Humanity Unlimited 1: Liberty Station (13 page)

“Me, too,” Harry admitted. “If anywhere. I figure other signs of this are long gone.”

“Except in space. The only place we’ve been to in person is the moon. NASA wanted to go to an asteroid a couple of decades ago, but that never happened. They killed the idea of returning to the moon and gave lip service to manned missions to the asteroids and Mars, but they never did anything more than blow hot air. That was the end of American leadership in space. Hell, recent events were the end of America going into space at all.”

Harry snorted. “I had a ringside seat when my mother did her part to put NASA out of business. Corporate greed and governmental incompetence at its worst. Now China and India are locked in a race to Mars”

“Yeah, both of them are a few months away from leaving orbit, but the ships are complete. The planets just need to line up.”

He nodded toward her bag. “That might just change things. Maybe make my father pony up some cash to get a mission out to that comet.”

She gave him an odd look. “Could be. We need to get moving if we want to eat.”

They stopped talking about the find once they got onto the elevator with other people. Jess changed the subject adroitly. “What will your people be doing while we talk? Shouldn’t they be out saving the world?”

“If they’re smart, they’re sleeping in. Depending on what I hear this morning, I’ll either send them back to the US or keep them here.”

The doors slid open and everyone hustled out. A rotund man in a suit came from behind the desk when he saw them. “Mister Rogers, Miss Cook. I’m Thomas Quincy, the hotel manager. I hope you had a pleasant night. The elder Mister Rogers has arranged breakfast in a private conference room. If you’ll come with me, I’ll see you there.”

Jess took the man’s offered hand with a smile. “It was perfect, thank you. Tell me, do you have blueberries?”

“Of course.”

She grinned. “Excellent.”

He turned to Harry. “Do you have any specific breakfast requests, Mister Rogers?”

“No, I’m pretty pedestrian in my tastes. I’ll want some good coffee, though, and lots of it.”

“I’ll make that happen. This way, please.”

Harry followed the two of them and watched Jess almost skipping along. Blueberries. He might never understand her at all.

* * * * *

Jess walked to the conference room with the manager. Two large men in dark suits eyed them with disfavor, but opened the door. The elder Rogers was already there, sipping on coffee and talking with two women in lab coats. All three looked over as she and Harry made their way in. The manager did not accompany them and the guards closed the door.

Clayton Rogers rose from his seat. “Miss Cook, Harry. Meet Doctors Paulette Young and Rachel Powell. They are two of the most experienced professionals on the planet at restoring and protecting delicate artifacts. If you have no objections, they will remove everything you found from the pack and begin the preservation process. They are independent contractors and will answer to you unless we come to an agreement.”

Jess slid the backpack over to the women. “Us. Harry is part of this.”

She watched Harry look to the ceiling, probably praying for strength. “That again? I told you, I was under contract to rescue you. I’m a hired gun. One who has finished his work, by the way. I expect to be on my way shortly.”

Harry’s father pursed his lips. “It’s true that you were there at my behest. However, I’ve consulted with my attorneys and they tell me that the find is unrelated to the work I hired you to do. Which I have paid you for, by the way, with a significant bonus.”

The mercenary’s eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed. “You don’t give anything away for free. What are you up to, old man?”

“Why don’t you eat your breakfast while we discuss that? We’ve shielded this room from monitoring of any kind. No transmissions in or out. The good doctors have signed strict non-disclosure agreements and my people will search them closely when they leave their laboratory. If we can come to an understanding, the items will be under heavy guard and 24/7 observation by the most paranoid security people I employ.”

Jess watched the interplay between the two men with interest. Harry’s antipathy couldn’t be plainer, yet his father accepted it as though it was normal. Dysfunctional didn’t begin to describe their relationship.

At her nod, the women took possession of the pack and one of the guards from outside escorted them down the hall.

“And how do we order breakfast if we can’t call out?” Jess asked once they were gone.

