Chapter 1

SPACE is a vacant void with limitless boundary. It is filled with planets of various sizes comprised of a wide variety of minerals. Regardless of how people wanted to describe space, mysteries would always enshroud the true nature of what we called the universe.

With countless of stars, galaxies, nebulas, and spirals of sheer beauty surrounding themselves in a sea of unique, molten gases, the universe seemed to be on a level that was above human’s perception of reality.

When humans thought they had uncovered and explained one mysterious part of space another would materialize in silence. Waiting there like a feral predator, the enigma lurked and pounced at the human curiosity when the timing was right. Tearing off the shells of the inquisitiveness only available through human nature, the mysteries would devour the mind of logic little by little, as any plausible explanation was not accessible in any sensible way.

Yet, curiosity was what had kept the humans going forward. Curiosity was the fundamental fuel for technological advancement to explain the unknown, to unveil the incomprehensibility that hid the truth from the sentient minds.

By the early twenty-second century, a massive capsule called “The Archival Vista” was launched into deep space. Humans back then had hoped that through the capsule, any intelligent life form or any alien civilization would be able to learn more about the planet Earth. Inside the capsule, DNA samples, literatures and art, and various other records in digital storage devices were placed inside.

It was indeed an archive of human achievements, one that was destined to be discovered by alien sentient race in the future.

During the launch day, the capsule had soared into the endless sky. People on land cheered and celebrated hoping that one day their grandchildren would be able to see intelligent beings visiting them and bringing along with them the knowledge of an advanced foreign world.

But was it worth it? Was it a fool’s dream hoping that the incoming aliens would be peaceful? No one knew for sure. They had never considered how devastating it could be by introducing one alien culture to another.

Curiosity fueled desire. It was a desire to understand something that was once strange and mysterious to all. And once understanding had been achieved greed came soon after. When information was given to a person it meant that person would gain power. And it was this power that had corrupted mankind’s soul. Soon, materialistic wants appeared and no one cared about ethics anymore.

There was no need for any belief in religious and spiritual philosophies because power was everything. Such idea continued on for ages until a major disaster had changed people’s perception in morality.

Several political parties on Earth had decided that they wanted independence after they had literally controlled all the online digital information. The world that they were living in was governed by one large empire: The New-Age Party.

Leaders around the globe had formed the New-Age Party at the end of twenty-second century when civil chaos rose due to the creation and the launch of the Titan Strike Missile Station in the year 2185. It was floating in space three hundred and four miles away from the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Titan Strike Missile Station, TSMS for short, was used primary for instant defenses against massive debris from the Kuiper Belt extending from the orbit of Neptune to the outer range of the sun.

Sadly, TSMS not only could protect the Earth from possible asteroid crashes, it could also easily attack any place on the planet with two hundred thousand advanced technical nuclear warheads, each with the power of destruction fifty times greater than the conventional nukes back in the 20th Century.

In reality, the true nature of TSMS was not defense. Its actual agenda was designed for future war scenarios.

Because of the TSMS’ existence, riots continued for several more years until powerful countries had made an alliance to bring down the insurrection and to support the existence of the TSMS. After all, they all received unspoken mutual benefits by having such “defense system” in place. It was a tool to maintain their governance over the general population around the world. All those who dared to oppose the authority could suffer dire consequences unleashed upon them through TSMS’ destructive power.

When people had thought everything was under control, a few leaders of the New-Age Party had suddenly decided that they could not gain any special privilege during the decision-making process. In a way, power was distributed among ten world leaders and everyone was equal regarding the control of the world with one figure holding an authoritative image, designed to represent the New-Age Party in front of the media.

That figure, which was the head of New-Age Party, was assassinated in 2190 and the party was disbanded soon after. Battles had clashed between the two sides that were shaped when the empire was split in half. Soon, minor disputes had transformed into an all-out nuclear war.

A foolish decision by mankind.

In the morning of March 1st, 2197, more than forty nuclear missiles had slammed onto the crust of the Earth. Gigantic fireballs dazzling white at the core and horrifying red at the shell of the blasts had smothered buildings, civilians, transportation, and streets. Thunderous thermal shockwaves swept across the cities and rural vistas, incinerating and wiping out everything that they touched.

Cities with populations over billions were annihilated in an instant. The entire planet had trembled as if it was going to explode under the immense destruction.

Nuclear fallout followed shortly after and radioactive winter descended upon the surviving humans whom were left strangled in the mingling darkness. Filled with ruins and dusts, an entire human civilization was gone.

Over forty-five billion lives had perished. Gone. Disappeared into distant memories.

For the upcoming centuries humans had struggled to survive. But not everything was grim. The relationship between each person was brought closer by the tragedy. Everyone had worked hard to rebuild their lives again and everyone was trying hard to overcome arduous obstacles.

Morale was high once again as people supported each other. After decades of hardship, Earth was slowly being restored back to its original look. Nevertheless, scars could be seen on surface of the planet forcing people to remember the foolish mistake that their ancestors had once made.

After extracting new resources from the ground and refitting major factories that had subsisted the original thermal nuclear detonations, new technologies were built and old ones were discarded.

In the year of 2275, humans were far more technological enhanced than the previous eras. Nearby stars were discovered and thoroughly studied by using the Stellar Probes.

The Probes were shaped like a sphere with antennas protruding from the laminated platinum bodies, which were then covered with tiny shield generators. Knowledge on space had gradually broadened. Textbooks were edited and star charts were redrawn.

Future had never been so highly-regarded by the new generation of humans. However, resources were being drained at an alarming pace with ever-advancing technological inventions.

