Kayden held the tumbler up to the window and examined the sunlight as it sparkled on the gold leaf floating in the spirit. He clinked his glass with Christophe, grinned at him and downed the liquid. His body was tense with anticipation, but the strong liquor was smooth and calming. He stood at the window of their luxury apartment and looked sixty metres down, to the launch pad on the artificial island below. To the north, lay the blue expanse of the Bismarck Sea. He extended his arm around Christophe’s shoulders and braced himself instinctively for their impending ascension. The countdown finished and they started to rise. There was no roar of engines, no violent upthrust, just a smooth transition as the climber rose and gathered speed up the umbilical cable. He smiled again at Christophe and marvelled at the view. They walked next to the floor to ceiling windows and watched the world fall beneath their feet.
This was not the first time Kayden had ascended but he felt the same anticipation at the prospect of leaving Earth’s atmosphere aboard this miracle of engineering. The climber car gained altitude and velocity. It felt bewilderingly fast as it gathered speed up the umbilical. They settled into comfortable chairs with a north-facing view, ordered some drinks from Johnson, the butler who shadowed them everywhere, and spent a couple of captivating hours at the window. Kayden squinted, focusing on a distant hazy point on the Earth’s horizon. He became transfixed by the spectacular sunset and supine shadowy terminator creeping across the surface. Eventually, he looked up into the darkening heavens above and sighed, dreaming of the untapped tourist opportunities beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
“Earth looks more peaceful the higher we get,” said Christophe. “Above all the pollution and the people. Space travel will be the ultimate holiday. And escaping Earth like this, wrapped around a cable in a magnetic cylinder, no rockets, no explosions, no obscene amount of fuel getting burned. Our clients will love it.”
“It’s an impressive feat of engineering; you have to admire Lago’s ambition,” said Kayden as he loosened his tie a little. They both wore identical suits, dark grey with pink trim. The executive uniform for Solar Span Shuttles Inc. Kayden needed an extra-large suit; he undid a couple of buttons and stretched his frame in the chair.
“How many clients can the climber accommodate?” Christophe asked as he refilled their drinks. “I wasn’t paying attention in the briefing; it was far too boring.”
“You only woke up when we started discussing the potential profits,” said Kayden with a sardonic smile. “There’s room for one hundred passengers down there in Impartial class at the bottom of the climber. It’s mostly for technicians and people working on the hub. Most of them take sleeping pills and pass out for two days. It’s not the most comfortable way to travel.”
“Our clients will want something a little more luxurious for the price they are paying.”
Reserved Class is slightly better. It holds sixty people with sleeping modules and some room to stretch out. The third level up, Prominence Class, costs a small fortune and holds thirty people who have their own individual modules with a king size bed, food fabricator, drinks maker and better views.”
“And here we are in the Opulence rooms, courtesy of Lago Santos. He must be keen on doing business with us if he is paying for this luxury,” said Christophe.
“I don’t think the cost of our trip would bother him at all. He charges us a fortune to park our shuttles at his hub. But let’s enjoy ourselves before the business begins. “Kayden took Christophe’s drink from his hand and kissed him hard on the lips. They had been working together for years and the flirting had finally turned into something more meaningful. A happy combination of business and pleasure. “It’s almost time to go and shoot some space junk.”
They strolled around their apartment; Johnson followed at a discreet distance. Windows ran the entire way around, affording views of the Earth and up into space. Christophe stood close to the window and drew a heart shape into the condensation from his breath. Kayden looked through the melting heart and up into space. A sparkling silver ring was appearing out of the darkness, stretching over their heads and around the blue planet below. “Come on, we’re getting close.”
Kayden settled into the combat chair and stretched the safety belt over his belly. Christophe stood next to the chair while the ever-present Johnson put the drinks tray aside and lowered the targeting scope and trigger mechanism around Kayden’s frame. He tested the pedals at his feet, right foot compress to move the chair right, and same with the left. The chair was connected to the harpoon launcher mounted on the outside of the climber; Kayden could see the barrel of the launcher above him responding to his movements. The targeting scope was a curved screen in front of his face identifying and highlighting the junk and the trigger mechanism had a throttle which moved the launcher up and down.
“Coming into range sir,” said Johnson.
Kayden knew all about this exclusive sport. There were megatons of junk flying around Earth in a low orbit, about two thousand kilometres above the surface depending on the weight of each piece. He grinned at Christophe, he felt like he was in a movie shooting the bad guys.
