Spaceship Excalibur

Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1

For this event, Michael wanted to be at a particular position in space so he could see it all from a unique perspective. The Excalibur was stationed at the L1 Lagrange point, where the gravitational pull from both Earth and the Moon precisely equals the centripetal force required for a station to move with them, so it can stay in equilibrium, stationary with respect to the two celestial bodies. Or as resignedly Max explained to Al, “the gravity pull canceled itself out,” after trying to explain to the man the mathematical three-body problem—for the first ten minutes of the flight.

All the walls of the craft showed the exact view from the outside, and it was a beautiful sight. The spaceship’s location was closer to the much smaller moon than the planet it orbited, but from this spot, both celestial bodies could be clearly seen on opposite sides of the holo-screens.

Elizabeth, Alice, Anna, and the entire team were with him, nobody saying a word, everybody looking at the spectacle outside. This was the day in which the space station, after a long voyage from the Main Asteroid belt, would finally arrive at its permanent site. It was right on Earth-Moon L1 point, or in a halo orbit around it, to be precise. As the movement of the Moon tends to wobble at that point in space, there would be a need for some minor orbital station-keeping and minute adjustments of the station’s orbital position. Nevertheless, the advantage of this specific place, besides not having to fight the planet’s gravity to stay in space, was that its location enabled quick access to Earth, and at the same time gave enough distance to demonstrate their independence.

They could see the station approaching directly towards them, growing in size with each minute. An intimidating sight even if they knew that it would miss them by a few miles. It was not a small bright speck of light anymore, but a large silver cue ball. Its speed was greatly reduced since it had been making braking maneuvers from the halfway point of its voyage.

This entire spectacle was transmitted by Max to the Ascension and numerous Earth networks. Everybody wanted to see such a momentous event, and the numbers of people viewing the live transmission were staggering. By Max’s estimate, billions were at this very moment watching their TVs, computers, phones, and following every second of the final approach. It was similar to Neil Armstrong’s first moonwalk, with commentators in dozens of languages narrating every second of the event. The Ascension was impressive, and it had an almost cult following as a city in the skies, however, this space station was like an entirely new world, an immense habitat that could eventually support millions.

Max and Ares were incommunicado for the moment, orchestrating this entire approach by making millions of calculations each second, to ensure that the station would enter its new orbit with zero errors. Michael watched as the station came near them as an ocean liner would beside a small aluminum fishing boat, and then passed them by with barely any speed anymore.

There was a countdown clock in the transmission feed, and Michael looked at it, with billions of others, as it counted down until it reached zero.

And then it was over, an additional celestial body was a permanent fixture in Earth’s skies from now on, signifying a new era in human colonization of space. From the speakers, a wave of sound burst out; it was a combined noise thousands of people made clapping, hooting, and screaming in approval.

“Congratulations Max, that was beautiful to watch,” Elizabeth said to the smiling image of the AI.

“Thank you, Liz, it was like driving the biggest truck in the universe, and trying to fly it through the eye of a needle,” Max said proudly and made a sour grimace when Al commented a moment later.

“It’s so round and shiny, just like a Death Star.”

“How many times I have to tell you, it’s not a Death Star but a modified Bernal sphere!” he said to the smirking man who immediately replied.

“You can call it whatever you want, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck—”

“Okay you two, stop bickering. You had the same conversation half a dozen times already,” Michael said, interrupting something that could potentially be a long pointless discussion.

"Let’s go inside, the celebration is about to begin," Elizabeth said as the Excalibur took its place in the long line of transporters that were entering the space station.

This day was designated as a national holiday; the station entering its parking orbit was only part of it, there was another event scheduled to start soon. Still, those were all official excuses to have a relaxing day for the people of the Solarian Union. As a result of recent revelations, their citizens were scared and subdued, which was not surprising considering the threat of an alien invasion that was hanging above their heads. So, a decision was made to give them all a short respite before the real work began.

Starting from tomorrow, the Solarian Union will be going on a complete war footing, doing everything so they could be prepared in six months’ time. Already there have been many reassignments to different positions, where the skills of some gifted individuals could be most efficiently utilized.

The celebration was simultaneously organized in Ascension’s Central Park and around the lake of the new space station’s residential level. Thousands have chosen to spend the day in the new station; to make the transport from one place to another easier, Ascension broke its orbit and came very close to L1. Almost every transporter they had was in use, going back-and-forth and looking like a long line of space taxis.