Nearby planets had already been excavated for every drop of natural minerals. Reports from the outer planet space stations had confirmed that not enough natural resources were left to sustain the ever-increasing population back on Earth. Yet, there

were no existing technologies good enough for a long-term space exploration of sentient civilizations and natural resources.

Due to such a dire situation, a team of extraordinary scientists had decided to invent something called a Quantum Drive. It would be a new set of engines that could propel humans deep into space and explore new sectors first hand.

Regrettably, the laws of physic were still too strong in foundation for the team to bend or to manipulate completely. One failure after another they were getting discouraged.

It was as if the end of human history had come. Time was running out.

OOOOOO

[Net Message #300450002 on 25400123@0345am – Transmission Code: 34e3cc7764d01]

Urgent Message to Dav, Chairman of The World Alliance:

Military Division Six, Ten, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, and Thirty-one have been reported missing. Threat of possible insurgent uprising is imminent. Request Military Division One through Five, Forty through Fifty to be repositioned at all sectors in the capital city.

Reports of civil unrest confirmed at Lonesdale Dome City, Arcadas Dome City, and Herocule Dome City. Civil Police efficiency is at forty percent in all three cities. Requesting drafts of manpower from the capital cities of Metro and Waysburn Dome City.

End Message.

OOOOOO

[Year 2540 - June 28th – 7:43am]

“May I see your identification card, sir?”

The security at the gate had demanded proof of ID when he saw Payton Lane walking closer to the checkpoint. Payton gave a small smile as he fished out his ID and gave it to the officer. There were quite a few people lining up behind him. All of them wore the same silvery coat as he had while they shuffled to board the underground shuttle.

“Busy day today, huh?” Payton started making small talk as he waited for the security to clear him.

Nodding, the officer slid the card through a scanner and entered a few commands in the touch screen before him. “Yeah. The first day of the week is always busy. People just can’t afford to be late for work, you know?”

“Especially when there’s only so many shuttle gates that you can go through, I’d expect nothing less,” the scientist sighed as he retrieved his ID and placed it back into his left chest pocket.

Looking straight at the young worker, the officer straightened his back and replied: “Well, the limitation is needed if you want to keep the opposition away from harming the citizens. We can’t have too many security holes in the city. Besides, I think all these people going to the central district where all the offices are located are the main reason for causing this huge line up. You included.”

“Uh-huh, putting the blame back on me now, are we?” Picking up his bag from the glossy floor that was in a grid pattern with a few spots cracking from the edges of the tiles, Payton Lane brushed his short black hair back with his free hand and chuckled. “Sure beats working in the contaminated areas outside the dome that’s for sure.”

The officer shrugged. “At least they have more freedom out there than in here. Freedom Party sure has fucked up everyone’s life.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Payton patted on the guard’s shoulder and walked through the metal detector.

“Hey! Will you hurry it up and stop chatting?” Someone in the back of the line impatiently shouted.

Looking a bit embarrassed, Payton said to the officer: “Have a good day, huh?”

“Same goes to you, sir.”

The capital city Metro was the biggest metropolis among all forty cities on Earth. After salvaging what was left of New York back in 2210, the massive air dome was erected over the skyscrapers. The war of 2197 had literally fried all the vegetation and life on the planet with the nuclear fallout. The remaining few cities that had the least amount of deadly radiation combined all the resources left available and started a new era of human history.

Metro Dome City had completed its repair in 2375 and was declared the capital city under the leadership of the World Alliance. Over two billion people had populated the city. It was not long before all the districts were filled with attractions and job opportunities. Advertisements in floaters were displayed left and right. The streets were filled with market stands. Stores were opening up on all levels of the skyscrapers. Highly advanced highways were constructed with hundreds of millions of vehicles driving through them every day.

Since the Metro Dome City was incredibly popular, the opposition of the World Alliance, the Freedom Party, had constantly tried to cause social unrest from time to time. The Freedom Party believed that technologies would ultimately end human race once again.

Although the leader of Freedom Party had denied being responsible for all the violence that were breaking out in the core areas of the metropolis, the general public knew he was the mastermind behind the bombings and hackings that had occurred over the years.

After the War in 2197, Earth had formed another political realm. Same as before, it was split into two halves.

The major conflict was, once again, caused by the existence of TSMS. Some wanted to burn it on the planet’s atmosphere while others wanted it to continue its service to humankind. The World Alliance had sponsored the future upgrades for the TSMS, which would have the Stellar Probes installed onto the station to seek out new threats. The opposition, Freedom Party, had tried every possible way to stop the World Alliance. They believed that TSMS still posed a great threat to humanity, just like any other technology out there.

It was ironic that an organization claiming to be ridding technological evil had been using it with non-stop assaults on the general public.

As a result of the ever-increasing threats of attacks from the Freedom Party, the World Alliance had decided to place multiple security checkpoints around all high-value locations, such as the subway systems and the federal buildings.

It was, in some way, a sense of confinement rather than the liberty that the political party had promised within Metro Dome City.

Payton Lane hummed a random melody under his breath as he walked through the reinforced subway corridor. His black hair was blown in a way that looked like piercing spikes towering into the sky. It was not long but it was not short either. It had also matched his childish face even if he was thirty-two years old already.

Dozens of other workers were also walking around him, as the passageway had split into other directions after every few hundred meters. The place was well lit with bright fluorescent lights mounted on both sides of the white barren concrete walls. Ventilation systems were designed to accommodate the amount of people that had crowded the hallways during rush hours. The tunnels had remained cool and fresh, as bio filters were blocking harmful particles in the air.

