City-Ship Ascension

Geostationary orbit

It was time for Alice to wake up, and the entire inner circle was present, waiting for her to be brought out of the artificial coma. Her injuries were so extensive that she had to be kept under, so there wouldn’t be any emotional scarring until she was completely healed. Her left arm and both legs had to be completely rebuilt, most of her skin suffered third-degree burns, and without medical nanites, she would have been blind and deaf. That is if she somehow managed to survive.

During her recovery, Max has kept her sterile field completely opaque, so her visitors couldn’t see the extent of her injuries and the reconstructive work as it was done. The entire procedure lasted longer than it was absolutely necessary, but as Max explained, this was the first time such extensive reconstruction was being performed so all steps were done carefully—with triple-checking the results. In the future, a similar procedure should be done quicker; Alice was a trailblazer in a way.

She shouldn’t have any side effects from her ordeal, except for some memory loss. The medical nanites acted quickly to stop the die-off of damaged tissue; veins, and arteries, rerouting her blood flow to essential systems, mainly the brain. But no matter how quickly they acted, the loss of three limbs was at the extreme scope of their triage abilities. In truth, if Tyron and Commander Dax hadn’t put tourniquets on her stumps, she would have bled to death.

Everybody was positioned a few feet from her bed, to give her some breathing space; waking up with multiple faces above your own had never had a calming effect.

“OK, I have instructed the AutoDoc to bring her to a conscious state,” Max’s hologram said, in the silent room.

A few seconds later, Alice slowly opened her eyes and lethargically looked around her bed. “What are you all staring at? Do I have something on my face?” She slurred, still a little groggy.

“No, honey, you’re fine… how do you feel?” Elizabeth asked.

She got up from the bed, and after a few moments of regaining equilibrium did a few stretching exercises. “Fine… I guess, why was I lying here? The last thing I remember was that we needed to take those astronauts back to Earth.”

“Alice… that happened a while ago… you were badly hurt and needed some serious reconstructive surgery. You were in a coma,” Michael informed her.

She looked at him as if trying to judge if he was joking. “What happened?” She simply said after reading the truth of that statement on their faces.

They told her, taking turns on some events, letting Michael explain the most painful ones. After hearing about Robert Freeman’s death, she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. “Michael, I’m so sorry… did you get them… the bastards responsible for the attack?”

“Oh, we got them all right, and they will be paying for what they did for the rest of their lives,” he answered.

“Good… that’s good.” She whispered and hugged him hard.

After staying for a while, they were evicted by Max who needed to perform some additional medical checks. He warned her that she would have problems with coordination for a while until the new limbs finished integrating with the rest of her body. He did the checks as quickly as possible since he wanted her to rest before she went to the party.

***

City-Ship Ascension

Central Park

The party was a few days in the making, and organizing such an event was a logistical nightmare. Well, it would be for ordinary human beings, as an AI, Max had some advantages.

They had so many things to celebrate: the establishment of their own country, their independence, and a new sense of identity. For those in the inner circle, it was mostly about Alice’s return to the land of the living.

It was a party for every single person on the Ascension, which meant catering and entertainment for more than ten thousand people. Several large shipments of exotic foods and beverages were imported from all over the world, just to make people more comfortable with things that were familiar to them. For example, there were over fifty different brands of beer, which Michael and every member of the team thought as essential, for people's sake, of course.

Max and his minions, in this case, Elizabeth, Anna, and Emma, asked for help from all the citizens. Consequently, the entire event turned into a cross between a Rio carnival and a humongous block party. So many people would hardly fit into the Central Park, only if they were packed like sardines, so the party was planned to happen all over the ship. Around the promenade, in wide hallways, restaurants, and even in people’s homes. Music from all over the world could be heard, with people dancing in dozens of styles. Dave called the whole event “A nice shindig,” while holding a jug with the newly made moonshine, a few enterprising residents made.

What Michael was worried most about was the speech Anna somehow persuaded him to make. She even prepared a small stage, and he was looking at it with some disdain and a growing sense of anxiety.

“You are not going to make a run for it, are you?” Tyron’s bass voice rumbled beside him.

“What gives you that idea?”

“Well your face scrunches up every time you look at that stage, it was the same thing you did whenever you needed to give a speech in the Army; I thought you would have gotten over it by now.”

Michael humped. “You never get over it, you deal with it; like getting a vaccine shot or stitching your own flesh.”

