posted 11-25-98 09:12 AM ET        

MikeH II

The Club of the future was a great success. Now here's your chance to join in the story of the build up to the Unity launch whilst we await the return of the other chronicles.
Rules:
as the old Flowing Chronicles there is really only one rule which is to respect what others have written. Post away.
Journal of Ecology Co-ordinator Mike Hefferan
It was the biggest I'd ever seen. That phrase would have caused a few laughs in the pub back home. The Starship Unity. Wow. A starship. I was here to help with the environmental systems. "We are attempting 98% closure" They had said at the interview. "I can do it" I had replied but looking at it now I was less confident. I had worked on closed systems on the moon at first then mars and we had good results there. Up to 90% on mars now but they still had water locally (not much but enough) and regular resupplies from Earth. This ship would be out on its own and not only would it require a good closed system on board but the basis for several others when the ship arrived. It was going to be an exciting challenge.
I went to my room to prepare my Unity model on my computer. We would be recieving the first bacteria tanks and plants in a couple of weeks and I would have to start work with Diedre Skye the biologist on closing the system. My responsibility would be to tell her what we required from her biosphere and get the recycling facilities in to complement them. It was going to take all of the year we had and maybe longer.
Journal of Ecology Co-ordinator Mike Hefferan
24th June
It is getting difficult to focus on the evironmental systems problems on the ship. the tensions in the outside world are getting too close. There is open revolt on Mars against the mining authority which has sent share prices crashing and Earth manufacturing is suffering. The funding for the Unity is suffering badly. Parts and shuttle trips are getting hard to find. There are rumours of a big private company taking over more of the project but I don't believe it. It is a world project, I can't believe the governments would let it slip away like that.
25th June
I met Captain Garland last night. He seems pleasant enough although he doesn't seem to know much about closed system engineering which is a bit worrying. I think he should at least know a little bit about the ship's systems. I can't really tell how well he'll act under pressure though. Maybe when we get to know him better we'll find out he's a great leader but I doubt it, his appointment was too political.
26th June
Garland gave his first chat to the crew today. Pretty dull, I think he is probably just a figurehead but I can't figure out the real power behind the ship. He just seems so ineffectual as a leader. Then again maybe it's just me I haven't heard any other talk in the mess. There aren't many crew here yet though. Most of the other scientists and engineers arrive today. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the new people. It's been hard here with the last of the construction crew supervising the changeover.
I think I'll go for a workout in the centrifuge later the zero G is really getting boring, at least I haven't been spacesick yet.
Journal of Ecology Co-ordinator Mike Hefferan
The rebel encampments on Mars have destroyed one of my domes. What can I say. I spent 5 years on that project.
Here on board ship things are starting to get very strange. Yesterday our external news coverage was knocked out so we can't see what is happening in the rest of the Solar System and today the communications failed. There are hundreds of rumours and speculations going round the ship. First there are supposed to be subversives aboard trying to sabotage the Unity. Then someone said a big conglomerate is sabotaging stuff to spiral up costs and try and get in on the project. It's all ridiculous you expect these teething troubles in an engineering project of this complexity but to be honest I am getting a little edgy. I don't know what it is but there is something wrong on the Unity. It feels unlucky. I'm not normally supersticious but this ship has a strange aura about it. I've been asked to go on the trip and I have got a couple of days to decide. They think my expertese will be extremely useful on Planet but I am not sure I can leave the Solar System. I left Earth 20 years ago and have only been back a couple of times but forever? I am going to have to think hard about this one. The challenge is amazing and I have to admit I am very tempted.
Heckler
Walking down the hall checking that the marking strips were correctly layered and lead to the right rooms Dave heard a pair of hushed voices.
"Look I don't care what orders are that would be murder!"
"I'm only going to tell you one more time all we do is cut power to the core for a few minutes at most a handfull of people outside would die proabably only get scared, and when the smoke clears no one will notice our little indescretion."
"It is still murder perhaps we could check the schedule for a time when no EVA is planned for a while?"
"Fine lets do that but if we don't muddy the water and someone finds out that we cut those wires they would proabably shove us out an airlock."
By now Dave was approaching the voices it turned the corner and continued with its computerised scan of the floor.
"YAAH!" yelled a man in the light blue uniform of an exterior construction tech.
"Relax its just one of the remotes that make sure all the direction strips are layed out correctly." replied his companion who was in civillian dress, but had a pilots wings on one shoulder.
"Yeah but it sure is quiet." the other responded.
Dave continued on its way down the corridor.
Yo_Yo_Yo_Hey
Journals of Lt. S Johnson.
June 25th.
It seems the Mars rebels are going through the land destroying small installations, & killing some minor scientists. Though this means little to me, it is cowardly on their part, & is sending everything on earth spinning to hell. Massive inflation, I've heard something of 400%! I sometimes think it's a good thing my fiance died in the Connecticut riots of 2058, I wouldn't have to struggle through all this with a family. But then I just think of all the good times we had together, & wish I could still be with her. I will join her again one day, I'm hoping soon. I am nothing near suicidal on the field. I mean, I'm daring & all, but I gotta platoon looking up to me for advice & guidance, I can't just give up my life, & let them die on the Martian landscape, millions of miles away from their families.
June 27.
It seems a large group of rebels are advancing on our position. General O'Connor has ordered me & my platoon to dig in here & wait for reinforcements. He is an arrogant man, I don;t know how the UN could of put him in charge of an army. We are well trained & all, but our morale is pretty low. Most of these men know they're gonna die, away from their families, alone, on a cold, barren surface. Sometimes I begin to depress myself.
June 28
Damn, intel has just reported the size of the rebel force closing on our position. About 1000 men, 1 division, closing on my 50 men! ETA 2 days. our closest reinforcements, a company of about 100 men, is still 5 days away in FTV(Fast Terrain Vehicle). Sometimes I wonder why I'm so loyal to everything, then I just think back to my generations behind me. My great, great grandpa died leading an old fashioned charge on a German machine gun nest in WWII. My great grandpa was a crack sniper, racking in over 50 kills in Vietnam. My dad, my dad, he earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for him & his company's rearguard action at the Battle of Brittany, they credited him for saving the entire division from collapsing & turning into a rout. Sadly he died defending, at bayonet point, his part of the line. I was 5. I got someone waiting for me in heaven, sometimes our path is chosen for us. Perhaps I should just face destiny & die like so many generations before me. Sadly, I am the last generation in my family.
Possibly the last log entry of,
S Johnson III
MikeH II
Journal of Michael Hefferan, USS Unity
I have decided to go to Alpha Centauri. It wasn't an easy decision to make but I think it was inevitable. This is not a normal voyage. I have got the oportunity to be part of the first human expedition out of the Solar System, one of the great challenges left to Humanity. I have to be part of that. If I didn't go I would spend the rest of my life regretting it, so I must go. It will be an enormous challenge. I am the leading expert on recycling and waste recovery on the Unity. There are some great biologists and genetecists on board. I can virtually specify a bacteria or algae to them and they will build it exactly as required, like ordering a part from a precision engineering lab. The structural engineers are superb as well. We have cut gas and vapour leakage in the ventilation systems to 0.1% per year so far and although this is a huge improvement over the initial value we still have some way to go. I am really enjoying the work it is hard and tiring, we work 16 hour days and sleep the rest of the time but the enthusiasm is amazing. We are at the cutting edge of Human achievement and the motivation is superb.
The communication systems are still out except for an emergency transmitter that the bridge crew are using to talk to Earth. Still no word from Mars although the rumours suggest that the Rebels are doing extremely well. All the analysts who said you can't expect to put 10 million people on a new world and expect them to be ruled from another planet are probably appearing on every news and talk show grinning smugly. I'm glad I can't see it.
The spare part situation is ridiculous. We can't get a screw without filling in ten to the six forms. It's crazy. If the situation does not improve I am worried that the whole mission will fail.
Rumours about sabotage are still rife. Aparently there was some kind of reactor 'incident' yesterday but I don't know what it was. The reactor team won't talk about it and the official line is that there 'was no incident in the reactor' the official denial seems to make it more likely that it did occur. I don't know what to believe. We've had two environmental engineering toolkits go missing in the past two days. I had to order a complete scan of the ventilation system to check they weren't left behind in a tube but nothing. One I would put down to carelesness but two? I can't imagine any other department or person wanting a hand held Air Moisture And Gas Spectometer (AMAGS) let alone two.
Imran Siddiqui