As Payton stood in one of the many lines on the platform waiting for the train to arrive, he could see multiple security officers dressing in dark blue patrolling nearby. The large individuals looked intimidating. Arming themselves with assault rifles that held clips with over two hundred bullets, the officers shifted their gazes left and right to spot any potential trouble.

The young scientist was used to the scene. With the Freedom Party becoming more and more restless, the World Alliance had to take action to protect their cities. Payton shook his head as he thought about the future prospect of humanity. It seemed that even after the great war of 2197, the human race had continued to fight with each other.

A beep had sounded through the massive speakers semi-concealed in the pearl-colored ceiling. A few seconds later, the underground shuttle had silently arrived from the right. Payton boarded the train and was about to start another day in the office safe from the chaos of the outside world.

OOOOOO

[Year 2540 - June 30th – 6:00am]

Payton whistled as he poured some rich black coffee into a stainless cup on the counter. Sweet aroma had risen into the cool air in a stream of feathery white. He scanned around the kitchen with his dark blue eyes searching for his personal laptop that was stashed somewhere among the many rows of steel cabinets. He walked around the circular room a few times and then decided to find his computer in the living room.

It was six in the morning. At seven he would need to leave the house.

“Lights on. Setting to four,” he said to the house’s central computer.

The light bulbs in the ceiling gradually grew brighter and brighter, symbolizing a new day that was to come.

In the living room, flat-screen television with eight surround sound speakers had dominated half of the space. Soft glowing lights up in the white ceiling had cast a fuzzy luminosity onto the furniture and the floor. The radiance was providing an atmospheric dream-like state of relaxation.

Payton scratched his head as he navigated around the black couches. Looking around for his laptop, he was not sure if he had the time to find the computer that seemed to be playing games with him by hiding. At last, he found the laptop at the bottom of the table in the center of the room. The low desk was made up of glistening crystal materials that twinkled under the light.

Adjusting his nametag on his upper left chest and smoothing out his silver laboratory outfit, Payton grinned foolishly to himself in the mirror.

“Payton, your vehicle is now waiting outside,” the house computer stated as its external sensors had detected heat signatures coming out of the car’s engine. “You also have a call waiting for you. It’s from Liam Ope, the chairman of Space Committee. Do you want me to accept the call?”

“Send it through the living room channel,” Payton said as he sat on the couch.

The room went dark and an image of a man in his forties with a bald head had materialized within hundreds of flashing lasers from the projector up in the ceiling. He was wearing a black suit with a light blue tie. His light-gray eyes gazed at Payton. Tall buildings could be seen through the massive window behind him, as he folded his hands together on the verdant colored crystal table.

“Payton! How are you doing lately? Haven’t seen you in a while.” Liam smiled slightly as he greeted his old friend.

“Not too bad, Liam. I was just about heading out to work. So?”

“So?”

“Well, you called me, didn’t you?” Payton chuckled as he sipped his coffee.

Liam faked a scowl as he replied: “Your old pal’s calling you after months of zero communication and that’s the only thing you can say?”

“After several months of silence, as you’ve just mentioned, in your own words, you’ve suddenly remembered that I existed and called?”

“Whoa, hey! I was busy with work, as usual.”

The young scientist sighed as he placed the cup back onto the table and folded his hands before his knees while leaning forward. “What’s going on, Liam? You didn’t call me after all these months of silence and you certainly didn’t call me today just for a friendly chit-chat.”

“Seems that I can’t hide anything from you,” Liam Ope’s expression had sobered considerably. “Listen, buddy, the funding to the Descent Project has been frozen. The Freedom Party has somehow convinced our investors that the Project is…well, for a better lack of word, reckless. I’ve spoken to the head of the Union Company, where the largest sum of money comes from and unfortunately the guy agreed with FP and they couldn’t afford to take any risks.”

Payton felt his throat tightened up. Tilting his head a little he leaned forward. “What do you mean ‘they cannot afford to take any risks’? I thought we’ve already explained to them that this new development will be successfully completed and it will open up a whole new way to travel into space? Hell, we’ve even shown everybody the sketches! And the plans for the ship that we are going to be building in a few months!”

“I know! I’m upset as well, but right now the funding has stopped, completely! I can’t even get a big enough corporation to support what we have right now. I’m sorry but there is no more money for us to continue the R&D for the Descent Project.”

“Jesus, that’s pure bullshit!” Payton’s face turned red. Standing up, he stared at his colleague. “We’ve already gotten the approval from the High Court and billions of people are supporting this new project as well! Do these damn businessmen know how much money they would lose if they break the contract now?”

Payton was infuriated. They were so close to building the ship. Now they were brought to a stop by some lousy funding problem.

Liam rubbed his eyes as he shook his head. “Payton, I gotta be honest with you here. There are over seventy percent of global scientists and astronomers that think what you are trying to achieve is impossible. You are talking about going through space sectors in a way that can cut down the amount of time needed to travel with convention means by at least 70%.

“Do you know what that means if you are correct? War. War between two equally powerful political sides on this planet because people will bring religions upon us. That’s what FP is about! Religion! They will say something like: ‘God forbids humans to do something that is not part of nature’, or, ‘God will punish all of us if this project continues on’. We cannot have a war right now. Earth is starting to run out of resources and if we have nukes flying all over above our heads once again the human race will cease to exist, for good. We don’t need a repeat of past history.”

“You were in full support of this project when we had first drafted the plans. Now you are worried about starting a war based on some religious beliefs?” Payton’s look darkened. “Seems like you’re playing me for a fool.”