The Excalibur approached the station and entered the first enormous airlock doors. This part of the station hasn’t changed much from the first time Michael saw it; a bit more color maybe, and a few safety instructions written on the walls. The greatest change could be seen on the main level, which was transformed into an oasis in space.

Green was the predominant color, covering the entire floor and the slopes of the surrounding mountains. The effort of transplanting as many trees as possible never stopped, so there were thousands of them carefully placed, to make it seem as if they had naturally grown there. In the distance, he could see where Rivendell was hidden; only the river flowing from its direction showing the path. Even the main support pillar had changed considerably, looking more natural. In the beginning, the entire outer skin was made of glass windows from the apartments built into it, now every balcony had some greenery on it and a few small vertical gardens. It was starting to look like a giant tree trunk that was slowly being covered by moss.

“Max, can you take us close to the lakeshore, there is a new barbecue place everyone has been raving about,” Elizabeth said after the craft had passed a few miles from the entrance. In no time, they were all outside, standing in a soft supple grass beneath their feet, genetically engineered for optimal growth under these conditions.

It took them a few minutes to arrive at the wooden pier, and the floating raft-restaurant attached to it. A savory scent of barbecue enriched the air. As Elizabeth told them, it was owned by the husband of their leading botanist, who emigrated to the S.U. so he could accompany his wife. He was also a chef, who guarded the secret of his barbecue sauce with passion. The entire raft was disassembled on Earth and transported to the station, and quickly became one of the prominent places, where everybody who worked here regularly visited. Luckily, one of the long tables was unoccupied and Michael hurried with the rest of his band, to seize it while there was still time.

“What can I get you, folks?” The big man who approached the table said, and then did a double-take after seeing who his new customers were.

“Leader Freeman… I’m honored…” The man breathed out, surprised, but like any professional proprietor bounced back in no time. “I can recommend the special, its barbecue ribs in my special sauce,” he said, taking out a small notebook and a pen.

“Please call me Michael, and I will have a special accompanied with any beer you have on tap,” he ordered with a smile, and the others duplicated his order.

“Beer will be right up, and the ribs will be done in ten minutes,” the man said with a nod, and then went back to the kitchen.

“Boss, it seems you have become famous,” Al said with a grin, and then laughed when he saw that familiar uncomfortable look on Michael’s face.

“There’s something to be said about anonymity, I don’t think I like this much attention,” Michael replied, and tried to pay no notice to other patrons of the establishment who were discreetly pointing their phone cameras in his direction.

“This place is really shaping up,” Pete commented, looking at the lakeshore, and hundreds of people they could see from this place.

“Yeah, I’ve read the latest reports and they had even abundantly populated the lake with several varieties of fish, and there are plenty of sweet water shrimp that are thriving in the new environment,” Michael replied.

He looked around at the celebration that was already in full swing. Hundreds of tables were everywhere, making it look like a massive picnic in the park. He could see so many happy faces on this bright sunny day, with children running around in play, while the adults were lying on the grass, enjoying the atmosphere. A few spontaneous football, volleyball, and basketball games had started, and there were dozens of pedal boats on the lake’s surface. Maybe the strangest thing on the lake was a small sailboat that Max had for some inexplicable reason transported to the space station.

The lake itself had that deep blue color of mountain lakes, so clear that invited the eye to linger on it. The work on this level never stopped from that first time Michael came here. By now, there were more than two thousand botanists, gardeners, scientists, and support staff permanently living here, with the singular purpose to create a balanced biosphere, before the general population moved in. For a moment, he envied them; their problems consisted only of bringing life to this level, while they trusted him to take care of other things. Like fighting off a hostile alien race, for example.

As Pete stated, this entire level was shaping up into something unique; an artificial environment that was designed to have a truly natural feel to it.

Their order came, carried by the owner and two waiters. “Enjoy your meal folks, and call me if you need anything more,” he said smiling. “Bon appétit,” he finished with the spread arms, and quickly went back to the kitchen.

The group dug in with an appetite typical for the enhanced people. Moreover, for the next twenty minutes, no words were spoken, except the ones praising the BBQ taste.

Just as they were finishing the delicious meal, a loud chime reverberated through the entire level, and a familiar voice said, “May I have your attention, please.”

The sound came from the direction of the central pillar, and in the next moment, four huge holo-screens appeared floating around it, facing in all directions, making Max’s face visible from all sides of the level.