Tech Scientist Imran Siddiqui:
I don't know if I want to leave home. I mean I have a huge job with Intel. I won't be able to see the Pentium 4 - 5000 Mhz chip launch. Oh well, the Earth needed me. If we were successful on this, imagine the possiblities. The first colonized planet outside of the solar system. Unreal!! Bill Gates the forth wished me luck today. I feared for our company. Morgan Industries seemed to be closing in, but that's business. All I have to worry about now, is checking the ship, for technical errors. Man what a beaut! The ship was probably the greatest wonder of world to date, and I get to go onboard! Maybe leaving Earth isn't such a bad idea after all.
Jsorense
Greg Treestock looked down on Australia from one of the Perth Space Elevator gondolas as it rose to geo-synchronous orbit to meet the Quantas Earth/Moon shuttle. Many emotions flooded through him as he gazed down and identified his native Sydney: nostalgia for a happy youth, pride in a successful career, deep sadness over the current conditions of the Earth. It was time for humans to start a new world; a world where the history of war, exploitation and pollution would be left far behind.
He was on his way to a cryocell aboard the U.N.S. Unity which was now parked in Moon orbit taking on fuel, supplies crew and colonists. He looked down at his U.N. Peacekeeping Force Colonel's uniform and smiled. He had Ph.D.s in psychology and pharmacology as well as the Nobel Prize in Economics but receiving the honorary commission in the U.N. was his proudest achievement. Now he was on his way to start a colony on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. What an adventure!
As the terminator slowly engulfed the view below turning the landscape from yellows and browns to black strung with treads of lights, he looked for the name of an unofficial contact on the ship. He had been led to believe that given a little consideration a certain Quartermaster by the name of Specialist Fourth Class Arsinio Rivera could help him with a little some things over his allotted personal baggage mass. He was taking a risk, a rather expensive risk, bringing these things on board. But you never knew what would be valuable and useful, if a little illegal, within the context of a new society.
Only time would tell.
Outlyr 242
Personal log for Dr. Renwick
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
University of Edinburg, Scotland
[logon]
June 29
The news had sent a lot of people away from the big cities. Edinburg and Glasgow had to shut down the trains that left town because riots were breaking out at the departure stations. Well this was one good thing about taking my vacation early this year. Most of the people I have talked to up here expect more widespread riots to break out with in a month. I ask them why. Why does everybody want to riot? What's to come from it? Everybody is scared. Scared that they won't have any food, that their savings will disappear in the network, that the government will collapse. They have heard the stories about the ganglords in South America. I even heard my own story told back to be yesterday, only much of the details were missing and Amy seemed to have disappeared from the plot. It reminds me of the old medieval ballads. What the stories lack in historical facts are compensate for by use of emotion and dramatics.
The situation in Brazil was bad. I was there when the first riots broke out. I saw the monuments fall on the violent throng. I know what could happen but these people can only fear it. The sad part is, we all can stop it. It is the fear that motivates this self-destruction. But leaving the cities will not solve their problems. They leave the cities but the fear does not leave them. Like a contagion it is slowly spreading across the lands and boundaries of our planet. Sometimes I think that I have suffered enough of a loss already, that there is little left for me to hang on to. When I think about what is going on around me it just seems like a macrocosm of my personal suffering. I can't feel sorry for these people. Sometimes I can't even feel at all.
[logoff]
JB
Jonathan Sagan
Medical Officer Aboard the UNS Unity
---------------------------------------------
The Sickbay on the Unity was expansive. Just about every known medical device could be found here. And they were needed. With the Unity nearing completion, the Sickbay had been called into activation for the construction crews. It was taking to long to get seriously injured people to the Lunar Hospital, and the Med-Trans didn't have enough supplies for serious injuries. I remember when I got here, with the ill-equipt hosptals, watching those with serious trama having to be shipped to Earth in a cryo-tube. I knew that 90% of them wouldn't make it in time, their bodies destroyed by the ancient freezing systems. But now we cold save them.
---------------------------------------------
"ALERT-- MED-TRANS APPROACHING; ETA-4 MINUTES. ID ALPHA-32" The computer screens shot to life, showing a countdown. I looked at my Med-Comm: It was flashing red, with the words ALPHA-32. I was assigned to this one. The details popped onto the Comm:
MALE
WHITE
2.9 METERS
DOB- 1.26.15
ENGINEER
SEVERE RADIATION BURNS COVERING 50% OF BODY- TYPE DELTA
BP- 101/53
HR- 60 BPM
The Comm continued to show information. I knew his chances were slim- Delta burns were serious. He would most likely need hours of surgery, plus a Preventive Cancer Program. New info showed up:
# ASSIGNED: 10
DOCTORS: 5
NURSES: 5
TRAUMA 2
RADIATION SPECILIST CALLED
BURN SPECILIST CALLED
REQUEST MORE? YES NO
I didn't think we would need more, and hurried to Trauma 2. The room, like all Trauam rooms, was transparent in places on the circular walls, translucent in others. The automatic doors slid open as I walked in. Two nurses were already there. 20 seconds. The rest of the nurses and doctors hurried in at once, seemingly in chorous. The doors slid open once again, bringing in a grotesquely shriveled body on a strecher. The strecher locked into place on the table, and we began...