Liam sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “I wasn’t thinking properly at the time. Six years ago, when you told me about the Descent Project I was so caught up in the excitement that I didn’t consider the consequences.”

“What consequences? The one where people will start calling us blasphemy for creating a technology that can ensure the survival of our race? Or the one that billions of people will starve and die if we didn’t proceed with the project? Liam. Our resources are running out. Our knowledge of this world and this solar system has hit its peak. If we don’t do something about this problem, we won’t even have a civilization to start a war.”

“You are missing the point, Payton. We are trying to prevent a war from starting.”  

“We can't even venture outside the dome cities without protective gears. Do we really have that much liberty to worry about a war?”

Liam shook his head. “No one sees the importance of our project. They just think we are playing God by exploring space outside of our solar system. If history repeats itself then we would be in a serious trouble.”

“I think the present is more important than the future,” Payton countered.

“That may be. But this reasoning doesn't justify the growing threat of a global war. You and I both know that the Freedom Party is getting more influential, especially when everyone’s fighting for a chance of survival. The World Alliance will be swallowed up by them eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow the WA was disbanded.”

Sinking down onto the couch, Payton laid his head backward onto the soft leather cushion as he closed his eyes. The day was starting so well with the sunlight filtering through the reinforced glass panels around the house and birds were singing outside on the wooden porch. All of these were gone the moment that such dreadful news had appeared.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Payton, listen to me, I hate to do this but even WA can't do anything about this anymore. The shareholders have left. We don't have people supporting the Descent Project. I'll be frank to you, my friend. Even I have some doubts when you came to me six years ago and told me that you could devise a way to allow humans to explore space faster and more efficient than before, without ever having the need to use the Stellar Probes. You are talking about seeing the outer edges of galaxies with our own naked eyes. It is just a dream, Payton. A good dream but one way or another you will have to wake up and face the reality.”

“Wait a minute, earlier you just said you were excited about my idea when you had first heard about it six years ago, and now you’re saying you had ‘doubts’?!”

“Must you split hairs?” Liam scowled unhappily. “My god, I had every reason to doubt you in the beginning when you first brought the idea to my table. Then I was…convinced that your theory had its merit.”

The young scientist stood up and laughed dryly. “So now you’re back-peddling on your support toward my theory. I guess knowing when to join the right side at the right moment is the perfect way to ensure one’s survival.”

“For God’s sake, Payton, stop being so cynical. This isn't just about space exploration or resource hunting. This isn't just about personal achievements or glory and fame. This is about preventing a global threat to ensure our survival. We can't fight the majority. We can't win by ourselves. With our society degrading rapidly people tend to hold onto their faith. They want to believe that someone will be able to guide them through today's hardship. They want some organization to tell them what to do to ensure that their lives can continue on. The Freedom Party is doing just that.

“I hate to admit it but they are doing what's good for the people. The World Alliance has become more of a corporate monopoly in recent times that ignores the wishes of the people. They support the TSMS because they knew at the time that the people would give their vote to WA. That was before resources were running out. It was all for political reasons.

“Now is different. As you have said, we are at the peak in terms of discovery and knowledge. We are at the peak of our resource usage. People are getting restless and troubled as they realize that soon the planet won't be able to support all twenty billion people. This is why we need to calm things down. We need to figure out a way to solve the problems without creating more. We can always find new resources. It is only a matter of time.”

Payton scoffed as he laid an arm around the couch. “Time that we don't have. How much time has the environmental scientists predicted? Fifty years? You expect a peaceful solution to somehow, magically, emerge from out of nowhere while keeping everyone happy? Liam. I thought you were smarter than that. Wishful thinking isn't going to get us anywhere. The Descent Project is our only salvation. The ship that can travel through wormhole and onto the other side of the galaxy. The ship can be considered as a haven from the possible extinction of humanity. Why do people want to put their lives on some religious hope that things will be better, that someone can make miracles out of thin air?”

The scientist stood up and paced around the room. Several times, he crossed the path of the beams and distorted the communication hologram image.

Wheeling around, Payton said defiantly: “Liam, we know that time travel is ultimately impracticable. It's high school knowledge. That's why we have to make a few changes. The theory of a wormhole is that 'any mass curves space-time'. To make it simpler, if we can utilize the wormhole that was detected ten years ago and somehow manipulate it in a way that can allow us to travel in the hyperspace from point A, then we can come out from point B into a different area of space that would have taken us centuries to get to with normal space flight! Even with laser powered Light Engines it'll take us years before we can get there.

“It's like a Twin Paradox, Liam. Time will slow down when we are close to light speed. In a sense, the wormhole can serve as the light speed engine. If this project is true then we can travel anywhere in space without aging as fast as the people on Earth and without ever having to spend so much time traveling to our destinations. The result would be a successful mission in either finding a sentient race or fresh resources for us to haul back to Earth.”

“There's a critical point that you have ignored, Payton. Time slows down for your team but the rest of us here on Earth continue to age normally. By the time you get back we'd probably be gone already. If that's the case than what is the point of bringing back resources? In addition, are you willing to sacrifice your own life here on Earth for this ambitious dream of yours, Payton?” Liam eyed his friend sternly. “What about having a family? What about your parents? What about your friends? By the time you come back to Earth centuries would have passed. What would have happened to the planet, no one would know. You might even come back to see the world in dust or worst yet, you might come back not to find a planet but a red giant engulfing the Earth.”

Payton heaved out a deep breath. “For science and exploration, for the sake of mankind, I am willing to make that sacrifice. I want to see the stars, real stars. The ones that are ancient to us, Liam! I want to experience what no man can experience!”