“The old fashioned way.” He slid a pen and pad of paper over to her. “Write whatever you want on that. When we have everyone’s order, we hand it to the paranoid men outside. They send it to the kitchen and examine what they bring back. The coffee is in the carafe. It’s quite good.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And how do I know what I can order without a menu?”

The older man smiled. “You tell them what you want and they figure it out. The sky is the limit. Do you want caviar and champagne for breakfast? Something even more esoteric? Make it so.”

That set her back for a moment. “I’m a woman with fairly simple tastes, so I don’t expect to break your bank account.”

“As long as you have blueberries, she’ll be happy,” Harry said with an amused glance at her.

“Then you’re in luck,” Clayton said. “I had some with breakfast yesterday. Now, to address your earlier comments, I’m not giving anything away. From my point of view, it doesn’t matter how the two of you split my offer. Or even if you do. Your objection needs to go to her. Frankly, I hope you stand your ground. That would simplify matters a great deal.”

Harry stiffened and his demeanor shifted. “I’ll bet it would. Well, maybe it’s better that I keep an eye on what you’re up to. Not only for her sake, but to keep you from misusing this find.”

“Let’s eat before you become even grumpier.”

Jess suppressed a smile as she wrote out her breakfast order. Her boss had just played his son. She could see the satisfied gleam in his eye. As sharp as Harry was, he had baggage.

And, to be honest, so did she. Mister Rogers was her employer. A wealthy man in a position of great power over her life. She’d best keep that front and center as they talked. She had a fine line to walk while guarding her interests.

Jess gave Harry a pleading look. “I hope you reconsider. No offense to your father, but I’ve worked for him for years. I’m not sure I’d push a hard enough bargain.”

The younger man nodded. “Maybe. For you.” He started writing an order for himself.

While he focused on that task, she looked at his father. He inclined his head slightly with a hint of a smile. He’d seen through her plea.

Once Harry slipped their orders under the door, the elder Rogers leaned back in his chair. “The doctors are aware that these items are of an indeterminate age and unknown origin. They’ll be working exclusively on this project for at least the next year, with options to extend that by two one-year periods. They know nothing of the ship and it’s probably best we keep it that way for now.

“As there was no choice, they are aware that some or all of the items in that pack may be of extraterrestrial origin. They’re being exceptionally well compensated for their isolation and discretion.”

She took a deep breath and picked her purse up from where she’d set it on the floor. “There’s something else that I think I’m more qualified to look over.” She took the cube out and set it on the table along with the key to the spaceship.

Harry gave her a disapproving look.

“You took that and didn’t tell me? What if the ship had blown up?”

“I couldn’t leave it down there. What if the ceiling had collapsed? Again.”

The older man gave her a searching look. “What is that, and why is it glowing?”

“I think it’s a power supply,” she said. “I’ll need to get it into an engineering lab to work on it, but based on the fact it still had enough charge to power the crashed ship after a thousand years, I think it’s pretty damned important.”

“So, it’s a battery?”

“I think it’s a power generator of some kind. Given that there was no indication the ship used reaction mass, it had to require a significant amount of power to move. I’ll need to do a lot of testing to figure out how it works.”

Her boss took a sip of his coffee. “That will be a priority, I’m sure. The potential applications are enormous. I’d say they might be useful in our current endeavor, but I think the project is too far along.”

“You can never have too much energy,” she said.

“True enough. I see several paths going forward. First is the pyramid. I’ve volunteered Rainforest’s services to the Guatemalan government in recovering Doctor Valdez’s body from the ruins. That will take some time, of course, and may not generate any recoverable artifacts.

“The second site with the spaceship is self-evident. The third possible recovery site is the astronomical body you found reference to. If it was important enough to note, it may have some interesting ruins of its own.”

Harry frowned. “How will you search there? A probe? That’s going to be difficult and take a while, especially if it’s not near Earth.”

