders and locked them in the office safe. He had barely finished when Adelheid showed the two men in.

Chuck offered them a choice of beverages. The Asians chose scotch, while Chuck contented himself with coffee, and after greetings were exchanged he steered the conversation to business. “I need to talk to you, but before we get to that I’m curious about what’s bothering you.”

“If I may?” Ambassador Mori glanced at Ambassador Kim for permission, then continued. “We are concerned about events in the South China Sea.”

“I’ve been rather busy," Chuck confessed, "so perhaps it would be best if you brought me up to date.”

“Of course. As you know, American ships and aircraft patrol in the vicinity of the Chinese base in the Spratly Islands.” He waited for Chuck’s nod. “Chinese ships routinely follow the ships and Chinese aircraft fly very close to the Americans.”

“I’ve heard about that. Risky business!”

“There was an accident three days ago. A pair of Chinese fighters were headed toward the new supercarrier, the John F. Kennedy. No one knows exactly what happened, but a pilot misjudged the distance and crashed into the superstructure. I’m told you call it ‘the island’?”

“I’ve heard that term. Go on,” Chuck said.

“There were deaths. The Chinese fighter plane was their new two-place variant and both crewmen were killed. Twenty-three Americans were killed outright, and more were wounded, some critically so. The Americans blame China, the Chinese say it was the fault of the Americans for being in waters China claims.”

“No surprise there! There might have been fault on both sides. Go ahead.”

“So we surmise, Chuck,” Ambassador Kim said, “but there have been developments.”

“What developments? I can’t believe I missed all this!” Chuck’s gaze switched between the two men.

Ambassador Mori replaced his glass after taking a health slug of the scotch. “We are aware of developments that have not yet been made public. Such incidents might be worked out over time, and in most cases they are, but China has recalled her ambassador to the United States and the US has retaliated by recalling their ambassador. This signifies a break in diplomatic relations. A Chinese diplomatic note was delivered to the United Nations this morning suggesting that the incident might lead to the gravest consequences. Among diplomatic circles, Chuck, this is often a preliminary to a declaration of war.”

“Are you sure? War makes no sense! The US, last I heard, is the largest market for Chinese goods!”

“It still is, or was,” said Ambassador Kim. “But politics being what they are, market forces have undergone a shift, and Americans now buy more domestically produced products. Trade agreements, not all but some, have been suspended and international trade in general has suffered, not only China’s balance of trade but that of Japan and my own country. We believe that China intended to replace the losses in the American market by moving into Africa. They’ve been quite successful there, but it hasn’t been enough to offset what they’ve lost in western sales. This latest suspension will only make matters worse.”

“I knew about most of that, but the report I saw said that they were buying more commodities, metals, petroleum, things like that. The net exchange value is supposed to be causing more drain on the Chinese economy.”

“Exports are approaching parity with imports at this point," Ambassador Kim agreed. "We believe that China hoped that moving into the South China Sea would regain the trade surplus she needs to prevent shrinkage of her economy, but she now faces a recession unless something is done. It is believed that there may be major petroleum reserves near the disputed islands, and fishing is also important. The nation that controls the seas also controls the fishing rights. If China can force her claim, she will need to import less in foodstuffs, and if the rumors prove to be true also less petroleum. As a result, the economic advantage to be realized by control of the South China Sea is fourfold.

“China’s economy is an important factor in controlling her population. As exports dwindled, jobs were lost, factories closed, and domestic unrest has become more common. The government cracked down, of course, but the pressure is still there beneath the surface. The Chinese government understands that it must reduce the unhappiness of their people, and we believe this means she must now act aggressively to regain face. A diplomatic note and the recall of her ambassador may not be enough to quiet the unrest.”

“Whew! A war between the two superpowers—haven’t we seen enough bloodshed? How many millions died in World War Two? And the Korean War, the Vietnamese war, the wars in the Middle East—”

“There have been others,” Ambassador Kim’s tone was gentle. “My country’s war has never ended. Artillery shells fall on our northern border almost every day. My government has been patient, understanding the chaos north of the Demilitarized Zone, but our patience is not unlimited.”

“I understand your concerns," Chuck said, "but that doesn’t explain why you’ve come to me.”

“I would like your word that this conversation goes no further.” Ambassador Mori’s tone matched the grim look on his face. Chuck had never seen such deep lines around the ambassador’s mouth.

“You have it. I may have to share aspects of it with trusted members of my company, but I won’t release it to any media outlet and I won’t pass the word to any government without your express permission. Will that do?”

The two ambassadors looked at each other. Chuck saw no sign of a signal, but they looked back at him and nodded. Ambassador Kim resumed. “We have been approached by representatives of other nations, and as a result, we have begun taking steps to form an alliance. Much remains to be worked out, of course, but I believe we must continue.”

“You’re talking about a military alliance.”

“That, and possibly more. Past history has been—unfortunate. Our disagreements have weakened all of us. We cannot compete with China or Russia while we remain divided. For the sake of all, we must change.”

“It won’t be easy! Ambassador Mori, you’re going to have to apologize for some of the things that happened, probably do even more than that. Japan’s behavior toward other nations during the war was unconscionable.”

Ambassador Mori bowed his head. “Yes. To abase oneself in shame is not easy for my people. We would rather die! Such is the traditional way to expiate shame. It is much to be preferred as an individual solution, but this time it will not cleanse the damaged reputation of our families or our nation. Too much has happened, too much time has passed. But the danger is such that we must accept even this most bitter pill.”