Two hours later, the man was on his way to the OR. We had just barely stabilised him. My Med-Comm signalled it was time for my break. I happily obliged.
I found later that there were fifteen radiation burns at once. Maybe those rumors about the sabatage in Engineering were right...
Outlyr 242
Personal log for Dr. Renwick
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
University of Edinburg, Scotland
[logon]
June 31
It has been an interesting past couple of days. Amy is staying with me now, the situation in Edinburg is getting worse and I can allow her to stay in schools any more. A small group of protestors managed to get into a police armory. There has not been any violence. The protestors now call themselves the Citizenship for Survival. They promise no one will be hurt and claim they are motivated by a lack of appropriate actions from the Scottish National Government or the EU. They are asking that the EU or the national Government take steps to protect the property and well being of their citizens. In an e-bulletin they announced that similar groups are active in most of the major cities on the continent.
All this reminds me of the War of the Roses when "overmighty subjects" could rule the standing government. They had paid standing armies that could threaten juries and officials to get the outcome they wanted. Today roving clannish gangs look to be doing the same thing that these "overmighty subject" did over 900 years ago. They will drive our nation- no, our WORLD into absolute and total war.
I have often talked about fear and how it has motivated people to make stupid but seemingly life-saving choices. This is the end result of that fear. The arming of the world will cost in lives and livelihoods. I thought I had lost hope when the terrorists bombed our house and killed...
I don't know what to do anymore. Amy is upset too, she was really close to her mother and we both would like to have her back right now. Such a loving and calming voice is just what we need right now.
[Loggoff]
MikeH II
Journal of Head of Life Support Systems Mike Hefferan
This ship is insane!
I hate this bueracratic nonsense. I have to fill in 100 forms for a damn moisture detector then they send to earth for it! We've been delayed for 2 days for a �5 item which I could have made myself except we are not allowed to use non standard equipment.
I am beginnning to hope the rumours of a corporation takeover are true this operation is so inefficient that it is costing us weeks. Every week we go by we are losing days on the completion date.
Oh I got a promotion. Now I am the head of life support systems. More work more responsibility, same pay. Never mind it's only a title. I love the work and only the logistics are annoying me. If I am honest I needed those two days off.
We are still leaking moisture in the system somewhere. I can't figure out where. The only other trouble I've got is how to collect the sweat from the crew efficiently. I am helping with the design of the crew uniforms but we need some kind of collectors out on the ship. The air conditioning is fairly efficient but there is moisture lost on the walls and floors.
Journal of Head of Life Support Systems Mike Hefferan
1st July
Well my job description has changed again. Apparently now none of the crew are going to be awake for the whole flight. The UN finally listened to the reccomendations of the Skye report and apparently there are enough redundant systems to wake the crew if anything should happen. Hmmm. I would be happier with at least one crew member being out of Stasis even on a rota but the psyche reports suggest that even in short bursts this would be detrimental to the crew member's mental health and regularly going in and out of Stasis is a very bad idea. It took a lot to get the council to believe robots could do the job and I have to admit I have reservations. Anyway this means that the system is capable enough as it is. It is good for a 1/2 journey with all the crew awake. This will allow us to get to earth or AC which ever is closer if an emergency should arise. The plant ecosystem is strong enough to survive the whole journey without a human drain on it's resources so I am now working on the regulation of the Cryogenic chambers.
Jsorense
The Quantas Spacelines Boeing 70001 Lunar Shuttle smoothly braked and entered moon orbit. Greg Treestock felt the pressure of his flight harness as the shuttle decelerated. He would have to meet the U.N. representative on Tyco Base before he could take the Moon Bus up for his first visit to the U.N.S. Unity.
Tyco Base had grown a lot during these last 10 years. The Morgan Conglomerate logo was everywhere. It seemed like a steady stream of lighters were taking off and landing. The traffic control was almost like New LAX during rush hour.
Ten years Greg had been to Tyco Base. At that time he had been called on by the Morgan Conglomerate to investigate an outbreak of SMACA II.b among their staff at the huge mining/refinery complex they operated to support the construction of additional lunar colonies and, of course, the Unity herself. They had been lucky. The outbreak had been caught early and the affected patients had been returned to duty, albeit, in positions where their access to MS.AI was limited. Greg smiled at the bonus he had received for that job. He had bought himself a nice little vineyard outside of Melbourne with it. And he had actually met the man himself, C.E.O. Nwabudike Morgan. What Greg remembered most about the meeting was the incredible "presence" Morgan brought to the room. He was more like a force of nature then a man. Well, since he was the most powerful private economic power on Earth, maybe he was more akin to a force of nature. Musing to himself Greg wonder if Morgan was more like a typhoon or the El Ni�o Southern Oscillation.
SnowFire