His father steepled his fingers. “You might not be aware of it, but I purchased the ISS2 space station from the Russians and have begun converting it into a hotel. That’s actually a deep cover story. We’ve added a concealed propulsion section, beefed up the superstructure, and built it substantially larger than the original planners envisioned. Liberty Station will be the first ship to Mars. It’s also capable of making a trip to other portions of the solar system. Even the outer system.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he looked at Jess. “You knew this?”

She smiled. “It would be hard to design and direct the construction of a spaceship without knowing that part. I couldn’t tell you because the project is classified.

“We’re getting the last of the supplies loaded now. We also need to get the engines ready. We saved that part for the end, because if word gets out, there might be enough outcry to cause Mister Rogers some trouble.”

The older man grunted. “It’s nuclear, so every environmentalist crackpot on the planet will burst into flames. As if the universe doesn’t already have enormous amounts of radioactive material. Idiots.”

Jess poured herself some coffee. “I’m sure that any number of governments would disapprove, too. It doesn’t use weapons grade material, of course, but they might worry that it’s a weapon held over their heads. Once the reactor is loaded and the fuel secured, the project can’t be stopped short of using force.”

Harry could see how that might get people all excited. “Where’s the material coming from? The US? That might be difficult.”

“The source of the material is a closely guarded secret,” the elder Rodgers said, “but I’m willing to share it with you. The reactor core is an experimental prototype your mother has been developing in France. I plan to steal it. And, if we can come to an agreement, I’d like you to help my security forces make that happen. Your people are even better at that sort of thing than they are.”

“We might be able to work out a deal,” Harry said. “I owe Mother some payback. Isn’t that leaving things up to chance? What if you don’t get your hands on it?”

“They have a demonstration for her major investors scheduled for this week. The invitations are already out. We’ll hit them before they have a chance to realize anyone else even knows it exists. Obtaining the fuel is rather more straightforward.”

* * * * *

Clayton watched his son out of the corner of his eye as they ate and chatted. The woman was a moderating influence on him. Normally by this point, Harry would be snarling.

She was clever, too. She’d seen his reverse psychology for what it was and used herself as a lever to get Harry on board. He’d reward that behavior with a good final deal. If she were the tie he needed to bind his son to the plan, he’d use her and make certain she had no cause to complain.

Harry took a bite of his pancakes. “So, now I know what you want to do. Go to Mars. Why?”

Clayton sipped his coffee. “Actually, while the ship can go to Mars quite speedily, that isn’t its primary purpose. It’ll find a suitable asteroid, set up a mining outpost, and then beat everyone else to Mars.

“With the resources harvested in space, we should be able to fund additional construction and use the raw materials as a means to do so. Liberty Station is intended to be a self-sustaining home to explore the solar system.”

“The ship has a lot of room in the torus,” Jess said. “That’s what we call a habitat ring that generates artificial gravity via centrifugal force.

“We’ve designed and built multiple sets of mining and refining equipment, so we can leave teams on at least three asteroids. With the right kinds of raw material, it could be quite lucrative in a short period of time.”

His son mulled that for a moment. “What about that wandering asteroid? Any idea where in the solar system it is now?”

Clayton inclined his head. “A fairly good one, actually. The dates on the painting gave us a timeline to trace it. If they’re accurate, it’s between Earth and Mars on the outbound leg of its eternal journey. The experts concur that it’s most likely an extinct comet, by the way.”

He considered them as they took in his words. It wasn’t quite time to push for closing the deal, but he already knew he’d offer more than Jessica Cook expected. And he’d come through, too. The potential of this find could put his plans ahead by decades. He might even live to see them come to fruition. When it came to the potential of this deal, the sky was quite literally the limit.

Chapter Twelve

Kathleen Bennett stared at the trembling man on the other side of her desk. She eyed the distances and gestured for the guards to drag him back a few steps. Burmese Teak was naturally resistant to moisture, but she didn’t want to chance getting any blood on the golden wood. The desk was worth far more than the wretch in front of it.

The slight man quivered in barely restrained terror. Only the two guards gripping his arms kept him from falling to the floor and pleading for his life. Again.