“I understand. You should recall that I grew up American, although I am Australian now as well as American, and my family is here. For that matter, I hoped to become a citizen in space, perhaps a citizen of Mars as soon as we have a government, but that may not be possible. You’ll understand that I may be unable to go into space again? I’ve had too much radiation exposure as it is.”

Both ambassadors bowed deeply and held the pose for long seconds. “We do. We honor you for your sacrifice on behalf of my country, and also for what you’ve done to support our economy. That goes for both of us. China’s economy suffers, but thanks to our relationship with NFI our balance of trade remains healthy.”

“It’s mutually beneficial," Chuck said. "I’m glad to know you’re working to end old disputes. By the way, I was looking at projected fighter deliveries. Is there any way for you to speed those up? If war is about to break out, having fighters on hand is critical.”

“Whatever can be done will be done, and we have another offer for you personally. Your secretary has made it known that you wish to train in traditional Japanese martial arts?”

“Yes, although I had no idea it would come to your attention! Now that I have swords, it seems appropriate that I know how to use them.”

“We have spoken to a sensei who lives in Canberra. He referred us to another who teaches in Sydney, and he has agreed to accept you as his student.”

“Canberra? You have a real network, don’t you?”

“Japanese expatriates maintain a certain sense of community. It is not easy to abandon all ties of family and culture. Such ties are especially strong among those who practice a particular discipline.”

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there’s no way I could break away to train in Sydney!”

“It will not be necessary. He will conduct the preliminary classes here, if that is acceptable. When your training has progressed to a suitable point, a master will come to you from Japan.”

“Really? That’s wonderful! But I may not be able to progress fast enough to suit the sensei. I have a stiff knee, and exercise doesn’t seem to help.”

“It will be dealt with. It is not a problem. There is one final request, however.”

“Well, you’ve definitely got me in a good mood! So why don’t you go ahead and ask me?”

“We came to you because you are the head of NFI. We believe your company should be part of our alliance, the Asian Confederation.”

 

Chapter Three

Sleeping on the offer hadn’t helped, and Chuck still had not decided whether joining the Asian Confederation was something NFI should do.

Was he getting in over his head? The other members of the fledgling alliance were full nations with long histories, established political systems, and citizens who supported their leaders! NFI, for all that it had accomplished, was still no more than a privately-held corporation.

He arrived at the office early. The formidable Adelheid hadn’t managed to beat him in, for once. Chuck set up the coffeepot and called up a browser while he waited for the coffee to brew. Hmmm—it appeared that a family of private bankers, the Rothschilds, had once held a similar dominant position. Bankers and business-people for the most part, they had become advisors and financiers to kings and had exerted enormous political as well as economic influence. Had they ever been equal partners in a multinational alliance? The evidence, like most having to do with the secretive family, was equivocal, so perhaps they had not. Indeed, they had found it more profitable on occasion to back both sides in the many wars fought between nations, particularly in Europe!

He poured coffee into his favorite Iittala mug, gift from a friend in Rovaniemi, as he thought about it. Adelheid interrupted his musing by knocking on his office door. “Good morning, Chuck! I’ve scheduled a meeting with a candidate for your foreign relations advisor. He’ll be here in an hour.”

“Excellent! I’ve got his first task waiting, assuming I like the way the interview turns out. I’ll call up his resumé and familiarize myself before I see him. What’s next after that?”

“You’re scheduled to walk for an hour with Wolfgang at noon. I’ve talked to your new sensei; he’ll start next Monday. I’ve scheduled the Lina to transport him here and return him to Sydney. That will be standard procedure while he works with you. By providing fast transportation, he’ll be able to come here each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

“If I need Lina, you can use one of the other ships. Something will be available.”

“Yes, Chuck. The safes you ordered will be delivered and installed later this week. Lina and I discussed placement, so that’s solved. She’ll show you where she decided to put them when she returns. Your new swords and the other equipment will be delivered on Friday. I ordered them from Japan, and delivery is being expedited.”

“Good. What else?”

“I consulted with your physician, and based on his recommendation, I’ve ordered a knee brace. He mentioned that it may become necessary at some point to operate on the knee. There have been new developments since you were wounded, and he feels that a surgeon can probably go in now by using a tiny incision and remove most of the scar tissue. Recovery time will be short.”

“It wasn’t short before! And I hope it doesn’t hurt as much as that earlier surgery did!”

“They’ve come a long way since then, Chuck. And of course, you’ll have the best surgeon available. I’m told that makes a difference.”

“I hope so,” grumped Chuck. “I’ll look at that resumé. Give me a heads-up when he arrives.”

“Yes, Chuck.” Adelheid’s voice left no doubt that the instruction was unnecessary. She left the office and Chuck clicked on the file. Hmmm—the photo wasn’t great, but the man’s record was! University, degrees, JD and PhD in international relations—

But as for his record of previous employment—

Chuck looked out the window and thought about it. On paper, the man appeared ideal. But what about his loyalty? Would he be able to transfer that to NFI? The chime interrupted his musing.

“Chuck, he’s here. When should I show him in?”

“Now. No interruptions, please.”

“Yes, Chuck.”

The man was shorter than his photo revealed. No matter; Chuck was interested in his mind and whether he had the necessary judgment to do the job! A parallel consideration was whether the two of them could work together. Chuck walked over and shook Mark’s hand. “Adelheid will have told you what I’m looking for. What do you think of the job?”

“It’s not what I’ve been doing, but I think I can help you.”

