T.I.S.S. Matterhorn–Command Deck

On approach to Gaea Station’s space-hook beta

2586 Kilometers above Earth sea level

August 18, 2058 – 5 years, 9 months before Kuora Seed Drop

Pete couldn’t tear his eyes away. Inverted as they were with Matterhorn's belly to the black of space, pebbled clouds, blue ocean, and the Americas filled the command deck pressure pane. Silently spinning off the coast of the Cuban Republic, tropical depression Heath was mesmerizing.

Florida, Texas, and Mexico seemed to wrap themselves protectively around the Gulf of Mexico, embracing it. Seen live through the curved Grak window, the view was more than just impressive–it stole Pete’s breath away.

“There’s no way around it. We need a sovereign country, Pete. I think New York City will work well. Long Island too,” said Bendik, breaking the silence.

Sitting in the co-commander’s seat, Pete felt suddenly sick. His eyes drifted right, taking in the city and adjacent island far below. War with the US? War… How… bumbled his thoughts. He had no intelligible reply.

“Matterhorn, this is Gaea station. Do you read? Over.” The communications panel lit up.

Bendik replied, “Roger, Gaea Station, go ahead.”

“We have your manifest as 2 souls and 1743 kilograms of cargo. Please confirm Matterhorn.”

“Ah, that is correct, Gaea Station. Matterhorn has 2 souls and 1743 kilos of good stuff on board.”

“Confirmed Matterhorn. We have you on clear approach to intercept hook beta. Over.”

Pete could see the reflective surface of the coupling-head as the Matterhorn closed. He’d done this a dozen times now, and every time it was a rush.

“Roger Gaea Station, we have hook beta in sight. Targeting and coupling systems are green. We are go for hook-up.”

A thick rod that extended from the shuttle nose cone approached and stabbed into the coupling receiver with a hollow clank that reverberated through the fuselage. Immediately they began to decelerate, and Pete was pressed forward in his harness.

In the HUD, a holograph displayed a pair of red slotted rings, like capital C’s, rotating in opposite directions, closing around the rod and locking it in. The gaps in the rings closed, and the image tinted green.

“Beta hook captured, Gaea Station. The catch is secure. Over.”

“Roger Matterhorn. We’ve got you. Enjoy your reentry. Gaea station out.”

“I love this part.” Bendik addressed Pete.

“Always reminds me of riding a Ferris wheel,” Pete tilted his head back, eyes following the tether line.

The enormous bulk of Gaea station, ten times the size of a football stadium, was at the other end, 1200 kilometers away. He could just pick it out as a silver spec against the earthen backdrop.

The Matterhorn’s Grak viewing pane wrapped up above their heads and around both sides of the command deck. As they were traveling East and upside down over the Caribbean, the Eastern Americas were all they could see. However, as the Matterhorn began to nose over, their view shifted to include the Western Americas and, beyond the planet’s curve, a slice of black space.

“I don’t want to die, End.” Pete broke the silence. “Is it absolutely necessary for us to start a war with the US Government? How about the Republic of Cuba? We could take the whole country. Or Colombia? You love it there; we just need a small piece.”

Bendik chortled. “You know that won’t work.”

“We can find a way. This isn’t a fight we can win.”

“Can’t we?” Bendik viewed Pete sidelong with one raised eyebrow.

Pete took a moment. “You mean to use the fog, then?”

“This is what it’s designed for, Pete.”

“The risk is too high, End. We agreed to limit its use to corporate locations and for self-defense only.”

“I remember, but the plan advances, Pete. We always needed a sovereign country, and the fog is the tool to get that done with minimal loss of life. With Jerry’s tight beam advancement, it’s even more well suited to the task. Causalities are inevitable, but this will keep them to a minimum. Beyond that, it will keep the fight short.”

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Bendik furrowed his brow. “How did you expect us to take over a country?”

Pete sighed. “I thought we might buy one.”

“Yes…” Bendik considered. “We could. Undoubtedly, we could do that. Uzbekistan responded favorably to my query.”

Casting his gaze upward, Bendik sighed and mused quietly. “Time. Time and defensibility. It takes time to build trust with the people, time we don’t have. And defending our fledgling nation if it's surrounded by despots would require ongoing use of the fog.”

Bobbing his head, Bendik looked back to Pete. “Can’t afford the risk, my friend. Strange as it sounds, our lowest risk path is war with the mighty US of A.”

Pete couldn’t agree. “Using the fog will kick off a nanitics arm’s race, expose Texier assets to direct attacks, burn our government connections, and potentially cause chaos within the company. Many employees will see this as treason.” Looking down, Pete shook his head. “I don’t see how we can come out of this clean–”

Peter Yowling fell silent, then turned to Bendik. “This is why we’ve been acquiring land on the Island.” He paused. Bendik dipped his chin. Pete continued, “So, Phoenix Rising isn’t about deep underground bunker’s at all; it’s about this.”

“The bunkers are part of it, but as you very accurately pointed out, we can’t be connected to this. We need plausible deniably. We need a patsy, preferably several.”