“That’s your desire, Payton, not for the better good of the mankind!”

“We will make it back in time to help everyone on Earth. If we can find an alien race with advanced technologies, it may be possible to return back to Earth even faster than using my wormhole method.” Payton said quietly.

“This is ridiculous. Do you even listen to the words that you are saying?” Liam Ope groaned. It seemed that there was no hope in talking some sense into Payton’s head.

“You think I’m being naïve.”

“No, I think you’re just being unrealistic and unwilling to face the facts.”

“Says the person that suddenly decides to follow the devil’s footsteps.”

“Hey, I never said I supported the Freedom Party,” Liam glared unhappily through the holographic image. “Don’t put words into my mouth.”

“It certainly seems like that with the way how you’ve literally shot me down through every possible angle during this conversation.” Payton grumbled.

“That was not my intention, kid. Don’t get offended so easily. Regardless of your belief, Payton, I'm just informing you that the flow of cash is gone. Unless you can find another way to support your ambition or dream or whatever you want to call it, the Descent Project will be suspended until further notices. I'm sorry. You might want to talk to your team about this.” Just before the chairman of the Space Committee logged off, he gave his friend a long and sad look. “It's amazing.”

Payton looked up and asked: “What's amazing?”

“You said we shouldn't be putting our lives on hope. And yet here you are hoping that you can find a way out there in deep space to save our planet. Don't you think it's ironic?” With that, Liam ended the call. The projector went offline and the room brightened once again.

Payton did not speak a word as he contemplated Liam Ope's words. The clock beeped several times signaling that it was seven o'clock.

“Enable the security for the house,” he told the house A.I.

Payton got into the car and slammed the door shut. With the seatbelt on he pressed a few buttons and changed a few settings. Silently the car started to move. It was like a black snake, as it slithered onto freeways that were suspended at a high altitude within the dome. It weaved in and out of the traffic swiftly and elegantly.

Light-orange sunlight from outside the city shields was reflecting off the shiny bodies of the cars through the hazy sky. Noises roared as rush hours began. People and cars merged as one. It was a great contrast in differences between life in the dome worlds and life outside in the dark-brown barren lands, an aftermath of the devastating nuclear war centuries ago.

An unspeakable dread that was slowly sinking its fangs into the human race’s existence had gradually loomed closer and closer. No one, not even Payton, had expected that something awful was about to happen.

OOOOOO

Located fifteen miles away from Payton's house within the defensive dome of Metro City, a large area filled with advanced edifices rose into view. It was the resting ground of Arc Research Center or ARC for short, where all the enhanced technologies gathered to devise new machineries.

ARC supported all the top military personals and scientists with houses and shops for long-period stay. Twenty thousand people were constantly working in the complex day and night. Squadrons of armed soldiers were responsible for securing the site just in case people from the opposition party had decided to sneak top-secret documents out into the public in order to ruin World Alliance's reputation. After an urgent message was sent to the leader of the World Alliance several months ago, the guards at ARC had tripled in amount.

Six levels below the main building that was called “Aurora Sphere”, a series of labs were created for the most intelligent people on Earth to produce state-of-the-art tools for space and military missions. It was also the place where the Light Engine was first created with boosting speed seventy-five times faster than the ordinary shuttle engine.

Individuals who had worked in the laboratories were not allowed to walk outside the region of ARC unless they had special permissions and rankings. Their jobs were so important and secretive that anyone who was caught violating the rules would be executed instantly and their records wiped clean.

Payton did not have to follow the rules since he was the leader of the Descent Project with the approval of the chairman Dav in the World Alliance. His team was not so fortunate. They were like rats being locked up and could not even phone their own families or view the hazy, yellowish sky from the surface of the Earth. Their families were informed that their loved ones had been killed in an accident. It was certainly cruel but effective. No one would imagine that the dead was still alive and well in ARC. The money made by the scientists was forwarded into their families’ accounts under the title of “Death Insurance”.

There were recreational centers, however, to provide some kind of entertainment to keep the employees happy and satisfied. Basketball courts, weight rooms, and even pubs were built so that all personages could have a night of fun every Saturday and Sunday evenings. Gardens were planted as well for females who wished to work on something more artistic and serene. Virtual rooms were also available for those who wanted to experience the feeling of walking on Mars or the moon. Over all, ARC had everything and for the most part, no one was complaining.

Regular civilians who were not working in there had always viewed the facility from the outside as a place where satellite parts were assembled.

It was the perfect cover for the unsuspected.

OOOOOO

“The World Alliance will degrade our society to a level where all we can do is beg like a bunch of dogs! WA is the source of evil. It is Freedom Party's duty to assure their beloved and treasured innocent people that the TSMS will disappear forever!”

A middle-age man in luxurious blue suit faced the media and the audience. He was shouting into the microphone. He was nearly bold with a few lingering strands of white hair lying lazily on top of the shiny, oily head. His face was red from the excitement in his speech, as veins popped out of his wrinkly hands like several ugly-looking snakes.

“WA had never wanted to do good for our citizens. In fact, with the new secret project that they are now working on, the human race will perish with all these 'beneficial' technologies! WA will drain the last drop of precious resources on Earth! WA is our enemy! It is our responsibility to make sure that World Alliance is obliterated forever!”

Payton sighed as he swiped the digital card through the ID scanner. The computer whirred a little and a beep sounded as the dark gray blast door slid open silently. Walking upon the semi-transparent floor with velvety light shining from the bottom, he went through the security checkpoint that was set up near an elevator. The light in the floor had cast a sparkling sensation into the massive hallway that was layered with unique geometric designs.