“I hope so! I have two questions before we continue. Why did you resign?”

Mark met Chuck’s eyes. There was no hint of evasiveness. “I made a mistake, a serious one. I was the president’s closest advisor and confidant. I let him down, so I felt I had no choice but to resign. I still believe that was the correct choice.”

“I thought it might be something like that, although I wondered whether the president might have asked for your resignation. How do you get along with him these days?”

“We’re not exactly friends, but then we never were. It was more of a business relationship, but with a kind of warmth between us. It’s difficult to explain.”

“And the president also feels that way?”

“I believe he does.”

Chuck nodded. “That was question one. The other is more serious, but since you gave the president honest service, I’ll expect an honest answer from you. If I accept you as my foreign policy adviser, where will your loyalty lie?”

“You’re really asking if I might be unable to provide dispassionate advice where the president or the US is concerned. I wouldn’t want to reveal any confidences from my previous job, but I see no reason why I can’t give you loyalty. I hope you understand, I won’t betray my nation, and if you’re hiring me as a way of scoring points with the president then I don’t want the job! With those caveats, I believe I won’t have a conflict of interest working for NFI.”

“Are you willing to tell me if that changes?”

“Yes.” Mark’s answer was unequivocal.

“You’re hired. Adelheid will take care of the paperwork, you’ll make more than you made before, although based on your resumé that probably isn’t a consideration.”

“No. Money isn’t a problem.”

“Good! Your first job is to advise me regarding an offer. Right off the top, what do you know of the relationships between the smaller South Asian nations?”

“Quite a bit. I did my dissertation on the history of relationships in what was once Indo-China. I’ve kept up with events since that time.”

“Excellent! Are you aware that there’s a movement underway to form closer ties?”

“I hadn’t heard that,” Mark said, “but I’m not surprised, considering what’s going on with China.”

“So what do you think of it? Take a seat, grab a coffee if you want—I run on that stuff!”

“I’m worried!" Mark said. "China pulling her ambassador is serious! It was one thing to harass American ships, but that went wrong in a way I doubt anyone saw coming. What she’ll do now depends on domestic considerations; the Chinese people are restive, and it’s worth remembering that previous governments changed through revolution. The Central Committee certainly won’t have forgotten!

"They may choose the cautious course, but there’s also the chance that a hothead will take the initiative. If that happens, there will be war, and given the disparity in numbers between the Chinese military forces and what the US has available, it will almost certainly go nuclear. That budget sequester really hurt American preparedness! The US military has only begun to recover and the Navy finally has new ships, but they’re untried. Some of the senior officers are experienced, but the crews have never heard a shot fired in anger.”

“Will the smaller nations stand with the US?”

“They might. Is Vietnam one of the alliance you mentioned?” Chuck nodded. “The Vietnamese are currently working with the US. They’re buying American weapons, and trading basing rights to pay for them. Their economy is improving, but they don’t have the capital to build or support a modern force. They need the Americans, and the Americans need them, as a counter to China’s expansion south. It’s worth remembering that the Vietnamese fought a long, hard war for their independence. I think they’ll do it again, rather than be dominated by China.”

“So you believe that if China and the US go to war, Vietnam will intervene on the side of the US?” Chuck asked.

“If China pushes the attempt to control the South China Sea, Vietnam will respond. But whether that means there will be an alliance between them and the US, I’m not prepared to say.”

“What about the other nations that claim those islands?”

“They might follow Vietnam’s lead. Indonesia probably will, and as for the Philippines and others, it depends on their perception of the threat to their own interests.”

“Now the big question," Chuck said. "Should NFI join with the US, the Vietnamese, or both?”

“Depends. Have you been invited to join, or do you expect to be invited?”

“Yes.” Chuck did not elaborate.

“Then you have two choices, possibly three. Join now, wait and join later after you see whether Australia joins the alliance, or say no. If the answer is no, you may be endangering your business relationship with those nations, but since they stand to gain by doing business with NFI, I doubt they’ll force a break. You’ve also demonstrated that you have military capability by striking North Korea, and they need that. You’re now based in Australia, so that also has to be considered; you can’t really afford to be part of an alliance that your host country refuses to join. The question is whether you gain from this, and how much. I don’t know enough about your business arrangements yet to advise you.”

“You’ve done quite well so far! I’ll bring this up to the Australians and see what they intend doing, and I can act a lot faster than a government can. Somehow, I can’t see them joining Japan and—ah, other possible partners.”

“They may not,” agreed Mark, “but Indonesia might, and if Australia’s neighbors join she may be forced to by circumstances. As I see it, if Australia refuses to ally with the others, China might decide that Australia is the perfect base to press her claims to that part of the Pacific.”

“That won’t happen.” Chuck’s tone left no room for interpretation.

“I’ll need workspace and staff if I’m to do the job effectively,” Mark said.

“See Adelheid. One last thing; I’m looking for a military advisor who can also act as minister for military affairs. Know anyone who might fit that bill?”

“Off the top of my head, I can think of several. You’re space-based, but you also operate in the atmosphere so the closest analogue to what you need is a navy admiral or an air force general. I know of a few American officers, but they may not be able to answer the questions you asked me earlier to your satisfaction. There’s an Israeli Air Force general who might suit your needs.”

“Get settled in, make me a list, include a thumbnail bio. See Adelheid if you need housing until you can find a place of your own. I’ve got an appointment to go walking.”

***

Chuck grabbed an apple from the lunchroom and headed for the newly-graded track. Wolfgang was already there. “I’ll eat this while we walk. How’s it going?”