“You seem excited,” said Christophe.
“Oh yeah, there’s a long waiting list for this. Harpooners book these opulence class apartments purely for the sport. Only half an hour of action through the ring on the way up, and again on the way down. And now it’s my turn.”
“So much pollution up here, it’s disgusting,” said Christophe. “Not the greatest advertisement for our planet with a giant ring of rubbish around it. Johnson, what is all this crap?”
“Debris has been accumulating since the early days of space exploration. There’s all kinds of rubbish up here. Old rocket stages, decommissioned satellites, construction debris. The BPI hub unfortunately contributed to the ring during its construction. Damaged drones, equipment and chunks of asteroid got dragged into orbit. Random collisions create more shrapnel that flies around at roughly thirty thousand kilometres per hour. Regrettable, but beautiful. And now it provides us with some sport.”
“I’ll try to clean some up,” said Kayden. “Look, here it comes.”
Above them the ring was coming into view, metallic shards glinted in the sunlight as they tumbled towards them. Kayden concentrated on the targeting scope, it highlighted an incoming piece, giving its size, speed, and trajectory. The scope had tracked it from over a thousand kilometres out, now it was approaching rapidly. A window popped up in the corner of the scope giving a magnified view of the mangled piece of metal. Kayden pressed his left foot; the harpoon mounted on tracks outside the climber responded to his instructions as he gripped the trigger mechanism. He calmly waited for the scope to light up with a locked-on interception point. In the last few seconds, the piece of metal screamed towards him as he pulled the trigger.
“Good shooting sir,” said Johnson.
Kayden barely registered the harpoon capture the junk as it flashed past. The pneumatic launcher fired four light motorised tractors that zoomed off towards the approaching target. The tractors expanded out to their three-square metre maximum, the mesh net unfolded, and luckily his aim was good, the space junk hurtled into the net and flashed past them.
“Nice work,” said Christophe as he sipped a beer. “But what happens if you miss?”
“We have auto-lasers and drones that will destroy the junk if it gets too close,” said Johnson.
The mess of net and tumbling junk disappeared behind the climber. Kayden’s targeting screen showed the view behind as the tractor motors wound the net around the doomed piece of metal and drove it down into the Earth’s atmosphere. It started to glow red, sparks appeared before it exploded in a brief streaky flash one hundred kilometres above Australia.
Kayden beckoned Johnson closer. He took a cold beer, a caviar blini, and turned back to watch as another, larger piece of junk was harpooned from a gun turret below him. Enjoying himself, he downed the beer, reached for another, and ate several more blini. “Might as well make the most of our host’s generosity.”
“Indeed sir,” said Johnson. “I shall fetch you more beverages.”
Kayden eventually let Christophe have a turn, after successfully bagging ten more pieces. “It’s almost as satisfying watching the junk burn up in the atmosphere as it is harpooning them,” said Christophe.
“We’re creating our own shooting stars,” said Kayden happily. As they rose above the ring, a swarm of robot drones moved back into position, surrounding the umbilical to resume their never-ending battle with the junk on its unpredictable trajectories. Kayden was pleasantly drunk and drowsy. He didn’t want to sleep, he wanted to enjoy his Opulence Class rooms for as long as possible.
He woke up hours later feeling lightheaded. The climber passed the geostationary orbit point where the weight of Earth’s gravitational field subsided, and the climber gained speed thanks to the centrifugal force of being whipped around the planet at thirty thousand kilometres per hour. Leaving the Earth’s gravity was like shedding an oppressive burden Kayden hadn’t noticed he was carrying. The gravity was slowly lifted, and a bizarre but not unwelcome sense of levity flowed through his body. Another nine hours of travel and they could see the hub above them. “Look there’s our shuttles,” said Kayden pointing to the undersides of three aerodynamic shuttles they could see attached to the hub.
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“They look much smaller up here.”
“Christophe, I know you haven’t met Lago yet. The briefing didn’t cover him personally. He is old, arrogant, and antisocial. He has no family and no friends that I know of. He’s consumed by his work and can sometimes seem a little paranoid, even obsessive and overly sensitive. One inappropriate word can result in violent mood swings and unhinged spontaneous decisions. I’ve dealt with him before so maybe just let me do the talking.”
“I’m not going to just stand there like some dumb, silent accessory. I have a lot invested in this mission and we are not going back until everything we want is guaranteed. Anyway, Lago is just a stepping stone. All we want from him is a bulk discount for travel and accommodation up to the hub. The most important negotiations will be on the Moon.”