“It is time,” Elizabeth said, with a big smile on her face.

Despite the threat of future demon attacks, this was an event many citizens of the Solarian union awaited with excitement. It was no wonder since the betting pool for naming the station has become rather large, with quite a generous grand prize. It was Anna’s idea from way back when the biggest problem they had to face was to make people more united. Having a say in the naming of their future home was a good way to incite that desired unity.

The only one who at this moment knew the name of this new station was Max; only logical as he was the one who logged all the individual votes. In fact, the name was already written on the station’s outer hull by hundreds of construction drones. Although there was a holographic curtain over it, hiding it from everybody’s view. Even Michael was kept out of the loop for this one.

The system for choosing the name of the station was quite simple, and every citizen of the Solarian Union was included. For one week prior to this day, everyone had the right to put their proposition in the virtual hat. Once it was registered with Max, it could not be suggested again. He published every single name so people could give their likes or dislikes. From thousands of proposed names, from which many were hilarious and a few somewhat embarrassing, twenty with the most likes were chosen for the final vote. In the last twenty-four hours, everybody gave their vote for only one name of the twenty.

As Elizabeth said, the time announcing the name has come, and Max’s voice could be heard through every speaker, implant, and device in the S.U. Even those who were in the missile silo were included.

“Ladies and gentlemen, all your votes have been counted and I have a privilege to pronounce the winner. So let’s count down with me, and when we reach zero, I will reveal the name already written on the station's hull.” The smiling face of the AI proclaimed.

The view on the giant holo-screens changed from Max’s face to the outside view of the station, superimposed on it was the number ten.

Max started counting down, “ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and… ONE!” The sound of thousands of voices counting down echoed across the entire nation. When the voices said one, the holographic curtain flickered for a moment and then turned transparent.

“The new name of our home is the Solarian Union space station… AVALON!” Max’s voice finally said, and the cheer of the people could be felt as a vibration through the floor.

Each letter was a mile long and painted in gold, on the silvery surface of the hull. The name couldn’t be seen from one vantage point, due to the curvature of the sphere. However, the drone that was recording from the outside, circled around it so everybody could see the S.U. AVALON embossed on it.

Max had told him in confidence that the paint he was using to write the station’s name wasn’t paint at all… it was actual gold. The mining operation at the asteroid belt yielded so much of it, he didn’t know where to store it anymore, since the level he designated for it was filled with gold bars. He also made an entire gold layer inside the walls of the station for additional protection, and still had too much of it left. Placing even a fraction of that on Earth’s markets would devalue the price of the precious metal to such a degree, it would become essentially worthless. His solution was to put it to good use by making an impressive station sign; Michael didn’t want to calculate how much gold went into mile-high letters. Even looking at it from the drone’s camera, it was apparent that the name was especially shiny, reflecting the light of the sun.

The cheering and applause went on for some time before Max produced a sound like one would by tapping on a microphone, which lowered the amount of noise so his voice could be heard again.

“The first one to suggest our station’s new name was Miss Danielle Warvel, and her prize is an apartment of her choice in Rivendell. And by the way folks, Danielle is only seven years old.” He said with a smile, and everybody gave another round of applause to the image of a small girl whose face was shown on the holo-screens. She had a big grin on her face, with two front teeth missing, not a bit nervous that she was the focus of everyone’s attention.

Michael had to laugh; of all suggested names, a seven-year-old girl got to name the station. His suggestion didn’t even make it in the top twenty.

“You’re not mad that your choice wasn’t considered?” Elizabeth asked him.

“Not really, I threw in the ‘Death Star’ just to annoy Max, and to make sure Al couldn’t register it. I already have named the Excalibur and the Ascension, so naming the station too seemed a bit pretentious. That’s why I chose the name nobody would vote for,” he answered with a slight grin.

Max spoke through his implant. “The ‘Death Star’ got more than five hundred likes, you forgot how many geeks we have, so… thanks for that.” Using only the intonation of his voice, the AI managed to transmit a healthy dose of sarcasm.

“Well… you must admit it would have been a cool name,” Michael replied in the same way, still trying to maintain that carefree smile on his face.

The AI stayed silent, the kind of silence that has a very definite meaning.

“Let’s have another round of beers while there is still some on tap,” Al said and lifted his hand to summon the waiter.

Everybody agreed, and they stayed in that lake restaurant for hours, enjoying the relaxed time and the company.