“Pretty good. Dolph’s arriving later this afternoon, but I can tell you most of what he’s here about. The new matrix drive is working well, the latest version of the small nuclear reactors we’re getting from Japan are smaller and lighter than the previous models, and they put out almost the same wattage figures. The main thing is that he wants to recruit another scientist.”

“Feeling overworked, is he?” Warmed up after their first lap around the kilometer-long track, the two lengthened their strides.

“Maybe, but he thinks she’s underused and underappreciated where she is,” said Wolfgang.

“Really? So that’s why he wants NFI to hire her?”

“That’s what I hear, and I’ve got pretty good sources in Dolph’s department.”

“You do?”

“It pays to know what’s happening! I depend on Dolph’s people, Chuck; I run the ships, but they provide the propulsion and electrical power systems.”

“Makes sense. I need to slow down, the knee is stiffening up. Any news yet about that fusion power system?” Chuck asked.

“Still not working, but they haven’t blown anything up or melted down one of my ships! Wonder who that is?” Wolfgang nodded to a man who was approaching them.

“I guess we’re about to find out.” Chuck stopped, glad of the excuse to rest.

“Mark sent me," he said, panting. "He said you’d want to know.”

“Know what? Catch your breath, we can wait.” The messenger nodded and paused.

“It’s the Indonesians. They sent a message, and the commo department sent it to Adelheid. She sent it on to Mark.”

“I understand. What message?”

“They’ve lost one of those ships you transferred to them.” The messenger was still catching his breath.

“One of the Farsides? It crashed?”

“No, it’s been hijacked. The Indonesians don’t know who the hijackers were, but Mark said to tell you that he thinks they were probably working for the Chinese or the Russians. He’ll meet with you as soon as he has more information.”

“Thanks. You take a few minutes off and catch your breath before you head back. Wolfgang, I’ve got to get back to the office, and I imagine you’ll also have work to do. It’s time to upgrade your IFF systems; whoever got the ship will copy the drive, so if there are other ships that look like ours, we need to be able to tell the difference. Use your information channels to let Dolph know. We also need to finish converting our ships to nuclear power and matrix drive. If the Russians or the Chinese have the hijacked bird, they’ve got the tech base and manufacturing resources to copy it.”

“I’ll take care of it, Chuck. Will you have time for me later?”

“Let’s shoot for four o’clock, and I’ll tell Mark to join us. You need to meet him anyway. I’ll pass along information—no, I’ll have him pass the information directly to you! He’s my new foreign policy advisor, but there’s no need for me to decide what you need to know. If you have questions you can’t resolve with Mark, bring them to me.” Wolfgang nodded, then set off for his office, almost running.

Chuck was slower. His left knee was hurting. He’d probably overdone the exercise and stressed the leg more than he should have, and this was not the first time it had happened. Maybe, when things settled down, he should see about that surgery? Meanwhile, he would start wearing the brace, at least while exercising. He hobbled across the campus toward his office.

Moments later, a small electric runabout pulled up beside him. “Could you use a lift, Chuck?”

Chuck nodded and climbed in, carefully working his leg in and straightening it out. “Did someone send you?”

“Not exactly, Sir. We saw you walking, and the foreman noticed that you were limping. He sent me, but to tell you the truth any of us would have been happy to pick you up. We try to keep an eye on you when you’re out of your office.”

“You do, do you? Would it by chance be a way of letting your foreman know when the boss was on his way?”

The driver grinned, but didn’t reply, and the rest of the trip was made in silence.

 

Chapter Four

Chuck logged on to his email account Saturday. He spent the first hour scanning routine reports before reading a private message from Dolph, who wanted permission to hire a senior scientist. Chuck’s typed reply was curt; You’re the vice president in charge of research and development. You’re responsible for your staffing needs. See me Monday and we’ll talk. I have a few things I want to go over, and if you think this is important tell me about it then. He logged off the server and joined Lina and the twins for breakfast.

Robbie and Bobby occupied places at the table, while Mildred fed Ellyn. Her duties as nanny now centered on the baby. Chuck and Lina felt that meals were a family event and Ellyn would join them as soon as she was old enough to feed herself. Chuck noticed a fifth place-setting at the table. “Do we have company?”

“Dad came in late last night. I’m surprised he’s not already here; he’s usually an early riser.”

“That he is,” Chuck agreed. “It will be good to see him. I haven’t been to Brisbane in a few weeks, other than flying in and back out the same day on business. How’s he doing?”

“He’s exercising more and seems to be doing well. He still spends as much time as possible with the children, but nowadays he has to compete with the tutors and Bobby’s therapist.”

“I’ve been exercising, so maybe we’ll have time to walk this weekend. He might like the new walking track! A lot of office employees use it, some of the flight staff too. They also use the gym, and they’ll probably use the dojo when it’s finished, but I may reserve that for my use on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ll see what the sensei says.”

“How’s your leg holding up?” Lina’s voice showed concern.

“I’m using a brace, for now. I may decide on arthroscopic surgery later; I don’t think I can spare the time right now.”

“Do you really need surgery?”

“I think I will. I’m not ready to wheel myself behind a desk every day, which means I need to fix this before it gets worse. This brings me to my next point: how would you and the twins like to take a trip next weekend?”

“Trip to where? Chuck, you’re up to something, I can tell! What’s going on?”

“I just got the final reports on the new matrix drive system. I thought you might like a little stick time.”

