The Commander Read online

  “Sounds good, Adelia,” Luke agreed. “Keep at it. Now, we have one special visitor that you all know. Everyone welcome Samantha back. She has a special announcement to make and I’ve been saving her for last.”

  Samantha smiled a thank-you to the people around the table.

  “So, Samantha,” Luke continued. “Tell us your news.”

  “Thanks, Luke. It’s good to be back. I love being the mayor of Mars, but I’ll never forget that I got my start right here. Now, I don’t want anyone to take this announcement personally. I know there are some newcomers here who haven’t heard about our secret plan.” Samantha put air quotes around the word ‘secret’.

  “Just you, me, and Roth,” Luke said.

  Samantha took a deep breath. “I’m here to declare that Mars is an independent planet; independent of Earth and of the moon.”

  Luke grinned at the startled expressions around the table. “And?” he prompted her to finish.

  “And we want to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Milky Way Alliance. And the moon and any other planets that may soon be colonized.”

  Roth started applauding, which sparked a similar response from everyone else, their confused expressions notwithstanding.

  “Relax, everyone,” Luke urged. “We’ve been planning this from the get-go. We’ve just been waiting for Samantha to get her government in order. Good job, Sam.”

  “We’re not ready, of course, not completely,” Samantha confessed. “But if we wait until we’re completely ready, we’ll never get there, so I decided to take the plunge. Long live Mars. How about you guys?”

  Luke looked at his friend. “Roth?”

  Roth had a dour expression on his face. “Why are you guys in such a hurry? I’m nowhere near close. Do I need to do this now?”

  “That was the plan.” Luke reminded him.

  “Give me another week,” Roth protested. “There are still people I need to get up-to-speed.” He looked around the table. “You guys are about to become cabinet members. Double the pay too.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Ambrose bitched. “By my figures, that’s still zero.”

  “It’s more than I’m making,” Samantha offered.

  “Okay,” Luke interjected. “We’ve all talked about establishing a government and I know that no one is interested but I’ve said this before. The people at this table are not going to be around forever. We’ve seen enough bad government on Earth to know it’s not an easy thing to do. So let’s start now, while we’re small. Maybe we can develop a system that actually works. We’ll never be successful if we don’t have a functioning bureaucracy, but without oversight to control it, a bureaucracy can become an oppressor. This should not be a surprise to any of you.”

  “I got it,” Roth said quietly.

  Luke looked at Roth and nodded. “Okay, one week. I’m taking that as a promise.”

  “It is.” Roth sighed. He looked at Samantha. “How’s the training ground going for new colony leaders? We’ve sent three mini-colony expeditions so far. Are those guys working out?”

  “Two of them are,” Samantha said. “Kane and Lorita did a great job, but I had to pull Jed Morton. He was overwhelmed; he wouldn’t delegate or trust his people. And I had complaints from some of the women. Too many to be a misunderstanding.”

  Roth nodded. “Okay. That’s kind of a surprise. I thought he was a hard charger.”

  “He is, just in all the wrong ways.”

  “What about the rest of his colony. Are they ruined?”

  “No, one of them, a young man named Solomon Andrews, took charge. He’s an impressive leader so they’ll be fine. When is the first true colony ship going out, by the way?”

  “Thirty days,” Luke answered. “Assuming our probes confirm what the astronomy guys are telling us. I’ll feel a lot better once we get the first ship away. To actually be seeding the cosmos, that’s kind of a big accomplishment. We’re making progress.”

  # # #

  “Sadie?” Luke asked. “Can you take us down a little bit? I’d like to see how it looks from below.”

  The ship moved smoothly to give him a better vantage point. “Correction completed, Commander,” Sadie responded.

  Luke craned his neck from the pilot’s seat to examine the Isaac Newton Gateway. Adelia and her team finessed the planetoid’s position while they moved it into orbit. Luke noticed absently that they were presently over the North American continent. It seemed appropriate somehow that the Gateway started its life over Baggs, Nevada. “What do you think, babe?” he asked Annie.