The guard with black armor vest and weapons nodded when he saw Payton cleared the x-ray scanner. It was still rather early and not too many people were in the enormous Aurora Sphere. The employees were still sleeping in their quarters somewhere on the upper levels.

“How's it going?” The security asked with a smile as he looked over the scientist's ID card.

“You know, the same, as usual. Getting up early is such an arduous task for me. How's your wife and kids, Shawn?” Payton grinned. He secured his laptop beneath his left arm while he fished out the paperwork and handed to the guard.

“The same, as usual. John, that brat, keeps on playing with my stun gun and Steph loves to hack computers despite my warnings. Tracy is opening a new shop down at sector four; I heard it's a fashion shop of some kind. My family life is too busy and crazy. At times like this I wish that I could be you instead of me. Then again, I don't wanna get locked up in this place like the rest of your team members. Being a security guard has its benefits!”

Payton laughed as he shook his head. He was amused at how his friend had grumbled about his personal life. Payton got back the documents and waved a goodbye as he left for the elevator.

“It is everyone’s best interest to see our society, our civilization, to continue on without all the present day's problems. Freedom Party will be the only organization on Earth to ensure that everyone is equal, that everyone is safe from technological hazards! Though our lands have been tainted with radiations, garbage, and pollution, FP has a way to reverse all that! We have the power to change brownish rivers into crisp, fresh, and clean streams. We have the power, the strength, to make trees grow once more in clean, rich, and dark soils. I, as the leader of FP, guarantee that World Alliance cannot do what we do. They will not do what we will do!”

The man in the widescreen monitor, which was fixed on the wall of the meeting room down at level six, blared on and on about the positive prospects of his own faction. People before the stage, where the cameras were, all cheered on as they waved the flags of Freedom Party.

The old man pointed at his followers and shouted into the mic: “You all have made the right choices following in our footsteps, God's footsteps. It is the will of our God, it is the will of our free spirits, to see human race crossing that big fracture on the road and into the future. We make the promises and we will keep them! We will not fail our wonderful citizens' hopes and dreams. WA will become a painful memory of the past and soon, we will strive without any restrictions or propaganda from them!”

Payton grimaced as he stepped out of the lift. Crews who knew him said a greeting and left hurriedly with a load of reports in their hands. Soft, white light had brought brightness into the shadowy areas, as tables and counters with different equipment could be seen behind rows after rows of translucent glass panels.

One man with nicely tanned skin came up to him; disgust was shown clearly on his face. He was at the same height as Payton yet more bulky with trained muscles bulging outward from his body. He fixed his pallid lab coat as he straightened his back.

“Jake! Buddy! How are things going down here?” Payton slapped his hand on the man's back happily.

Tilting his head slightly toward the conference room, Jake Roman muttered: “It was good until that bastard started to bad mouth our organization in his speech. How did he become so wild and out of control? That old man appeared in front of the Reporter Hover Cams and started to bark like a bitch. Now they got this group of 'supporters' listening to his bullshit.”

“Yeah, I heard his annoying voice way before I got down to the fifth level,” the leader of Descent Project sighed as he shook his head. “I think I already know why all of a sudden Nelson Fekonson dares to verbal assault WA and spread rumors and stuff around. How low can this guy get?”

Jake leaned against one of the windows and heaved a deep breath. “What's going on, Payton?”

“What do you mean?” Payton looked up reluctantly.

Waving his hands in circles in front of Payton, Jake said: “Something's troubling you. I can see that. You just have this look of…distraction.”

Realizing that he could not keep a secret from his colleague, Payton said: “We are getting shut down. Probably within the week the entire team will have to be disassembled. FP has somehow convinced our sponsors that this project is…bogus, like…useless piece of crap or something like that…actually, you know what? Right now, I’m so pissed that I can’t even properly describe what I’m trying to say.”

“So, basically, we just got fucked?”

“Yup! Pretty much. Now everyone has fled like a bunch of chickens. We are crushed like a road kill. If I don't find a new sponsor to fund this project of ours, we're finished.” He took a brief moment of silence. “And Liam Ope just sold us out.”

“Liam? The chairman of the Space Committee? Why?”

“Apparently he thinks Fekonson is right. He wants to avoid direct confrontation with Fekonson to prevent an all-out war. He wants us to stop and leave the matter be, and yadda yadda....”

“That double-crossing son of a bitch,” Jake grumbled as he glanced around the hallways. Although vile words came out of his mouth, Jake did not seem all too concerned. Payton side-glanced his friend quietly.

People dressed in white lab coats and silver suits appeared around the area. A cart was wheeled around the corner and gone out of the sight at the next turn. People were wearing protective gears within the labs while they mixed some unknown chemicals into crystal tubes. A few engineers were arguing about the possible causes for the failure of their newest tests.

The floor was kept spot clean; hazy green with uneven black dots embedded within the cement. It was shining with a coat of wax on top allowing squeaking noises to materialize in the air as people were running, walking, turning, and jogging toward their destinations. There was not a moment of peace.

“Just to clarify,” Jake gestured around them, “all of this…will be gone? Just like that?”

“Yes, all of this, will be gone. Poof. Out of existence. End of story.”

“Buddy, I'm just one of the workers here responsible for the maintenance of the ventilation systems at this level and of course, you know that I’m also part of the team waiting to board the new ship that, hopefully, will be completed. I don't have the brain needed to get us out of this mess. You do. Can't you think of something to screw FP's plans…somehow?”

“Somehow?” Payton chuckled with despair. “Everyone’s looking at me like I have the answers to everything. I may be the leader for the Descent Project, but I ain’t the guy that is smart enough to solve all the problems in the world.”