“I’ve been getting stick time.” Lina’s voice was bland. “I have no complaints! But you’re talking about going into space? Chuck, you can’t do that, you know what the doctors said! And what about the twins?”

“It was all in the report. Background radiation in the cabin is lower than it is here on Earth! Even if I had to leave the ship for some reason, the new suits are more radiation-resistant than the old ones were. I’m going back to space, and that’s one of the reasons I’m going to have surgery as soon as there’s time.”

“I could fly as command pilot?”

“You could. Mikhail will show you the changes, but in essence, it’s the same system as before. You fly the computer, it flies the ship.”

“I don’t know,” fretted Lina. “What about the children? What about Ellyn?”

“The children will go to space while they’re growing up. One day, they’ll be running the company. They’ll also start working at Base Australia as soon as I can arrange it.”

“Working? Chuck, they’re children!”

“So they are. And your point is?” Lina looked at him, open mouthed. “They won’t be lifting heavy objects or swinging a hammer. They’ll start out by dusting, cleaning rooms, pushing a broom, whatever. What do you say, kids?”

“It sounds like fun, Dad!”

Frenchy joined them, yawning. “What sounds like fun?”

“Letting the kids begin working at the base. I’ve got a guy lined up to stay with them.”

“Good idea, let them learn about the company from the ground up! Just don’t let them get bored, doing the same job over and over.”

“I won’t. How are you doing?”

“Quite well! How about you?”

“I thought we might take a walk later. I’ve got some things I’d like your opinion on. I’m meeting with Will next week, and he’ll discuss them with the Australian Government.”

“Sounds interesting,” said Frenchy. “Sometimes I miss that, other times I’m glad I’m out of it. Too much stress for an old man!”

“I’m delegating more to my staff now. That helps. The job is just too big, even for a younger man!”

***

“The Indonesian representative is here, Chuck.”

Chuck sighed. “Send him in, Adelheid.” He stood up and was waiting when the man walked in. “Don’t I know you?”

The man bowed slightly. “We met briefly. I sailed aboard the Tesla, and after she sank I attended school in Switzerland. My name is Susitna.”

“And you now work for the Indonesian government?”

“Yes. I was a pilot for a time, flying one of the ships NFI transferred to my nation, but then I began working directly for my government. I am now their representative in charge of space operations.”

“Which means you’re the guy who lost one of the ships.”

“It is so.” Susitna bowed his head. “I beg forgiveness.”

Chuck shook his head. “I suppose I’m the one who lost the Tesla, since I’m the guy at the head of the table.”

“It is so,” repeated Susitna.

“So tell me what happened.” Chuck stood and walked to the circle of chairs he used for informal discussions. “Help yourself to coffee and doughnuts.”

“Thank you, but perhaps later. We now believe we know what happened to Mare Imbrium.”

“Go on.”

“We believe the crew was influenced. It was betrayal.”

“That doesn’t seem possible! Don’t you check your people?”

“We do, very carefully, but family is very important to our people. We believe a combination of bribery and threats was used. Large sums of money were deposited into the bank accounts of the pilot and copilot, this we know. The accounts have now been frozen, of course. The father of our copilot was killed, and his mother was told that if her son did not cooperate she would also die, as would his sisters. The pilot’s mother was told the same and informed of the murder of the copilot’s father. We believe the man was murdered because he refused to speak to his son, to urge him to do as the criminals wished.”

“Mexican drug cartels use the same combination. So who hijacked the ship?”

“We can’t be sure,” admitted Susitna. “The men who spoke to family members were Asian, possibly Chinese, but there are many such criminals. No nation has a monopoly.”

“So you’re saying this could be a red herring?”

“I do not understand the term, Pak Sneyd.” Susitna lowered his gaze.

“A distraction. Another nation, even a corporation, might have sent them.”

“Just so! There are now nations in space, as well as your company, but the ships are still very valuable.”

“Yes,” Chuck agreed. “Where are the crewmen now? Have they been found?”

“They have not. Some believe they are dead.”

“Killed to shut their mouths? What of the money in the banks? Could you trace it?”

“For a short distance only. There were small withdrawals, then they stopped. The accounts are blocked now, so tracing future disbursements is no longer possible.”

“Yeah,” agreed Chuck. “Your people may have acted too soon.”

“It is true,” Susitna said.

“So what happens now?”

“We hope you will understand our concern. We now have only one ship operating. It is used to support our space station.”

“And you want me to hand over another ship?” Chuck was incredulous. Susitna looked at the floor.

“Charter with someone else, Australia maybe. India has ships too.” Chuck’s temper was showing.

“There are also strategic implications. China—you will be aware of China’s actions off our coast?” Chuck nodded. “If China has Mare Imbrium, orbital stations are at risk. All of them, ours and others, Australia included.”

Chuck glowered at him, but this time Susitna held his gaze. “I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll look into it. I may not have any of the Farside class ships left! What I can do is act as the middleman between our builders and your government. You would be responsible for payment, of course. I’m not going to buy a new ship just so I can hand it over to you!”

“NFI is a very wealthy company—” began Susitna.

“Final offer, take it or leave it!”

“I shall have to consult with my government.”

“You do that,” said Chuck. “In the meantime, I suggest you keep a closer eye on the ship you still have! We’re both busy, so I’m going to have to ask you to excuse me.” Chuck stood and walked to the door, opening it. A shocked Susitna walked out and the door closed firmly behind him. How was he to explain this to his superiors?