  “I think you’re making your PR Director’s life difficult. First, you add a moon to Earth’s orbit and now you’re saying that you’re releasing the independence proclamation tomorrow. That’s a lot of changes for the people on the planet.”

  Luke shrugged. “Can’t make an omelet, etcetera.”

  “I know. It’s just got to sting for all those politicians. They hate not having control.”

  “They never did. But what do you think of the Gateway?”

  Annie paused to actually look at the massive space station. “It’s beautiful of course. How could it not be with Adelia working on it?”

  She was right. Most of the planetoid’s external surface had been sheared away, leaving broad, flat surfaces from which thousands of windows shone brightly. The upper surface of the small moon was cut away on two sides, leaving a central superstructure that towered over two giant landing pads, each of which could hold four of the future colony ships.

  Brilliant lights kept the landing surfaces illuminated whether in sunlight or darkness. Dozens of flitters buzzed around the exterior. Adelia’s finishing work was continuing even as the massive station was moved into its permanent orbit.

  “It’s a big billboard for us,” Luke said. “The low orbit means everyone on the planet will see it on a regular basis. The politicos might resent it, but I’m hoping that to the average family, it represents a ticket to a new life.”

  “So what about the politicians?” Annie asked. “What do you hope to achieve by even meeting with them?”

  Luke sighed. “I don’t know. It won’t hurt to hear them out. Maybe if we give them a little consideration it will make life easier for potential colonists. What I don’t want is a situation where people who want to sign up with us have to sneak around.”

  “What do you mean by ‘a little consideration’? You mean pay them off?”

  Luke chuckled at her words. “Well, they are politicians after all. But no, that’s not what I meant. I was thinking of giving them a non-voting seat on the council. Donate some space in the Gateway; it might help to make up for the loss of the space station.”

  “I’m not saying those aren’t good ideas. But I don’t have a good feeling about this. These guys remind me of the spoiled traders I had to deal with when I was at Royal Deutsche. You can’t please them. They feel entitled and they’re never satisfied. Just a bunch of malcontents in a peanut gallery.”

  “Ease up a little, sweetheart. If we go in with that attitude, it’s not going to help. When we’re there, promise me you’ll keep a smile on your face and that you’ll be nice. The last thing we need is you pounding on some poor congressman.”

  “I’ll try; but I won’t promise.”

  “Try hard,” Luke urged giving her a sideways hug from his pilot’s seat. “I’ll smile enough for both of us if necessary. Having you beside me puts me in such a good mood that no one can make me angry.”

  Day 383—Population 12,478

  The boisterous crowd in the exhibition hall of the Baggs Airport Convention Center and Hotel suddenly grew very quiet. It appeared that Luke Blackburn, the man from the moon, the one everyone called Commander, had just lost his cool. It was the way he smashed the congressman’s face against the door that gave it away.

  The room was filled with enough round banquet tables for five hundred distinguished visitors. They had come from around the world to attend the two-day conference. Buffet tables
along the back wall were laden with enough food for an army. Top chefs had prepared the cuisine specifically to satisfy a finicky international audience.

  Everyone had enjoyed their morning meal and listened appreciatively to the introductions of people whose names had been unknown until today. One name all of them knew, of course, was Amanda Carlson. She had dominated the airwaves since the loss of the International Space Station and even more so since last week when the moon and even Mars—who knew there was a colony on Mars—had declared their independence from Earth.

  Public opinion was mixed depending on the country. Most of the third world supported the announcement. It was an in-your-face gesture to the superpowers.

  Russia and China denounced the move as illegal, which Luke expected, but the United States had surprised him. He thought they would be on his side but Congress was vociferously against what they called a rebellious stunt. Members of both Houses called for immediate hearings and the House of Representatives even issued a subpoena for Luke to appear and explain his actions.