“We won’t be getting off Earth without him. I’m just saying he is temperamental, although he has apparently calmed down with age, his god-complex has grown. He sees himself as some kind of self-made deity. If we want to get to the Moon, we have to work with him. We have to show him the respect he deserves.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll try not to upset him.”
Kayden’s recent dealings with Lago had been negotiating sales of fuel from Star Span’s refineries. Christophe had not been involved in these meetings and Kayden had only recently promoted him as their personal relationship progressed. He was probably unsuitable for this mission, but he was his partner, and his lover. He insisted on coming and Kayden was happy to have him by his side. He gave him confidence and fuelled his ego. Kayden had been told that Lago was not as deranged and quick to temper as he had once been. If Lago was apparently more sociable now, Kayden wondered what he used to be like. Lago was a dangerous man to deal with, but you don’t become the richest, most powerful person on the planet without having some smarts and Lago had been around for a very long time. The evidence of his business acumen was displayed beneath them.
He took a deep breath and clutched Christophe’s hand as the climber docked with the terminal hub. They were escorted through the arrival induction and taken straight to the gantry where one of their own K-Star shuttles was stationed. The shuttle was named: Beautiful Tyrant. Lago Santos was waiting inside, flanked by two security guards.
“Kayden,” said Lago. “Pleasant trip?”
“Yes, thank you Lago. This is my partner Christophe; we want to extend our...”
“Nice shuttle you have here,” Lago cut him off, ignoring Christophe. “Let’s see how fast it goes.”
Lago hadn’t changed since last time Kayden had seen him. There was evidence to suggest he was close to one hundred years old, but he looked like a healthy fifty-year-old thanks to the anti-aging treatments his BPI clinics provided. Lago’s obsession with life-extending therapies was infamous. There were rumours of ethically questionable practises and some truly hideous stories about harvesting organs from children. But they were just urban myths. Kayden had used the BPI clinics himself and he was ecstatic with the results. He knew how to deal with the great man. He knew how to appeal to his overinflated ego, if he ever managed to get a word in.
“Yes of course, we…”
“Go and tell the pilot we are ready,” said Lago.
***
Lago rubbed the scar that ran from under his beard to his cheekbone and watched the asteroid hub recede from them as the shuttle detached. Four shuttles were docked, surrounded by a swarm of busy maintenance drones. The two K-Star shuttles were much more stylishly aerodynamic than his own functional BPI Tobias class. He was secretly impressed by their design, but he would never admit it. Lago studied the names on the sides of the shuttles: the Damned Saint. And the Honourable Villain. The K-star shuttles had the Star Span logo stencilled on both sides.
He turned to Kayden and Christophe; he had briefly forgotten they were there. “Why name your shuttles, what do they mean?”
“It’s tradition,” said Kayden. “Christophe named them. We thought they needed more identity than just numbers.”
“Naming them gives each shuttle personality and character. Our passengers will appreciate it,” said Christophe.
Lago shook his head and glanced disdainfully at Christophe. “There’s no room for personality in space, this is a harsh environment. Only the pragmatic survive.”
“We want to change that, we want to make space more accessible and more comfortable for our clients,” said Christophe.
“Tourists,” muttered Lago. “We need scientists up here, not sightseers.”
“Yes, but someone has to pay for it all. Our premium clients are very wealthy. Many of them want to leave Earth permanently. We want to provide them the means to do that.
Lago glared at the two of them. “Why would anyone want to go to the Moon? It’s a shit hole. Just a dusty rock. And there’s nothing in space for tourists. They will be bored to death in minutes. The main reason I built the elevator, and the hub was for easier access to mining resources. Space is to be exploited, this is a workplace, not a playground.”
He noticed Kayden and Christophe exchanging bemused looks, but they wisely stayed silent. Lago didn’t really care about their plans; he was naturally argumentative, but this tourism venture could be very profitable. His visions for the future were expensive and he always needed more money. So far, they seemed to have an endless supply of it. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the view. The last time he had been outside was in his Tobias shuttle, which was noisy, smelly, and uncomfortable. Now he had their K-star shuttles at his disposal, and he intended to use them. He was impressed with the growth of his BPI hub. He had made space accessible, and he controlled the only access to Earth’s orbit.
“Go round again,” he said to Kayden who went to pass on his instructions to the pilot.