“Well, if you can’t solve this problem, then I guess no one can.” Jake gritted his teeth. “God, I wish I can just choke Fekonson’s flimsy throat right now with my bare hands. Hell, if we ain’t getting any sponsors, we should just go out with a bang, like stealing all those fuckers' money and live a good life, you know? It’s not like we’d be able to live long enough to see the end of the world anyway.”

Payton raised one eyebrow as he glanced at his buddy with blue eyes. Gears were turning in his head, formulating a whole new scenario to counteract the current situation. Lifting one finger, he smiled slowly. “You know…you might be onto something here.”

Baffled, Jake tilted his head in puzzlement. “What? You mean choking Fekonson to death?”

Shaking his head, Payton slapped his friend's back twice as gratitude for the inspiration and started to run toward his office.

“Wait, what’s going on? Where are you going?”

Not replying back, Payton continued to work out the kinks of the plan that was in his mind. It was a daring, almost suicidal plan. However, if it worked then even the Freedom Party could not do anything to stop him or his team from continuing the Descent Project. Inside Payton's head, the scheme had carried on with the expansion from the original idea, forming into a larger plan and flowing into the future, a future that had a light at the end of the tunnel. 

After scanning the fingerprint, the door to his office slid open with a chime. With virtual city as the background theme behind the shutters, spherical light bulbs in the ceiling gradually brightened. The floor was covered with silky carpet light green in shade. Several potted plants were placed around the corners. A glassy table with electronic touch pads embedded onto the surface stood near the center of the small room.

Payton placed his laptop on the side and took a seat on the glossy, black leather chair. He closed his eyes for a few minutes, putting together the final details to his grand plan to save their development.

“Here we go.”

Payton opened up his personal computer and connected to the Global Server Database. It was a database opened only to the people with highest security clearance. Payton entered a few inputs onto the touch pad on the side and a holographic image of a woman in her late twenties appeared.

“Jen, I need your help.”

The lady with a long lock of curly, tanned-colored hair smiled. “Payton! It’s so good to hear from you again!” Then her smile instantly disappeared, replaced with an expression of disgust. “What the hell do you want?”

The scientist groaned and said: “Don’t tell me that you’re still angry about our date two nights ago? I already told you that something came up at the office!”

“Really? After you and I had planned that dinner for weeks, you ended up leaving me in a super awkward position, alone, in the restaurant, with other couples around me, staring at me!” Her voice had gotten louder with every bitter word uttered.

“Listen, I’m sorry that I was being an ass, a prick, an insensitive moron that didn’t pamper you every minute, okay?”

“Sarcasm isn’t going to make this any better, Payton.”

“I’ll make it up to you, baby, I promise. Please, I don’t have much time, I need your Xeon Class security clearance for the Global Server Database. You work for the Central Bank as one of the branch managers, you should have the access.”

She heaved out a heavy sigh. “Why do you even need my clearance? You do know that I can’t just randomly give it out to anyone, I’ll get fired for this.”

Payton leaned forward and lowered his voice lest there was an eavesdropper outside the office. “Remember that ship that I was talking about? Well, that R&D just got shut down. I don’t have any sponsor providing funding anymore.”

“And you want my clearance so that you can look at what exactly?” Jen narrowed her eyes and stared intensely at her boyfriend over the holographic display. “I know you, Payton, you’re a slimy, clever fox that always has crazy ideas in your head.”

“Yeah, you got that right. Okay, look, I’ll be honest with you. I need to take a look at all the bank accounts that Nelson Fekonson owns.”

“That disgusting old man’s banking information? What good will knowing his bank accounts do for you?”

“That info has some…things that I need. Come on, giving me the information won’t get you fired, okay? Trust me on this. I’m just taking a quick look!”

The woman wasn’t convinced. Then she widened her eyes and said: “Oh…you wicked devil…you’re going to hack his bank accounts, aren’t you?”

“What made you come to that conclusion?”

“Please, don’t take me for a fool, Payton. You just said that your sponsors pulled out and you needed money. And now you require my clearance to look at Fekonson’s banking information. Anyone can see from a mile away at what you’re planning to do. No, I will not give you my clearance for this. You are not going to make me your partner in crime!”

Payton almost pulled his hair out in frustration as he was trying hard to convince his girlfriend. Suddenly, a thought had popped into his head. “Okay, how about this then. If you do me this huge favor, I’ll use my skills as a hacker to wipe out your previous records from the Federal Investigation Database. You know my skills with computers, you know I’m good for it.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything-”

“Jen…I know exactly what you did when you were in your late teens, don’t bullshit me now. You’d think that I wouldn’t do a quick background check of my girlfriend whom I’ll be spending the rest of my life with? You may have fooled the preliminary background check done by the Central Bank with a few helpful ‘friends’ of yours from the inside, but I know the fraud cases that you did and were charged ten years ago.”

Jen’s look was nothing short of surprise. She did do some activities that were “borderline” illegal but it was for a good reason. Her mom was dying at the hospital and at the time her family didn’t have any savings left to provide proper treatments. She was forced to join a group of hackers and falsify documents for powerful public figures.

“I…I didn’t….”

Payton held up a hand to stop the argument. “I’m not saying you’re a bad person, Jen. That’s the reason why I decided to continue this relationship with you. I know you had your reasons. That’s why I’m also trying to help you as well, by providing you this incentive so that you can also help me in return. Please. Will you help me this one time?”