posted 11-25-98 05:53 PM ET            

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for this warm welcome. I had no idea that my arrival would cause so much trouble. I am flattered but I know how busy you all must be now that the project deadline has been brought up another two weeks. Because of conditions back on Earth this mission must be launched as soon as possible. Please return to your duties and I will now attend to mine. God bless you all. Good bye and good luck."

After a few last hand shakes and personal farewells Greg was ready for his next destination: the Unity medical dome where he would start the therapy that would prepare him for a cryogenic state. This treatment would, theoretically, preserve him for an almost unimaginable future.

"OK Ensign Holloway, I am ready to be led into the lion's den of medicos. Lead on!" "Aye, aye, sir." she said with a crisp salute. And so she escorted him down tunnels, along people movers, up elevators and through a labyrinth of office cubicles. At one point they had to wait for a squad of U.N. Security to go through their P.T routine. A tall Latina with lieutenant's bars was talking to a sergeant.

"Keep them moving Sgt. Junack. We can't afford to loose any muscle mass in moon gravity. We'll need everything we got to insure survival once we get to A.C. Are you sure you put enough extra weight in their packs?"
"Yes, ma'm! You heard the lieutenant! Move out you grubs!" barked the sergeant as he double-timed the sweating soldiers up a seemingly endless flight of stairs.

The lieutenant then noticed Greg's colonel uniform and stiffened to attention, saluted and drilled him with a smolderingly angry glare. Greg returned her salute surprised by her reaction. "Carry on Lieutenant , ah, Santiago." murmured Greg after reading her I.D. badge. Reluctantly he turned his back on her in order to followed his guide to the entrance of the medical dome.

"Here we are Col. Treestock. This is as far as I go. See you in about 40 years."

posted 11-27-98 07:55 AM ET            

The great Greg Treestock is on board. I met him once before when he was helping with the SMACA epidemic. That was good work. I am looking forward to working with him on the ship's medical filters. I can't think of a more impressive crew than we have got already.

posted 11-29-98 07:39 PM ET            

"Col. Treestock? Thank goodness I reached you in time. Your orders have been changed. You will not be given the cryogenic treatment at this time. The Director General wishes to speak to you right away! Please allow your escort, Ensign Khosa, to lead you to his desk."

As if on cue, Ensign Khosa popped into view, saluted, and said, "Follow me sir, there isn't a moment to loose."

Fifteen minutes late Greg was shown into a small office with an incongruously large and imposing desk in it. Behind the desk sat The Director General of U.N.S. Unity Engineering Coordination Committee furiously typing memos on his executive console. Despite his fatigue Greg grinned and said,

"G'day mate! You know, all work and no play makes Raymond a dull boy!"
"Jeus H., Greg! You know better than to sneak up on an old marine like that. I cudda taken your head off!"
"Sure, Raymond. You tried that once, remember."
"Oh yeah. I guess you mean that time in Hong Kong. And, no, I really don't remember. What was her name anyway?"
"Her name was Cindy as you know very well. And she liked me best any way. Now stop B.S.ing me and tell me what's up. I'm tired and I need a drink."

Shaking his head Raymond opened the lower left-hand drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of Kentucky bourbon and two glasses. He poured them both generous shots and toasted,

"To lab assistants everywhere."

"Amen, Brother Raymond. Now what's so urgent that you needed to pull me our to cryogenics?"
"Well, Greg, I got the request from his holiness Commander Prokhor Zakharov himself. The science officer of the whole Unity Project wants you to assist with the final preparations of the ship. With the count down shortened by two more weeks they are really scrambling to get all the environmental systems on-line and working within perimeters. By the way, and off the record, there have been rumors of sabotage and other unexplained goings on out there. So you be careful."

posted 11-29-98 10:19 PM ET            

I sat in a small New York cafe looking over my documents, furtively trying to better prepare.

With only 2 weeks left to go in the project, I had been assigned to go to the Unity itself and conduct business from there. A moon shuttle to Tyco Base was leaving at 10 PM- I hated the military times on all the flights and I will resolutely cling to familiarity on this count. But first there was the meeting with the Spartan Confederation Representative. This would be tougher than I expected: The other 2 Citizens for Survival reps were suddenly "unavailable" and I had not been fully briefed on the meeting, since I was the most junior member of the three and was there more as an observer. So I was going over everything the SfS knew on the Spartan representative. I knew then that the Spartans had been largely responsible for the trouble in Brazil, and had done some evil things in Atlanta too. Not that there was any conclusive evidence, of course. The Spartans were clearly professionals and adding them to the Eurasian CfS would be a great coup for me. I had arrived half an hour early for the 8:00 meeting, as to better prepare. Much to my dismay, a man fitting the Spartan representative walked in at 8:10, interrupting my hasty research.

He walked over to my table. "I hear the Mets are to merge with London's new baseball team."

"Yeah, if the cow jumps over the moon."

The replies completed, I set out to business. "I'm sorry, but Monsieur Dumas and
Frau Weinenberg are unable to attend. I will be conducting the meeting."

"Good. We will get straight to business then."

I learned that this was indeed Mr. Aemora from the Spartan Confederation. He headed up the Spartan activities in the Western Half of the United States, with agents from San Diego to Vancouver. His companion was also unavailable, but refused to say why. Then he got to the conditions of the merger.

"It's very simple Mr. Legrand. We like you, and some other members of your higher up leadership. You will merge with us, and the new entity will be called the Spartan Federation. Notice the lack of the Con before Federation. It will be headed by one person, our new leader. There will be no more squabbling between individual cells of organization. The only similarity will be that there will be 3 general leaders, who we're calling Chancellors, directly below our new leader: one of American Operations, one of Eurasian Operations, and one of Colonial Operations. I will be Chancellor of American Ops, and you will be Chancellor of Eurasian Ops."

I was shocked. Did he just say that *I* would be the leader of the Eurasian Ops, which meant the CfS?

"But.... what about your higher-ups in the Spartans? What about all my leaders? They will certainly want those positions."

Aemora was unnaturally cool. "They have been... taken care of. The times, they are a-changing. Fortunately, our new leader likes you. And likes me as well. I was the one who sent you the message that your other associates would not be attending this meeting, by the way. You will be head of the old CfS power structure and explain to the lower downs the new way on how things work: I will be doing the same to the old Spartan Confederation lads and their new leader. The Spartan Federation will be three times as powerful as the old Confederation and CfS."

I was still reeling. It's like being told that you had won the lottery, but all your old friends had been butchered to do it.1

"I still have an appointment on the Unity that I have to go to today. How will I administer operations from there?"

"You will have a contact there. She will explain everything to you."

"Who will be my contact on the Unity?"

"A colonel in security. Name's Corazon Santiago. And I'll warn you right now, er, don't treat her as just a contact. She's a tad higher up in the organization than that. Just as you are in the middle of the Morgan Conglomerate, and yet high in the true power structure of our new power."