***

Chuck strapped on the knee brace and headed for the cafeteria. He picked up an apple and munched it on his way to the dojo and arrived fifteen minutes early, by design.

A bewildering array of clothing and equipment had been laid out on mats. Chuck looked at the garments and decided to wait. Moments later, an elderly Asian man dressed in loose clothing and sandals walked in and glanced around. Chuck paid him no attention until the man removed the sandals and walked across the floor.

“You’re my sensei?” asked Chuck uneasily. The old man had to be at least seventy!

“Perhaps.” Shrewd eyes studied Chuck. “Walk with me. Oh, and take off your shoes and socks first.” The tone of command was unmistakable.

There were no chairs. Chuck removed the walking shoes he’d worn, not difficult standing up, but removing his socks proved impossible until he sat down. Standing back up was difficult.

The old man watched, impassive.

“What shall I call you.” asked Chuck.

“Sensei is traditional. Obi-wan Kenobe was funny the first time I heard it, but now I no longer consider it a joke. I fear I would strike harder than necessary should that happen.” The old man never cracked a smile. Chuck decided it was no longer difficult to imagine the man as a teacher.

“Yes, Sensei.” Was that a minuscule nod? Chuck decided it was.

“We will walk. You will listen.” Chuck nodded. “I teach selected students the way of combat, bujutsu. You are worthy of my attention.”

“I am?” Chuck was confused.

“I will not need to develop in you the necessary spirit. You have that. Where are the kimono and the swords gifted you by—ah, a high personage?”

“The kimono is in my office. There’s a tall cabinet, and it’s stored there. I sometimes open the door and study it. It’s very intricate.”

“Yes. And the swords?”

“In my home in Brisbane. I keep them locked in a safe.”

“It is not the traditional way.”

“No,” agreed Chuck, “but my wife insists. We have small children.”

“Westerners do not teach traditional discipline.” Chuck understood sensei’s meaning, though the comment was indirect. “But the swords deserve to be displayed in a place of honor. The masters who crafted them would be disappointed if they were left to languish in darkness.”

“When the children are responsible enough, I will see the swords placed on a traditional stand.”

“Are you interested in having your children know the way of bujutsu?”

Chuck thought about it. “They already have a lot to learn.”

“Much time is wasted.” The sensei had gradually picked up the pace. Chuck was puffing and his feet were feeling the strain.

“I’ll wear my knee brace when you return on Wednesday.”

“Knee braces were unknown in ancient times.” The old man might be out for an afternoon stroll for all the strain he showed. Chuck realized suddenly that he did not walk so much as glide. Each step was measured without appearing to be. He grew so fascinated by the intricate play of muscle, the flexing of the feet and even the toes, that he forgot his own strain. The sensei suddenly stopped and Chuck realized that an hour had passed. They were standing by the old man’s sandals. He slipped them on and waited. Chuck finally thought to bow, a gentle inclination of his head. The old man returned it and said, “We will walk again on Wednesday.” With no further word, he turned and left.

Chuck decided not to try to put on the socks, and there was no way he was going to walk barefooted across the ground between the dojo and his office! He managed to get the shoes on without sitting down and left the dojo, carrying his socks.

***

“Ten minutes, no visitors,” Chuck told Adelheid, who looked at him in surprise. She glanced down at the socks.

“Don’t ask,” Chuck said. “Ten minutes.”

The soles of his feet were reddened, but otherwise not marked. Chuck wet a paper towel and wiped them off, then put on the socks and shoes.

A knock announced Will’s arrival. “Come on in. I’ve got a job for you, but first, how are the flying lessons going?”

“Slow, but I’m making progress. Space still makes me nervous! I don’t really know why, but at least most of my flights are at high altitude now. That doesn’t bother me.”

“Getting used to it a little at a time?” Will nodded. “That makes sense. But this won’t require flying. I need you to talk to the government, the states too.”

“The commonwealth government?”

Chuck nodded. “Queensland and the other states too. They’ll all be involved eventually.”

“Go on.” Will helped himself to a cup of coffee and a doughnut. “Does this have to do with the international situation?”

“Yes, and no. You can probably use it as a selling point, though. Our business is changing, and that’s going to require changes to our relationship with Australia.” Will nodded and bit into the doughnut.

“We’re still making most of our money from shipping spent fuel rods to Mars, but the supply is going to run out soon. Some of the countries we handed our ships to are now underbidding us! I slipped up there; I should have added a non-competition clause to the agreement.”

“They’re sharp businesspeople, no question! File it under lessons learned for the next time. What about satellite launches? And are we interested in rebuilding Moonbase?”

“No. We needed it at the time, but not now. Mars is where our future lies, maybe Venus too. Dolph has a team of biologists crossing varieties of small plants, trying to find one that can survive the upper reaches of Venus’ atmosphere. He already dumped a batch there, but he doesn’t think they survived. Anyway, as soon as he finds the right mix, he’ll start terraforming Venus, but that won’t be done anytime soon and even with the carbon dioxide cut down to a manageable level, we don’t know what the surface will be like. So we’re going to concentrate on Mars. It’s not anywhere close to being self-sufficient, but there’s no reason Mars can’t begin paying its own way! We’ve got a metallic asteroid in orbit already, and John’s people are breaking it up with explosives. As soon as it’s down to chunks we can manage, we’ll start refining the mix. The plan is to ship refined products to Earth.”

“Makes sense,” agreed Will. “So where do I come in?”