“Well, you better suck it up, Anna is signaling you to start your address,” Tyron said and pointed behind his back. Michael turned and saw the commanding girl, gesturing for him to get up on the stage.

“Hold this for me,” he said to Tyron and gave him his still full bottle of beer.

The noise was considerable, so Michael tapped the microphone a few times to get everyone’s attention. Max was transmitting his image to all holo-screens and CEIs on the ship, even to the Missile silo on Earth, for their citizens that were there on various missions.

“I’ll make this short, since we are having a party, and I know you have better things to do than to listen to me jabber. First of all, I want to thank you for being here with me, on the Ascension, in space. For being a part of this great endeavor, which we now call the Solarian Union. We are a new nation, one that is free of the old ways, of prejudice and discrimination. Some of you were violently banished from your homes; you lost loved ones or fled the oppression. This is now your home, your country and a place that will provide you safety.

Looking at you, I see people who had the power to imagine better lives for themselves and for their children. Who took a risk to pursue a dream, a dream that was greater than any of those naysayers on Earth could have imagined. They gave long interviews in the media about how this should not be possible and that we would fail. Well, just because those people cannot do something themselves, they want others to be equally unsuccessful; and are even prepared to forcefully take everything from us in the name of greed. We will not let that happen, this is our dream. And by God, we are going to protect it.”

He had to stop there, the ovations were too loud to continue. Michael waited until the noise level returned to normal.

“I have one last thing to say; I urge all of you to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have with people that are important to you. And I want to thank you all for the work you have done, and for all future efforts you will do. The Solarian Union is our shared dream, so let us build our future together.

Solarians, I salute you.” Michael finished and got off the stage, while the people were still screaming in approval of his words.

The dreaded speech finished, he joined the others and grabbed his bottle of cold beer from Tyron.

“Dad would have like this… a party in space,” he said to Elizabeth.

“He is still with us Michael, simply look at the people here, and their faces. Without him, many of them would not be here. This is his legacy, as you are,” she said and kissed him on the cheek.

The party was still going strong a few hours later, and there were all indications that it would continue into the next day. Michael was sitting on the lawn, with Elizabeth by his side when Max informed him, “Michael, everything is prepared.”

He nodded and turned to her. “Let’s go, we are going on a little trip, it should take a few hours.”

In no time, he gathered the rest of the people who deserved to be present for what he and Max had planned. They all left the party and went to the upper bay, then boarded the Excalibur.

***

Spaceship Excalibur

Beyond Lunar Orbit

The Excalibur was traveling faster than ever before, despite the big cargo transporter it was towing. The reason they used the small spaceship was that it could achieve far greater speed than regular transporters were capable of.

The entire inner circle was standing on its bridge, watching as the Earth became smaller and smaller. They even made a flyby close to the Moon, before even that Earth’s satellite shrunk into a small point of light. The people aboard the Excalibur have traveled further away from the homeworld than any human had gone before, and yet this was not a mission of discovery and exploration… they were on a mission of justice.

“We have reached our maximum speed,” Max said through the speakers; the bridge was so crowded he did not even materialize his hologram.

“Okay then… release the cargo,” Michael commanded with the voice of finality.

A small tug was all those aboard felt when the big transporter, they were pulling along, released its magnetic coupling and detached from the Excalibur. As the spaceship slowed down, the circular craft sailed into darkness on their previous course. It shrank with distance and in a few minutes, completely disappeared from their sight.

“It’s done…” Michael whispered.

“I don’t know,” Al said, “this seems… too lenient?”

“Actually, Elizabeth made the best description of this; it is like throwing away the trash, and never thinking about it again,” Michael replied.

“So… what now?” Tyron asked.

“Now we do what we do best, put out the fires that some of those crazies back on Earth are bound to set, and do everything needed to make the Solarian Union truly independent and able to stand on its feet. However, all that is for later, for now, let us return to the party, maybe there are a few beers left. Max, take us back home.”

The spaceship made a wide loop and turned towards the blue planet and the City-ship orbiting it.

***

Cargo Transporter 009 (Modified)

Destination: Messier 31

Philip Cain woke up in a chair, with four safety belts strapping him to it. It took him a few moments to get his bearings and to realize he was no longer in that metal prison, where the members of the ‘High Council’ were confined for some time. He did not even know exactly how much time he had spent there, isolated with twenty people he did not like. They all quarreled so much, he was beginning to wonder if that was the punishment Michael Freeman intended for him. Listening to whiny idiots who could not accept that they have lost all their power, and were now at the mercy of others.