"Oh? How much higher?"

Mr. Aemora simply laughed a little and said "You'll understand when you meet her. Organizations like ours promote on terms of skill, unlike so many bureaucracies that claim to represent fairness."

I looked at my watch. I had time to reach the spaceport, but with New York traffic being what it is...

"Okay, nice meeting you."

posted 11-29-98 11:41 PM ET            

As builder of the Unity spacecraft, It was Morgan Industries's job to make sure everything was in working order. The vice CEO's were around looking for spinoffs, which could make great profits for the company.

We were suprised in the inspection procedure when Mr. Morgan himself arrived. He seemesd to be a little more than interested in the cryocells pods. I guess he thought that a profit could be made by freezing termanally-ill patients until a cure had been found for their diseases. It would be a a great project. Hopefully the University could see it to make some more cryocell pods for us. They've been overworked as it is. Well, this could be the dawn of a new era in Morgan Industries.

posted 11-30-98 06:04 PM ET            

Greg was first attracted to the old style saloon swinging doors and his curiosity was further piqued by a small battered sign that read, "No Weapons Allowed Beyond This Point." Looking in he saw an unusual configuration with a long bar to one side and, several tables, each with a lava lamp, and a huge antique juke box to one side. However, the distinguishing feature of the main room was that there were a large number of small private corners with mirrors set up to create the illusion that there was an infinite number.

posted 11-30-98 07:08 PM ET            

I arrived at Tyco Base around 3:30. It was the equivalent of a 4 hour jet lag, since they ran on GMT here. I picked up my baggage and was ready to head over to the wing that had the Unity flights when a tumultuous boom sounded. I ran over to a window, only to see a giant transport filled with supplies for the Unity in flames. That would set things back another week, probably, knowing that it probably had the rarest and most valuable materials on board. Worse... it looked like the logo of Morgan Industries on the side. Sigh. This didn't look like sabotage from a cursory inspection, more likely tired mechanics missing something important. Plus if my new organization had done the deed, it would have been with more style than that.

Well, it seems that all the flights to the Unity were temporarily suspended from that. I now had a 4 hour stopover here at Tyco when it should have only been half an hour. I decided to head over to "The Strip" at Tyco base, infamous for its many businesses styled after old Las Vegas. While such things held little attraction for me, I knew that there was one place that had the best damn chilled orange juice in the solar system.

A few minutes later, I got out of the taxi and stepped inside the I club. I hadn't been there in awhile, but a few of the regulars I recognized. One brandished an old World War II rifle. I think his son, Lt. S Johnson, was a member of the troops enforcing order on Mars. One drunk was tossing darts at a wall, and missing wildly. I hear he used to be an enforcer for the old IIIS, and he dispatched his enemies with poisoned darts. But I suppose he had fallen on hard times after the IIIS officially was closed by the government, though there are still rumors its work continues underground.

posted 12-01-98 05:08 PM ET            

"Ring, Ring"

Garland wakes up and reaches for the object which distubed his sleep.

"Hello?"
"Garland?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"This is Richards from the Unity Division of the UN."
"Oh, yes. Does this mean I got the job?"
"Yes, Captain it does. It was just decided this morning."
"Yaahooo!!"

The scream of joy by new Captain Garland echoed across the suburb.

"Captain, we have an airplane waiting for you at the airport, to take you to Geneva for a briefing, and the presentation of Captain's bars of course."
"I'm on my way."

Captain Garland collected his clothes and packed them into a light blue-suitcase with the UN logo on the side. He exited his home for 4 years and hopped into the Ford Taurus he owned. It was interesting that a UN Captain would drive an American car, especially because of American hostility to the UN lately.

That led Garland to remember the events leading to the leaving of the most powerful nation on Earth from the UN. It amazed him that so many Americans had applied to positions on Unity. At least some hadn't thought the United Nations to be "evil", as the latest American President stated. This caused Garland to think maybe the UN shouldn't have demanded the dues do forcefully, causing the United States to leave. He hoped a war wouldn't break out between the US and the UN. Of course that couldn't happen, could it? The US had many friends still in the UN: Canada, Germany, Austrailia, etc. Maybe even the UK will come back. They had left protesting the treatment of the US.

Garland though was glad that the US and UN hadn't come to war during the Sino-American war of 2069. The UN refused to back anyone in the war. France exercised its Veto. They might not have liked the US, but they were smart enough to know not to go to war with them. Russia also used its Veto. It was getting peaceful with everyone, even mass butchers! Especially after the Civil War, when US-backed Democracy forces beat back the Communist revival. With the US's defeat of China, Communism was finally wiped out in the world. Instead of making the States happy, they became angry with the UN, for not helping. Garland feared the splintering of the UN. The US seemed to be leading NATO off from the UN, and other reagional alliances started getting more powerful. Secretary General Bernard was assinated last year in Manchester, England (probably by American extremists), and it seems that the new Secretary General is afraid of doing anything to upset anyone.

But, better days were coming for Captain Garland. He was to be the Captain for the first colonization of another system. He was so happy, he could hardly contain his glee. A smile was on his face all throughout the drive, and he just arrived at the airpost with it. It was going to be hard to knock it off.

posted 12-01-98 06:31 PM ET            

He was too late. One of the larger Morgan Conglomerate freight lighters had apparently crashed causing the hull to breach and decompress. Its crew and passengers were now lined up in a uniform row of body bags along a wall just inside the Auxiliary Airlock 17B. Two people stood out among the crowd of exhausted and shocked emergency response crews. One was a smallish red headed woman who was comforting a sobbing corpsman with such empathy that she seemed to glow. Everyone around her drew strength and calm from her aura. The other was a young man slowly moving from one body bag to the next giving each a somber blessing. Walking up to the young man Greg noticed the insignia for a U.N.S. Unity chaplain and a nametag that read, "T. Stobie." Not wishing to disturb the short but dignified rituals Greg turned his attention to the woman hoping he be able to help any of the injured.

Lt. Commander Godwinson turned from the now comforted corpsman looking for any hurt to heal.