“We need a terminus on Earth, and that’s Australia. In fact, I want Australia to be the middleman in all this. They’ll get rich and we’ll keep our cash flow going. Buying those fighters is going to be expensive! But Base Australia isn’t big enough to do all the things I’ve got in mind. We’re going to need more room.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. How many hectares?”

“Not hectares, Will.”

“What are you saying, Chuck?” Will showed alarm.

“I’m thinking a system of linked satellite fields, all administered from here but far enough away that if something happened here the other fields would still be operational. Considering what’s going on in the world, I think that’s the prudent approach! You know we’re going to need spaceports for the new fighters too, right?”

“Right, I mentioned that to the minister just last month. He’s generally supportive, although he mentioned concerns about protecting Aboriginal rights. How much room do you think you’re going to need?”

Chuck walked to the wall and pointed to the map of Australia, then circled an area with his forefinger. “Probably about this much, although not right away.”

“Chuck—you’re talking about most of central Australia!” whispered Will.

“Oh, not right away, of course,” said Chuck breezily. But eventually? I suspect Spaceport Australia will grow to be quite large!”

 

Chapter Five

Dolph was waiting in the outer office when Chuck arrived.

“Come on in. That was a strange message you sent.”

“I wanted to give you a heads up,” said Dolph. “I’ve contacted the person I want, but there may be repercussions.”

“We’re about to find ourselves dragged into a war, and you’re talking about repercussions? Who is this man, and why do you want him?” Chuck was being deliberately obtuse, hiding what he’d learned from Wolfgang.

“I’m bogged down with the fusion power project. Chuck, we’re close!” Dolph was almost bouncing in his seat. “Do you realize what this means?”

“It means you’re going to fall on your ass if you don’t sit down. It’s just a bigger version of the SMR plants, isn’t it?”

“It’s an order of magnitude more powerful, maybe twice that! We’re going to need bigger ships if we’re going interstellar, and the fusion plants can power twice as many matrix impellers as the SMRs do. Think mile-wide saucers, maybe two miles wide! Big enough to carry Giant-class ships as runabouts!”

“Interesting. But I’d rather develop what we’ve got in the solar system first!” Chuck’s tone was dry.”

“How about reaching Mars in a day, no matter where we are in our orbit? Or where Mars is?”

“I’ll be happy if you don’t blow up the ship you’re using as a lab! So why don’t you tell me what you’ve got in mind for your new assistant? It would be nice to let me in on his name too.”

“I can’t concentrate on the power plant, because I’m spending too much time working out bugs in the matrix drive. That’s where she comes in; I want her to take charge of the drive improvement project.”

“She? You’re turning the drive project over to a woman?”

“Not just any woman! Regina Jones is the lead scientist on the US propulsion project.”

“Oh, shit! Good thing the Americans are antsy with the Chinese, otherwise they’d be after my head! What makes you think she would come work for us?”

“I— well— I know she’s feeling pissed right now. It’s the president, he treats her like a secretary. They’ve already had a run-in and she almost resigned then. But the work is so interesting, reverse engineering the impeller drive system. I hear they’ve figured out a few improvements too.”

“I’m not surprised. Morty was so busy developing a manufacturing system that he never had enough time to design improvements. The ones we’re using now are bigger and some of the parts are more robust, more balanced too, but other than that they’re the same as what we built in his shop.”

“They worked well enough to get us into space and build a company,” Dolph agreed. “The matrix drive can be thought of as an improvement, in a sense, but it’s more than that. It’s like what happened when electronic tubes were replaced by transistors, except we jumped past that second generation and went straight to integrated circuits. It’s at least a third or fourth generation system. We could never have piled more speed on the impeller-driven ships. Too unsafe.”

“Wait a minute, we’ve never had real safety issues! Sure, we’ve had crashes, but that wasn’t because the impellers failed! One reason for that safety record was because we were pro-active on maintenance from the beginning. We replaced the impellers and rebuilt them before they accumulated enough wear to fail.”

“Don’t be defensive, Chuck. It was a good system, and you’re right about reliability, but that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s the new field that surrounds the ships that’s important.”

“It’s like the other field, isn’t it? Electromagnetic, and strong enough to deflect charged particles!”

“It’s that, on steroids. You know that the new drive essentially grips space-time, right? That means the field has a gravitational component as well as the electromagnetic one. It won’t deflect large objects, but up to, say, basketball-sized it should handle with no problems.”

“And how many basketballs do you expect to run into out in space? It’s almost all empty space, except for atoms and ions! The occasional meteorite is so rare as to be statistically not a problem. I doubt there’s one in a million cubic meters of space.”

“You’re right, but there are a lot of those million-cubic-meter spaces! And that’s where speed comes in.”

“I guess I don’t understand.”

Dolph was beginning to bounce again. The man got excited, and he simply couldn’t contain himself when it happened. “Expand that space! Say it’s a billion cubic meters. What happens to the odds?”

“They go up, I can see that. But a ship is small, it’s only in a small part of that billion cubic meters. What happens where the ship isn’t doesn’t matter.”

“But that’s where the speed factor comes in! Think of those boxes not being spread out, but stacked on top of each other. Like bricks.”

“Where are you going with this, Dolph?”

“Say it takes you a second to travel across one of those blocks of space. Not very fast, right?”

“No. So what?”

“Now stack those blocks end to end. Increase the speed of your ship tenfold. You’re crossing ten billion meters in a second! And you’re hoping that there’s nothing very large anywhere in that ten billion meters. Call it ten million kilometers.”

“Well, okay. But you’re sure the matrix drive can push a ship that fast?”