He looked around the strange space and saw all his accomplices were in the same predicament. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on an uncomfortable coat, and seeing white mist spreading through ventilation vents.

The wall in front of him lighted up, and the face of his jailer appeared on it. Three times larger than in real life, showing him a patronizing smile.

“Mr. Cain, I am glad you woke up so quickly so we can have this conversation in person, a few more hours and the lag would have been considerable. Now, I thought about writing you a letter but some of my friends said that I shouldn’t repeat myself, hence we get to talk.”

“What have you done! Where am I?” he asked, his voice hoarse and sore.

Michael Freeman nodded. “I’m so glad you asked; we decided to set you free… in a manner of speaking. You and your friends are in a specially modified transporter, think of it as a small spaceship. Okay, maybe calling it a spaceship is stretching the truth a bit since it lacks engines for propulsion or steering. On the other hand, you have already reached the escape velocity out of our solar system, so you really don’t need one. Didn’t I promise you that you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail cell… this counts as one. You see Philip, at first, all I wanted was to kill you, and you may even say that it became an obsession of mine. Fortunately for you, a man I consider my brother and the woman I love changed my mind. Death would be far too easy for you; in a strange way, it is an absolution of sin. And I want you to have a long life in that fishbowl, decades of introspection upon your evil deeds.”

“No, you cannot do this! I demand a trial!” The man who called himself the President of the United States screamed at the holo-screen.

“So you can weasel your way out, making use of those files of yours for blackmail and leverage. I’m sorry Philip, it’s too late for that. For one, you are too far away for anyone to reach, and I couldn’t risk you being set free, or making some sort of a deal. Therefore, that is why I sent you on a little trip. Your destination is Messier 31 or better known as the Andromeda Galaxy. It is 2.5 million light-years away from Earth, so don’t count on arriving anytime soon. But you know what they say; it is the voyage that matters, not the destination.”

The list of expletives Philip Cain used could peel the paint off the wall; it took him a few minutes to calm down enough to talk.

“You think the world will ever forgive you for this? You kidnapped the President of the United States of America! They will hunt you down like a dog.” Philip Cain shrieked at the image on the screen.

Michael’s smile grew even wider. “Oh, you think I will tell them about you? That is so precious. Philip, as far as the world is concerned, you will be like Jimmy Hoffa, there will be no traces of your whereabouts. Consequently, they will all assume that you and your friends are in hiding since you all cleaned out your accounts and sold all of your property.

We already released the video of you poisoning President Garner, and many of the files that the ‘High Council’ kept in the Castle of Regnum. President Garner is running the USA again, and you are number one on every world’s wanted list. We even put a bounty on your head for one billion dollars. Congratulations, that is a Guinness World record. And you wouldn’t believe how many theories there are already about where you’re hiding; I don’t think anyone will ever guess the truth.”

Philip Cain could not utter a word; he gaped at the image before him, with his mouth wide open.

“Right then, let me now explain to you some practical things. If you’re hungry or thirsty, there is a cabinet at the back that produces sustenance. Of course, the paste it offers is not what would one call tasty, but it is highly nutritious. This whole craft is like a small biosphere, everything is recycled and reused; Max calculated that oxygen and provisions on board should last you all for a century. We are not heartless after all, so you will have ample time to contemplate your life. If any of you pass away, just place the body in the recycling box beneath the food dispenser. Remember that saying ‘waste not, want not’ Oh, and by the way, have you ever watched the movie called ‘Soylent Green’...No? Well… never mind.”

Michael looked at the man who was still in a state of shock.

“We need to wrap this up; there are some books Tyron left for you: Crime and Punishment, One Hundred Years of Solitude… all appropriate reads when you get bored. By the way, I even threw in a RISK board game, it’s about conquering the world. We had a good laugh about it, on account of its irony. That’s about it, I have to run anyway. Have a safe trip… Mister President.”

Michael Freeman’s face disappeared from the screen, and the whole canopy of the transporter turned to the view outside. Countless stars could be seen in the distance, while the size of the Sun was frighteningly small.

Philip Cain just sat there, staring at it all and tried to understand how he got where he currently was when just a short time ago, he had plans to rule the world. The same beautiful world that was getting further and further with each passing second.

After a few minutes, he put his head in his hands… and wept.