"Commander Godwinson, I have some medical training, is there anything I can do? Where are the injured from this accident." Greg gasped after his long run to the scene. For the second time in two days a pair of eyes transfixed Greg. This time they communicated piercing anger, profound sadness and unbreakable stength.

posted 12-01-98 06:50 PM ET            

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She was not just my wife, for 30 years she was my best friend," Richard said.

"We will all miss her Richard. She was an honest and good friend. We will all miss her," I said.

"I know," he said wiping the start of another tear from his eye. Richard and Lynn lived as I always wanted to with Kim. I never knew them to raise their voice against one another. Lynn would grace any conversation with a wide smile. Yes, she will be missed.

"You know I am set to go on the UN deep space trip," Richard said with a start.

"Yeah, It leaves in about a week right?"

"Yes. I was thinking about it and, and I can't go. I can't leave this planet knowing I'm leaving Lynn behind. I know you lost Kim too so I can understand if you don't want to go. But I want to offer you Lynn and My seat on the ship."

"me?"

"Yes. I know it is a bit sudden, but you are the best person I know who could take the trip. You can take my place and Amy could take Lynn's. I'll tell you everything they told me, you will get the best treatment"

"You're right it is sudden. I mean this is not just a trip to Mars, it's a one-way bullet that never comes back."

"I know but you will have to make your decision soon"

"how soon?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richard gave me a day to decide. Kim and I wanted to take this trip but after the stories came out about the construction mishaps and all the budget constraints we pulled our applications. Those problems seem to have been fixed with the help of a corporate sponsor. Now was our chance to actually do it but Kim was not here anymore. I know she would want us to go, but I could not make the choice myself.

Amy was the one that convinced me. She said this was not about what mom would want us to do but what we should do for her.

posted 12-01-98 09:56 PM ET            

My brief foray into town over, I returned back to the spaceport.

The debris had been cleaned up some. There were now body bags being lined up and being sorted by place of origin. Of those whose relatives were already there, a few chaplains were consoling them. I reached the ramp agent's booth, and found out that there was still another half hour before the next ship would leave. "Disasters make for poor scheduling," she said wryly. Sigh, there were still things to do.

I found an engineer on the site. I asked him what happened. "Um, we can't say yet sir." I reminded him of my position in the Morgan Conglomerate, and that I could insure that a bad report would be filed on him even though he worked directly for the UN. He opened up a little bit more after that. "Well, as I said, we're not sure. It looked like an accident at first. But then this pushy chaplain came around and kept on insisting it was sabotage, she could "feel" it. Well, we looked a little closer, not that we wouldn't have done that anyway in a few days of course, and we seem to have found trace quantities of an explosive in the engine designed to create a crack that would appear as normal wear and tear. All highly inconclusive, of course, but it's a definite possibility."

I took a moment to be be amazed at how fast today's engineers discovered things that would take a lab visit and weeks in my childhood. Then I realized that this did have a certain style to it, maybe it was the Spartan's work. Maybe this Santiago would know.

I caught my flight to the Unity, at last. It was packed, as usual, with 160 passengers in the upper bay and tons of freight below. Mostly builders on leave, but up in first class were some other executives like me and an engineer or two returning from leave. I hear from some gossips behind the seat that a new captain to replace McFarlane's unfortunate death two weeks ago, a Canadian named Garland. Also some debate on whether Vishinir Travedi's role in bringing the US and UK back into the fold of the UN, as well as the drastic strengthening of the UN with the elimination of the veto, deserved all the acclaim it got today, considering it allowed the Unity project to survive after the Russian economy failed. The one thing they were able to agree on was that the forecasted "New World Order" of dominate rule by the UN was avoided, if anything by too much, considering the constant civil unrest of today. I couldn't catch their names completely, but I think the conservative one was named Goldwater and the liberal was a researcher into strand Z-anthrax who was coming to the Unity to test for contagious diseases hiding on board.

After the flight came docking. This was my first time, so it was twice the pain. First we had to wait while the freight was extensively scanned and checked to insure we didn't contaminate the Unity with vermin or diseases, not to mention unauthorized weapons smuggled aboard. While we waited, I processed some withdrawals from panicked passengers in the wake as well as transfers of new passengers. One case awoke me from my rubber stamping trance: a scientist and his daughter were taking a husband and wife's slots that had been vacated since the wife's death. I looked at the cryocells originally marked for them: D5-A348 and D5A249. I looked at my master schematic of the Unity. My memory had proven right, it had some special markings on the D9A hall, straight from Morgan. I decided to transfer the couple to a recently vacated cell in slightly... safer grounds in the D9B hall.

I had scarcely finished that when the scans were finished. Now it was our turn. We got out of these seats at last, which while they were 1st class, 1st class in a military shuttle where space is precious didn't mean much, so we were still happy to get out. People walked around with hand held scanners examining us non-intrusively.

Finally, we were let out into the Unity. There was a brief speech on not getting lost, but while I had technically never been on the Unity before, I knew the place quite well from my work back on Earth. First order of business: my quarters. I wanted to set that up, then my Morgan Industries bosses could be tended too, as well as this Colonel Santiago.

posted 12-02-98 12:24 AM ET            

I arrived at UN HQ, which strangely enough was still in New York. I couldn't believe this, the US had left the UN 3 years ago, because of some crap about the commies taking over the UN. I didn't care, I didn't pay much attention to politics. The place was literally a fortress though. It had a 8 foot stone wall surrounding the complex, topped by barbed wire, & armed guards in their usual blue helmets.I walked up to the gate, & showed my ID card to one of the 3 guards who approached me.
"Rich Junack III ehh?" The rather tall, unshaven guard asked me
"Yeah, I work on the UNS Unity Project. Ground crew." I replied
"Ok. Steve, letim in" the tall guard said to one of the other blue helmeted guards.
So I preceded to walk in. There was a complex series of gates, 3 of them actually. I looked at the sign on the first on:
"100,000,000 volts, DO NOT TOUCH"
Hmm, they are protective. The electric gate opened, & I gingerly walked through to the second gate. This was a tunnel really. I could tell some of the guards were pointing their guns through small holes, ready to shoot me at the first sign of danger, so I just stood there co-operative. They did a scanner sweep, to confirm my identity. Then they did a weapons sweep, & the alarm went off. My shredder pistol! Crap.
The guards starting screaming orders, & cocking their guns. The openings in the gate both shut, locking me in pitch black. Then a red light came on. I looked to see a Un soldier in a side window.
"Sir, please surrender your weapons." The blue helmet said.
"Damn, I was using this for protection, you know how these damn NY street can get!" I replied. I was scared, who knows what they'd do to me. They were pretty sensitive of attacks since 34 delegates were killed by an American southern religious fanatic 4 years ago.
"Yeah of course, hand the gun over!" the blue helmet said.
I said nothing, but I obediently obeyed. I took the gun from out of my coat, & put it into a slot near the blue helmet, who was still pointing his gun at me. The red light then turned off, & I was in pitch black again.What were they going to do to me?? Then the large doors in the openings of the tunnel opened & a squad of armed guards rushed in & captured me. They held me, as I struggled to get out of the hold. They held on to me tight as one of them administered a drug of some sort into my left arm. I struggled some more, but I eventually died down, & slipped into darkness....