  Loudest of all was the banking industry. Once they heard that there was no money on the moon and that Luke’s startup funding had come from replicated gold, they wanted his head on a chopping block.

  The conference's opening plenary session was being televised on most of the channel news outlets. The entire world was going to hear exactly what was going on, and from the man himself. Seven billion people wanted to know what the upstart lunar colony meant to the people of Earth. Talking heads were on standby to dissect every nuance that came from Amanda’s opening speech.

  As she spoke, the news anchors grew agitated. Instead of something juicy, Amanda was giving a rehash of what she’d been saying all along. The moon wanted to get along with everyone; they wanted colonists; if you emigrated you could live for free; there were discoveries every week of new planets that were ripe for settlement.

  Amanda finished her opening comments and then introduced the keynote speaker, Luke Blackburn. This was the guy who’d started it all. The person that a lot of very important people said should be in jail.

  Luke stepped up to the podium and smiled. He didn’t look like such a bad person, but looks could be deceiving. He parroted Amanda’s opening remarks about how happy he was to be here and hoped that the future would bring great things. That’s when a heckler at one of the tables near the dais called out a few unintelligible comments.

  Luke ignored him and kept talking. The heckler stood up and tried to interrupt Luke’s speech.

  The cameras zoomed in. It was the obnoxious congressman from Texas, Cesar Morán. The guy everyone loved to hate. He was the most vociferous congressman denouncing the moon’s subversive activities.

  Two hotel attendants hurried over and tried to quell the interruption but the congressman shook them off with a string of expletives before turning back and shouting again at the podium.

  Luke stopped talking and located the source of the disturbance. He recognized the man immediately. “Do you have a problem, Congressman Moron?” Luke asked.

  “Ha! Ha!” Morán shouted. “Like I haven’t heard that before. I have a subpoena for you to appear before Congress.” He held up a small sheaf of papers and waggled them at Luke.

  Luke gestured to Morán to come forward. “Come on up, Congressman.”

  Morán, a master at spotting opportunities for grandstanding, quickly jumped onto the dais and moved to confront Luke in front of the microphone.

  “Whatcha got?” Luke asked amiably, holding out an open hand.

  Morán smacked the papers into Luke’s palm. “This is a subpoena demanding that you appear in front of my committee…”

  “Got it. Thanks.” Luke handed the papers to Annie who shied away from the documents, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

  Luke dropped the papers on his empty seat with a chuckle and then gestured to Morán to return to his seat. The crowd tittered at Annie’s rejection of the repulsive individual.

  “Just one second,” Morán barked, not moving. “Young lady, your attitude toward this matter is not fit to be on display like that. I have a mind to egrk…” His comment was cut short as Luke’s hand closed around his throat.

  Luke held Moran at arm’s length while he turned back to the microphone. “Sorry, folks,” he said. “Give me just a second to take care of the congressman’s request.”

  With apparent ease, Luke held the apoplectic lawmaker off the ground as he strode off the dais toward the large floor-to-ceiling French doors that lined the side of the room. He smashed the congressman’s face into the doors twice before he stepped back as though realizing that the doors were locked.

  He gestured to the back of the exhibition hall where a young man, dressed in hotel livery, hurried forward. Luke pointed at the door and the man pulled out a ring of keys and fumbled with them until the door was unlocked. By this time, several security guards had gathered, and Luke, after smashing the congressman’s face against the glass once more, this time opening the door, hauled the man out onto the patio. He spoke a few words to the security guards, who hauled Moran away, blood dribbling onto the patio as they left.

  The crowd was startled by the sudden turn of events. In hushed silence they watched Luke returned to the podium.