“Unless there’s some principle we haven’t discovered yet, it will. More than that. Maybe even up to C, the speed of light, but the matrix drive probably won’t go faster than that. Maybe. Still, we haven’t discovered everything. If there’s a drive out there that doesn’t rely on space-time, doesn’t depend on gripping the matrix of fields and forces, then ships will blow past Einstein’s maximum speed like it wasn’t there. At that point you’re looking at a galactic drive. Maybe a real warp-seven.”

“Wow.” Chuck was dazzled. “But you need this Doctor Jones to work on the matrix project?”

“I do, and I’m sure she’s available. But the US president will be after your head!”

“Well, I cussed him out last time I talked to him! Maybe he’ll want to return the favor.”

“Anyway, that’s what I wanted to tell you. What did you want to talk to me about?”

“The matrix drive. How’s it coming along? How many ships so far?”

“We’ve converted some of the Giants, and the Saucers are next. There are fewer of them, so even though each one will need sixty drivers, it won’t take as long. The only holdup at this point is circuit boards and processors, and that’s because we’re manufacturing the critical parts on Mars. The units we’re buying from the Asians are arriving on time, it’s our own manufacturing plant that’s holding us up. Security has to be tight, so that means we have a very limited number of people who can work on the system, and the clean room doesn’t have space for many assembly stations. It’s a pain, but it has to be that way. That’s where Doctor Jones comes in, she knows more about work flow than I do. Her second dissertation was about that. In the meantime, we’re producing drives. I hope to have enough available to install one in each of the fighters as soon as the airframes are delivered.”

“No way! There’s no way a fighter can carry even one of the small nuclear reactors, and fuel cells just aren’t powerful enough. And matrix drives gobble up electrons!”

“Ah, but you’re talking about the old SMRs! The new models are a tenth the mass, a quarter of the volume, and they produce almost as many kilowatts as the SMRs!”

“You did that?”

“No, it was the Japanese. Cost is less too.”

“So the fighters will be faster than anything now flying, including our own ships, and they’ll all be nuclear powered? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Got it in one,” beamed Dolph. “And all our ships will be upgraded by the end of the year.”

***

The president was not happy. He swore softly and rubbed his thinning hair. One minute he was on top of the world after winning a squeaker of an election, and now this! He was uneasily aware that there might be no way out of the cleft stick he found himself in.

What would the Chinese do? Roundabout feelers through various diplomatic circles had discovered nothing. Whatever they were doing, they were keeping it close to their vest! At times like this, he really missed Mark. His new chief of staff, Curtis Pennypacker, might work into the job, given time, but so far he had been too tentative when dealing with the bureaucracy. Still, needs must. The president pushed a button on his phone. “Yes, sir?” Curtis was clearly in awe of the president.

“Contact the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House. If convenient, I need to see them this afternoon on a matter of national security. I want to see the National Security Adviser and the Secretary of Defense now, just as soon as you can track them down. Notify the Vice President and tell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to be at the afternoon meeting too.”

“Yes, Mister President. I’ll report back as soon as I’ve notified the others.”

“You do that. I’ll want you at both meetings too. Get with Central Intelligence and if they have anything new since the morning briefing, I need it now, specifically anything having to do with China. Ditto the National Security Agency, same information. Have them send a senior man from each agency here for the early meeting. Just so you know, the first is a discussion, the afternoon meeting is to hand out orders. Get with the Attorney General and find out what the requirements are for me to issue a State of Emergency declaration.”

“Yes, sir.” Curtis was almost stammering. His eyes were wide, shocked.

Maybe he can’t handle the job, thought the president. But who else is there?

***

“Chuck, do you have half an hour for me?” Mark’s voice was soft, not his usual tone.

“Sure, come on in. I can take a break; sensei left me sore again!”

“I’ll be right there.” Moments later, a knock on the door announced Mark’s arrival. “Have a seat. I’ll be right with you.” Chuck rinsed his coffee cup—it would have to do—and poured a fresh cup. “What’s going on?”

“You know I still have contacts, don’t you?”

“I suspected it, but I haven’t asked you to use them. I remember what you said when I asked where your loyalty lay.” Chuck’s voice was flat, expressionless.

“Yes. But something’s going on, and I think you need to know about it. I don’t know if you can do anything, but if I had to guess, I would say the president of the US is expecting war. He’s increased the readiness posture of the Pacific Fleet as part of a quiet declaration of a national state of emergency. The land-based missiles are likely on increased alert too, although my source couldn’t confirm that. The president is afraid of a sneak attack, a second Pearl Harbor, this time by the Chinese. I don’t have good sources there, but across the Vietnamese border there have been reports of Chinese armored units moving into camps and a larger concentration is forming north of there. My sources tell me that a corps headquarters has left its base and there may be additional units moving south, as much as a full field army. There’s also a buildup taking place farther east that can threaten Japan, assuming the Chinese have the amphibious capability. I don’t know if they do. That force might even be launched against Taiwan. I doubt there’s anything we can do, but I thought you should know.”

“Thanks. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I’ve had a ship, one of the Giant class, on station over the South China Sea. They rotate in and out, but there’s always one up there keeping an eye on things. They’ve watched the area, but so far they’ve found nothing to report. Maybe I should move that ship north, over China; there’s not much happening near the Spratly Islands right now. You really think the Chinese are going to attack?”

That was a preview of NEO: Near Earth Objects (Book 3, the New Frontiers Series). To read the rest purchase the book.

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