NOTE: I am changing my charachter, the Mars one had no direction.

posted 12-02-98 06:34 AM ET            

I though of him as a scared little child because i needed him to seem vulnerable in some way. I needed to think I had the better of him somehow because he has me in this room, and Amy might be in another, I don't know.

The guard coughed.

"You need some water too?" I asked hoping not to sound to desperate for a drink. He just stared at me and made no gesture to respond.

Then the door opened. A tall and skinny man, dressed in casual work clothes entered.

"Don't worry Dr. Renwick, your daughter is safe. Is there anything I could bring you?" He asked

"Some water would be nice," I said trying to hold my voice from cracking. He said something in Italian to the guard at the door who left the room in that style of military quickness that my dad would often use.

"I assume you have heard of the tragedy," the tall man asked?

"no," I responded.

He went on to describe the bombing and the deaths. As he talked it all seemed so surreal to me. I had almost forgot of our trouble on Earth. The whole flight over, I was dreaming of the new world. It was so peaceful. Amy and I were escorted to this room after we landed. I thought it was a UN welcoming committee.

Bruno returned with a bottle of water as the tall man finished his story of hand gestures and mouth spray.

I sipped on the water glass and asked the talker why I was locked up.

"Well, the ship has been delayed," he said as if I could not add.

"Should we go home then?" I asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but you will have to stay with us. It seems that your friend, Dr. Richard Corum was involved in the planning of this incident. We think he had intentions to frame."

The though froze me. I knew someone was lying to me. I would have to figure out who. I wanted to get to Amy and tell her to not say anything. It had been a long time since I had to deal with a situation like this but the instincts kicked in immediately. It was like Brazil all over again, I had to protect myself first and worry about the rest of this later.

"Can I see my daughter?" I asked purposely not saying her name, just in case.

"Yes, she is in the food court. We can go see her."

I left my water on the table and followed the tall man out the door. Bruno in turn followed me. I though to myself, I won that battle.

Amy was happy to see me, they hadn't talked to her yet but she knew what was happening. With the two of us together, they had no chance of getting something from us. Amy and I always worked best this way, we were the best poker team in the university. I looked at the tall man as if to as "your deal."

posted 12-03-98 12:49 AM ET            

Santiago and I soon agreed in confusing talk to decoy any bugs to talk in the lunchroom. I finished packing up and went on down.

Entering the lunchroom with, I was surprised to find the Morgan Foods lunch counter with not nearly the business I expected after raising prices at the standard one. Maybe some UN beurocrat actually noticed what I was doing and stopped it. But no, that was not the case. The prices at the "real" lunch counter were as exorbiant as ever. Then what were the people eating? It's not like they could bring food from home here, though some who were working on the flight HAD already brought their possesions. Sure enough, I found where the people where eating: at a Daughters of Gaia All Natural Fruit Bar and the Daughters of Gaia All Healthy Grill. What to do? Eh, a problem for another day.

posted 12-04-98 02:08 AM ET            

A beeping on her vid-o-phone brought her from her memories, prompting her to mute the htv, and caused a small pout of irritation to cross her features as she answered the call. A face instantly recogniseable flashed up on the screen, that of her boss, Pravin Lal.

"Cindy" Pravin said warmly, "I hope that I did not interrupt you..." he trailed off, noticing the slightly piqued expression on her face.

"Oh, sorry Gramps" Cindy quipped, her face instantly brightening at the view of her close friend and boss, "just caught me reminiscing is all. What's up, Prokhtor giving you grief again?".

"No my daughter, nothing like that, just that I need that medical and psychological report on the personnell first thing tomorrow morning. Garland wants to go over it with us first light tomorrow, what with the riots occuring on Earth." At this, a brief flash of disquiet flashed accross Pravin's face. Few other than Cindy and his beloved Pria would ever have noticed. Pravin was a closed man to most people, but not those that knew him like Cindy.

"Sure, no problems. I was going to get it together for you first thing after I ate. Foods processing now." Cindy felt sorry for the man, that his great love for humanity would cause him such grief at the troubles on Earth. In fact, Pravin was one of the few that had access to such information, and it showed how much he trusted his assistant that he shared it with her.

"Okay then Cindy, I'll see you first thing in the morning. Which means that you'll have to be up at midnight making yourself look good. take care."

Pravin's little jokes rarely failed to bring a smile to his assistant's face, and this was no exception. "You rascal," she retorted, "you had better make sure you can drag yourself away from Pria for long enough to attend the meeting. Anyway, goodnight Prav."

The vid-o-phone flicked off, and Cindy grabed her meal out of the processor. The pre-processed food sure tasted like cardboard, but it had all the requisite vitamins and minerals necessary to sustain a human in health. Sitting down to eat, her mind wandered to the first time she had met Pravin Lal. The man she considered to be the most gentle, caring person in the world. Probably the main reason that she never had many lasting relationships, because no-one measured up to him.

Not that she felt anything other than respect and a love born of friendship for him. Some had inferred before that what she had was something more than that, but frankly, she saw her boss as a friend, and nothing more. Didn't mean that she couldn't compare her lovers to him though. She strived for perfection, and expected noithing less of her lovers. It could be a hard act to live up to. Greg Treestock had been one, and a rather painful one at that. She heard that he was going to be involved in the Unity project, and wasn't sure how that made her feel.

Pulling her mind back from that painful memory, Cyndi remembered when she first met Pravin in the aftermath of the Twelve Minute's war along the Indo-Pakistan border. Cindy was newly assigned to a UN medical team, fresh out of University at Oxford. In fact she was little more than a child, she thought to herself, full of ideals, and naive as to the ways of the world.