The shuttle navigated around the surface of the hub and Lago noted the construction taking place. He could have just sold the asteroid. It was worth billions in precious metals, but the iron ore, nickel, platinum and even gold that was being mined from the core had been used as construction materials for laboratories, workshops, and greenhouses. Telescopes, particle accelerators, gravitational wave detectors, and other research tech were in various stages of assembly amongst the solar panels. He had turned the lumpy rock into a bustling space port at the top of his orbital elevator. A launching pad for further exploiting the valuable resources of the solar system.
“Lago are you aware just how popular your asteroid has become?” asked Christophe. “The hub is a desirable destination for rich tourists wanting to escape Earth. They are willing to spend hundreds of thousands for a few nights. Some of them want to know if it would be possible to own one of your apartments cut from the iron core.”
“My hub is not for sale. I said I will take you to the Moon and introduce you to the Masama. If your negotiations are successful, then we can talk about a partnership, but until then, spare me the sales pitch.” He smiled at the huge Benevolent Progress Incorporated insignia emblazoned on the side of the hub. He had considered putting his own name there as well but had decided that might be too ostentatious even for him. Star Span was almost as wealthy as he was, and the prospect of more money was always attractive. Star Span owned the K-star shuttles, proof of their riches and intent. Kayden knew how to appeal to him and not aggravate him too much, but he wasn’t so sure about Christophe whom he had only just met.
“What you have built here, a permanent, orbital destination. It’s a stepping stone to the stars. It will change the way we all live. People on Earth look up and dream of escape, they dream of the possibilities, it would be a shame not to share it. You have given them hope, Lago.”
Lago understood Christophe was appealing to his ego, and it was working. He loved talking about his achievements. “I can tolerate people like you using my hub to park your shuttles and promote your tourism, but I will never sell it. I have complete control over who can access space and what they do there. People thought I was crazy for building this hub, but look at me now, on top of the world.” He held out his hand and stretched his fingers. From this height, Earth was about the size of a big wheel. At arm’s length, it looked like he was holding the planet in the palm of his hand. He studied it, narrowed his eyes, and rotated his hand around the blue orb with a satisfied smile on his face.
“I remember the beginning of this thing, on a boat in the Philippines, straight down there.” Although Lago knew the umbilical was dead straight, it appeared to twist as it disappeared down into the blue haze. Beneath the wispy clouds he could see the faint outlines of the southeast Asian archipelago and Australian continent forty thousand kilometres below. The artificial island was currently floating close to the equator just north of Papua New Guinea. “I turned that little third world backwater into the busiest port on the planet. Gave them all jobs and dragged them into the twenty first century. This has been the biggest engineering project in history, giving my people access to the stars.”
“Amazing, humble beginnings,” said Kayden. “From the streets of Manila to harnessing asteroids. It’s impressive.”
“Of course, it’s impressive. You have no idea how much work went into this.”
“I heard that you somehow caught it in a giant net?” asked Kayden.
“We landed a superlifter on it, fixed it to the surface, then we burned a shit tonne of fuel over eighteen months to change its orbit, slingshot it around Mars, and bring it into a geostationary orbit where we had a giant aluminium and steel mesh net ready to catch it and hold it in in place. It was on an eight-year orbit around the Sun. Quite slow compared to other asteroids, which made it less dangerous to intercept and manoeuvre. It cost a fortune, but it was all worth it.” Lago scratched his beard again; he had supervised the whole operation from his base in Manila but now he lived on the hub. He loved looking down at the overcrowded planet beneath him. “I haven’t been back to Earth for over a year, but I don’t need to. And I don’t want to. A ruler should rule from above, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” said Kayden hesitantly. “A benevolent ruler.”
“And I understand you are building a solar farm?” asked Christophe.
“Someone has to supply the power for your tourism adventures. You can’t see it from here, but it’s big and it will eventually provide for all our energy needs. It’s taking far too long, but once we finish construction of the farm, we can transmit the energy back down to Earth using graphene cables in the umbilical and I won’t have to depend on the Masama with their helium3. Soon the farm will provide all the energy we need.”
“Ah yes, the Masama. It’s good you still have a beneficial business relationship with them, and you can put your differences behind you,” said Christophe hopefully.
Lago shook his head and swore. He would never forgive the Masama for what they stole. He hated going to the Moon. On Earth he controlled almost everything and everyone. On the Moon, amongst those traitors, he was vulnerable, he had no power, he controlled nothing.