  “Now, as I was saying,” he resumed, a wide smile still in place, “I believe our efforts on the moon have the opportunity to bring innumerable benefits to the people of Earth. We are making advances in science and technology, in medicine, and in our understanding of the universe itself. We want to share these discoveries with you. However, to make that happen we need your assistance. We hope that Earth’s governments will help their citizens join our efforts. Today, we have one single shuttle going back and forth to the moon from this very airport. I hope that tomorrow our shuttle can start operating in countries across the globe. Let’s adjourn for twenty minutes and then we can start the breakout sessions. The schedules are posted on the doors of each meeting room. Thanks very much.”

  Luke sat down and gave Annie a worried look. “How’d I do?”

  “You did good,” she told him. “And you smiled the entire time. Why so harsh on the congressman?”

  “I didn’t like the way he addressed you. I don’t care what he says to me. But when he started in on you, it’s a different story.”

  “He didn’t really say anything that bad, you know. He was just getting wound up.”

  Luke didn’t buy it. “We’re trying to save humanity and he was being a bully,” he countered. “The best way to deal with that type is to take them out early on.”

  “What did you tell security? I think you probably broke his nose.”

  “I tried. But I told them to take him to Samantha so he could get patched up.”

  “Samantha? You mean Samantha Meyers! On Mars? Jesus, Luke.”

  “Yeah. I’d just as soon he’s out of the way. Samantha is probably going to tell us that he wants to emigrate. Not sure where she’ll put him.”

  “He has a family!” Annie protested. “You can’t separate them like that.”

  Luke nodded. “That’s true. I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll make sure they have the opportunity to join him.” Luke leaned back to get the attention of one of the waiters. “Can I get a refill please? This is cold.”

  “Of course, Commander,” the waiter whispered and hurried off with the unwanted dishes.

  # # #

  The sun was going down when Luke and Annie said their last good-bye for the day and made their escape from conference center to the patiently waiting Sadie. They sat in the comfortable pilot seats and enjoyed the quick flight to Moonbase One. “This view never gets old does it?” Luke said.

  “I know. And it’s not like it’s great scenery. It’s just a big rock with a lot of craters. But it’s still amazing.”

  “Commander,” Sadie spoke up. “Dr. Higgins would like to see you as soon as possible.”

  “Do you know what about?”

  “He wants to discuss a recent dr
one report.”

  “Let him know we’ll be right there.” Luke turned to Annie. “You want to come?”

  “Not really. Amanda and I pulled an all-nighter getting ready for that conference. Unless you need me, I’d just as soon go straight home.”

  “Check with him, would you, Sadie?” Luke asked.

  “He prefers that you both attend,” the shuttle replied.

  “Must be big news,” Luke said. “You up for it?”

  “Guess so,” Annie said before stifling a yawn.

  Sadie touched down and the two headed for Roth’s office.

  “What’s up, George?” Luke said aloud as they walked down the corridors.

  The AI replied in a hushed tone. “It appears that Sam’s optimism was not well founded. We found a hostile force with one of our early probes. This puts them much closer than we thought.”

  Luke and Annie exchanged worried looks as they entered Roth’s office.

  “I see that George filled you in,” Roth commented, seeing their expressions. He leaned back in his chair, looking exhausted and suddenly very old.

  “How far away are they?” Annie asked.

  “Three years? Two? Could be less, I suppose,” Roth replied. “No matter how you look at it, this is really bad news. Show us, George.”

  The wall of Roth’s office displayed a video of a blue planet; it looked remarkably like Earth with white, swirling bands over brown and green continents.

  The shot zoomed in until the shape of a spaceship was clearly visible. It had a long, cylindrical fuselage that was flat on the bottom. The top sprouted dozens of gun emplacements, like a WWII battleship, that fired volley after volley toward the planet.

  The camera zoomed back and panned to find another such ship. It then showed a dozen smaller vessels that looked about Sadie’s size. These versions, however, were more streamlined.

  One of the small shuttles suddenly broke away from the main armada and darted out away from the planet. A bright beam emitted from the little craft. The camera followed the beam to find one of the drones that Luke had sent out. The long cone shape was unmistakable.