With a smile she thought to herself that she was still full of ideals, just hopefully a little less naive now.

Her dovotion to the sick, and her selfless attitude to saving the radiated survivors had caught Pravin's attention, and soon she was offered a junior job on his private staff.

That was many years ago now, and she had quickly raised herself in his sights.

With a sigh she realised that she had finished her meal, and then thought that maybe it was for the best that she didn't taste too much of it after all.

posted 12-04-98 05:45 PM ET            

One of Arsinio's greatest talents was spatial organization. A talent he first showed while loading trucks. He could fit more of anything in a given space than anyone else. Soon he was loading helicopters, and finally transport planes. The Dominican Quartermasters Corps rewarded his talent with promotions and education, especially language school. English, after all, was necessary if you wanted to cooperate with the North American Federation. While on the surface Arsinio was the model soldier, like supply sergeants immemorial, he made sure that his army salary did not limit his income. Cigars from Cuba, drugs from Columbia, black coral from Belize, tropical fish from Jamaica, etc, etc., etc, all found there way into nooks and crannies that only a load-master would know. Access to free transportation all over the Caribbean had made Arsino enough money to get his family out of the recycling business and back into a safe barrio.

posted 12-04-98 07:55 PM ET            

"So, you see, this right here taps into the entire computers system. If we try and change anything, alarms will go off everywhere. But we have enough so that we can look around at stuff all we want... which is all we should need."

Santiago was sitting at a desk with a laptop plugged into the computer. Santiago wanted answers on the destruction of the floating Construction base that had been attached to the Unity and was finishing constructing along the outside. Estimates were that it would take only a few more days of construction, and then a final week period of massive rechecking every system for stability and to insure they worked.

Finally we found the channel of the executive meeting rooms cameras. A tall Asian man, who still looked young but had the age and wisdom in his eyes that betrayed him, stood up.

"Friends, we have seen the dire threat to our security by the madman who was allowed to pilot a shuttle, when his background report showed that his grandparent had been in one of the old nationalistic militias of the United States, and he had lived with him while young for 7 years before his grandfather died, and he went to an orphanage where he learned a life of UN service. A first year psychology student could tell that the grandfather was probably the most important man in his life, and his perfect record in the UN when some disputes with superiors would be expected in this sort of case is only more proof that he was specially playing along, while waiting for his revenge. If I had been in charge, this debacle could never have occurred.

Speaking of that, I have other bad news to report as well. Current security chief Myers suffered... an accident today. The autopsy report will be in soon and will confirm that, I'm sure. As second in command, I will be assuming control of the security of this ship. I will correct the mistakes of my predecessors and insure that no more incidents will occur on this trip. I have just the idea in mind, as well. A certain group of people I know have been trained in a certain art that will help us detect the traitors among us. There will be no where for them to hide..."

As if to drive in the point, suddenly the screen went blank. While making my heart skip a beat, it came back on in a second, clearly an accidental line failure. But the man, who upon later knowledge I would find out was one Sheng-Ji Yang, had already sat down while the leaders rubber stamped his proposal. We both had the same question: "What was this art that he thinks will smoke us traitors?" Except Santiago thought she had an answer.

"Yang may have studied psionics," she said.

I thought about it for a moment. Widely disbelieved due to the unusual number of crazy people claiming God or Aliens were possessing to them or that ghosts talked to them. But there always were a few accounts that were hard to disprove, and in those the supposed psychic always denied the event, and claimed they were just a normal person. This contrasted sharply with the traditional "I'm psychic! Pay me money and make me famous!" attitude of many charlatans.

So I suppose it could be possible. But why would Yang bring it out into the open? If those accounts were true, then it would seem that "magicians" had been staying quiet about their powers ever since the Inquisition. Revealing that they existed would only bring on a new wave of persecution.

"That's an interesting idea. But we'll need some more information to back it up, of course," I replied.

"Of course. And that's your job now, to find out if that's true. And I have a security detail in 10 minutes, so have fun giving the orders. Here, take this. Bye."

I sat there quietly for a moment. I never really got a chance to talk with her in the cafeteria, since the MB Alpha blew up. And we were too busy watching now to talk. What was it she was supposed to tell me? It seemed odd for a contact not to have any special information. But she was definitely a smart cookie. If a tad bossy, by telling me to go check on Yang's strategy as new security chief. I'm sure she'll go far in our organization. That reminds me, I need to check up on that dead Security Chief Myers, as if I can frame Yang for his death in the name of job advancement, that would solve one of my problems. In fact, from the look in his eyes, I may not even have to frame him. He looks like he might have actually done it.

posted 12-07-98 08:00 PM ET            

Well, whaddaya know. I had the print out of people going back down to the surface, and one Lt. Corazon Santiago had been on it. So that's why she had been in such a hurry to leave. There were some other names on the list too, including a Micheal Heffran in Life Support. That name seemed familiar. They were both scheduled back from this "shore leave" in about... 2 minutes. They were coming on the 9 o'clock shuttle, she probably had had dinner down on the moon surface as well. Well, I needed to catch her. I began walking over to the Incoming entrance. I wanted to tell her all I had found out while she was taking a vacation and I was doing hard work.

As I walked toward the gate, I went over what I had found during the day in my head. dAfter viewing Yang's speech to the brass, I did some work on pisonics to see if it could be what he had been refering to. I also did a general backround check on Yang. He was an active participant in the Chinese Republic politics before leaving in a huff. He then studied in Tibet for 8 years in his youth before reemerging in the Second Glorious Red Revolution. But he became dissatisfied with the return of the communists for some reason, and moved to Brussels to work for the UN. I did some workups on the place in Tibet and found it a haven for mystics and ancient documents supressed from the world. I had done some more things as well, but I had moved and faster than I thought, and just up ahead...

Ah, the entrance hall. Just in time too, the people are streaming off the inspections area and look glad to have gotten off the shuttle to the Unity. In fact... was that nobel lauterate Greg Treestock that just went by? I think so. Now where was Santiago? Aha, over there.

"You'll be interested in these things... By the way, how come you went down to the surface?"

"I'm sure I will be. But no time right now. Sorry."

And just like that she pushed on past me. Who did she think she was? The leader of the Spartan Federation?