Pete took a deep breath. The Matterhorn was pitched down about thirty degrees, and half of the cockpit view was black now. “Okay, so in theory, that might work. Still though, Linkletter, Branch, Glitstein; none of them will buy it. Even with the carrot of a new global bank, they won’t bite. They don’t trust us at all. Hell End, any of them would kill us if they could. We don’t have a believable point-man. Anyone that has access to the fog tech is loyal; they all know that. So, who?”

“There is one, Pete. One man who’s paid a higher price than all of us.”

“No.” Pete’s head pivoted slowly, side-to-side. “No.”

Bendik returned his gaze. “No?”

“No, End. It’s too much. He’s lucky to be alive. We have him off the radar–he’s safe. Jim has done his part–he deserves his retirement.”

“This was his idea, Pete. At least the bones of it.”

Pete’s head and jaw dropped. “What…” Then he began to consider. Should he be in Jim’s position, disfigured and crippled, Pete wasn’t sure he’d be willing to give more. Jim’s not like me, though. He’s crazy.

“Jim has been getting offers from all of them, Pete. BlaQ, Hypiraton, Lobe & Branch, even the Russian and Chinese ambassadors. They all believe he has our data. And he’s been leading them along, playing the reluctant turncoat.”

Bendik shrugged a shoulder. “Surprised me as well. And, if you don’t know Jim, it’s not so hard to believe he might cross lines again. He did it once when he joined us. I know that was before your time, but it caused waves. Jim was Linkletter’s guy, his heir-apparent. Nobody expected him to leave BlaQ. And the way we handled Phoenix, allowing Jim to take the fall, and shuffling him into retirement, in their minds, he has a good reason to want to hurt us.”

“So, what is he promising them? What are we going to give up?”

“Well, that’s the tricky part, isn’t it? We really can’t give up anything. Got to keep them all off the Conner spiral for as long as possible. We need a way for Jim to have access to the whole kit, cat, and caboodle, without giving a single one of the leghoppin’ bastards a damn thing. And they’ll try, ohh, they’ll try.”

Pete bent his head over to peer at Bendik. “You want to bond… an entire offensive suite–to Jim? What about the feedback vectors? They’re hard-locked in the entanglement; he’d be putting his life on the line. Again. This could kill him, End.”

Bendik nodded, his expression growing sober. “He’ll need a dead-man failsafe too. If he dies from feedback, the entire suite will need to self-destruct. I’ve gone over it with him, Pete. It’s his choice, and Jim wants to do this.”

Bendik’s expression softened with a slight chuckle. “He’s going crazy being sidelined. I don’t think we could talk him out of it.” He paused to shrug. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem. When all their equipment shuts down, the GI’s won’t even fight. So the feedback should be minimal, maybe nothing. But even if it’s not, Jim is willing.”

Pete sat back and considered. “They’re still going to want something. Linkletter, especially. He won’t buy-in unless he gets some bit of Texier technology. And some of the others may follow his lead. Jim delivering them a new country and control over a new global reserve currency, won’t be enough. Not for Ron Linkletter. He won’t be satisfied allowing someone else to hold the reins of power.”

Bendik sighed, nodding in agreement. “I think that’s right, Pete. Linkletter may be the worst of em’, but he’s no fool. We’re gonna have to give something up.”

He raised a brow, smirking. “But don’t forget, Jim came from their world. He knows their mind and he can be a right proper bastard. We both know he’s got his arms around that beast within, but he’s a dangerous son-of-a-bitch. We won’t give up anything that can hurt us. And Jim’s just the man to convince them.”

They fell into silence again. Moments later, the Matterhorn’s HUD lit with a chime, announcing the shuttle had hit the apex of the space hook’s turn. They were pointed straight at planet Earth now, one-quarter way around Pete’s 2,400-kilometer Ferris wheel on their way back home. Soon the space hook would release them in the upper limits of the Mesosphere.

Gaea station was a marvel that Pete could scarcely believe was reality. Even with moon base Bucky beginning to take shape, Gaea station still captured the imagination of his boyish self. There was simply nothing like the view of a free-floating manmade city in space.

Hook beta was one of two twelve-hundred-kilometer-long cables attached to Gaea Station. The space station’s rotation spun the cables out into space then back into the upper atmosphere. It was a kind of galactic turn-style that cut out the need for booster rockets.

More than that, for Pete, Gaea Station and its space hook was a boyhood dream made real.

On the way back to Bucky, the Matterhorn and its counterparts used Gaea’s hook to be lifted free of Earth’s gravity well. For travel within the solar system, booster rockets were passe’. Gaea’s hooks could slingshot a shuttle, tanker, or even one of the huge new freighters to anywhere they wanted to go. And at speeds that cut trip times from months to days.

“We’re so damn small,” Bendik said in a near whisper. “Just this view alone–sure does turn the volume down on the meaningless noise, doesn’t it?”

Pete found himself nodding. “Yes, it does that. It does that indeed.”