A long silence had appeared in the room as Jen contemplated the choices. Finally, she answered: “Fine. I’ll give you the clearance but on one condition: You will never tell anyone what happened today, understand? This conversion never happened.”

Payton Lane grinned like a child. “You got it, boss! Send me the clearance code as soon as possible. I owe you one, Jen.”

“You owe me big time, regardless of what you’ll do for my previous…record.”

“Love you, honey! I’ll make it up to you with a dinner date later on.”

“Go to hell.”

The call ended and Payton leaned back into his chair with a sigh. Now that part was over, the next step would be a lot more complicated. The screen in front of him suddenly displayed a message with an encrypted algorithm. Payton decoded it and the Xeon Class security clearance code was received.

Payton chuckled lightly and proceeded to access the Global Server Database. A box appeared asking for PIN numbers. Payton entered the password provided by Jen, the image changed, and an entire row of international banking accounts materialized slowly. He searched the accounts that he wanted and went into one of them. After examine the owner's information and balance, he opened up a small program that linked to the bank server. The code scrolled up rapidly, seeking the right combinations of letter and numbers in order to create a small portal into the firewalls.

Payton made a cup of coffee from the machine fixed into the wall on his left as he waited. He grabbed the cup silently and slowly sipped at the rich, silky liquid.

The coding series ended and a vacant page appeared with an ever-shifting door in multi-colors. They symbolized the main gateway of the super computer's hacking protection program.

To normal people, all they could see was the metallic image of a door before them with the background twisting and morphing like a never-ending loop of spatial vortex. But to Payton with the correct coding sequences and programs, he could make those smaller portals to turn up on his screen. These insignificant ports were the essential keys to his success. They were like back doors for hackers.

Within seconds, dozens of ports started to flash around the door in the center. The scientist grinned to himself as he typed away. Entering the first tiny gateway from the top left, Payton navigated through the maze-like corridors, which represented the linked routes to the clients’ accounts in one of the many banks in the world. By furiously hacking away at all the counter-measures, Payton had successfully avoided hitting the flaring walls that had surrounded him. These walls were the trigger alarms that could instantly lock up his computer and send a tracking bug to his own ISP to get his current location.

Payton would not make the same mistake twice.

He was proud of his hacking skill. It was years ago when he had caused an uproar in the online community by getting into the government servers. In the world of Internet, the only way to get famous was to get recognition and to do so was to hack. But it was not a normal hack. A pro would make several different ways to throw the Net Police off their trails. A pro would also set booby-traps just so that it would be precarious and difficult to actually try to track the mastermind that was behind all of the havoc and the destruction in the virtual world.

By the age of sixteen with his intelligence and techniques, Payton was able to rename all the critical files in the world's most secure online servers at the time. He had locked up at least two hundred thousand computers and wiped out sixty thousand hard drives. He was going to attack the main Global Server Super Computer but got disconnected before he had the chance, as he had accidentally made one false move.

Payton was caught, tried, and thrown into jail for six years. After he was released, he learned a harsh lesson: People could still be famous even without doing harmful things to others.

Payton got into college when he was twenty-two and got a degree in nuclear physics. Joining the military at the age of twenty-five, he was the only one who could actually think of ways to perfect the nuclear weapons. During that time, he just wanted to make those devastating weapons to protect humans, not to annihilate them. Yet in the end that was not the case. At the age of twenty-eight, he got into the ARC hoping to use his knowledge and skill to create something that no one had ever done before. Finally, only in recent years, he had discovered a wormhole and started devising a plan to explore it. He ended up with the idea of a ship. A ship that could transport humans into the far reaches of the universe.

A beeping sound blasted out from the speakers on his computer when Payton noticed that the codes were completely different than what he had imagined before. They were adapting to the way that he hacked almost like having a mind of their own. Panicking, he doubled his effort and wrote in additional mathematical formulae to block off the firewall programs' attacking algorithms. His eyes widened when he had noticed that the trail behind him was being eaten up rapidly. There was no backing out now only a dash to the finish line. If the anti-hacking units destroyed the route that he was connected to, he would be caught.

The route continued to disappear quickly. Slapping his hands on the table, Payton gritted his teeth. It was a Self-Termination Program installed behind the firewalls. Killing off all accessible roads first before the hacker could get through them would be the best option lest all the essential data were stolen.

Payton's fingers flew above the keyboard. Clicking and tapping noises were filling the room as sweat broke out of Payton’s forehead and dripped down the sides of his face. He could see the end of the port now. With a few seconds left he threw in all the codes needed and hit the enter key just as the screen went black.

Payton's heart raced as he held his breath. Had he done it? Did he win? Did he escape the firewall's final counter attack? The atmosphere was utterly still as his computer fan whirred in the background. After a minute, the machine clicked and a line of jade-colored words appeared: Welcome to Account 8834298-D23-100. Mr. Fekonson, please choose your options below.

Slapping his hands together Payton whooped and laughed hysterically. He got in. With the balance value rising before his eyes, his heart was beating like a bursting, raging fire. Six billion credits were there. Changing the rate to the old days it would be six trillion dollars, enough to build three advanced space stations. And the figures were flashing in front of him.

Payton sighed a relief and leaned back into his chair. With that much money, the Descent Project would not be and could not be halted no matter what. Besides, it was Fekonson's dirty money. Most of them came from illegal tax collections, briberies and stuff like that. It would not bother Payton at all if the old man had declared bankruptcy after a month or two.

Payton chuckled as he started to transfer all the money into a hidden account that he had made with several layers of protection added to prevent infiltrators from getting in and tracing backward to capture him.

Justice was served. The taste of victory was sweet.

End Chapter 1