Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon series) (30 page)

He nodded, ‘you make a good point Miss Kaizu, but many will see this as a form of blackmail.’

‘That’s too bad sir.  When we come home we would like to find it as we left it and not desolate from every nation fighting over what we left behind.’

‘Tell me whom will you take your orders from Miss Kaizu?’

‘I will take my orders from Mr. Gordon sir.’

‘And he.’

‘From the people of Earth.  As everyone knows he has set up a website.  On it there is a number of questioners.  From it he will determine what it is the common people of World would like him to do.  There is also a section for scientists and heads of Government’s; it is free to be used by anyone.’

‘I suppose in the lack of any form of structure it’s the next best thing, but once there is structure will he conform to orders from a civil space governing body?’

‘I don’t know sir you would have to ask him that yourself.’

‘I will given the chance.  Do you know where he is?’

She smiled and sent out a silent order.  Ico rushed over the surface of the Moon and came to rest over a number of people out on the surface of the Moon not far from the other ship.

The Prime Minister was wide eyed, ‘what are they doing?’

‘They are out for a walk sir.’ 

He burst out laughing, ‘of course it was a stupid question.’

She smiled, ‘Steven rescued his father from an American prison this morning.  He wanted to go on a moonwalk and gather some samples of Moon rock, would you like to join them?’

The Prime Ministers jaw dropped, ‘I would love to.’

Chapter 46

S
teven was aware of the Japanese Prime Ministers arrival and of the conversations that had taken place since their first meeting.  Babe had been feeding him live information as the meeting had progressed, and even though he had wanted to intervene at times he had let Komoru tell her own version of the story.

The ships had docked and the party had crossed to Steven’s ship.  The new members of their crews had been taken to the doctor, the others to get space suits.  Even the children had managed to struggle into them although some of his people had tied up all the spare material with string. 

It was quite a sight and lot of laughter bounced across the barren landscape.  Steven couldn’t help his own laughter.  His father joined him and nodded towards the procession.  ‘Just think Steven, those are the first children in space and on the Moon.’

‘I wonder if they realise that?’

‘They will when they get home.  Hero’s they’ll be one and all.’

‘You to
o Dad and you’ve got a bag of souvenirs to prove it.’

‘How much do you want to bet those kids will nick half of it?’

Steven laughed, ‘no takers here.’

There was a lot of awkward bowing and laughing when the two parties met.  Eventually Brian took most of the party away souvenir hunting, leaving the Prime Minister and Steven alone with Komoru and the news crew.

The prime minister bent down and picked up a handful of Moon dust and let it slowly trickle through his fingers.  It floated gently back to the surface.  There was a tear in his eyes, ‘as a young boy I used to dream of becoming an astronaut but there never ever was a Japanese space program.  I have now realised my last ambition thanks to all of you, and I promise I will endeavour to do everything I possibly can to help you.’

Every one of the visitors came away with their own piece of Moon rock to take home with them.  By the time they re-boarded the ships the doctor had given all the new people their implants and Steven gave them their welcoming speech in private.

Returning to the bridge, he headed for Scotland and Komoru for Japan.  It was a tearful reunion for Brian and Mary, but she laughed when he showed her his souvenirs.

The news began to spread around the globe fast.  Parts of the meeting were already being shown on every channel.  Pictures of the Japanese Prime Ministers children laughing and bouncing across the Moon’s surface were a favourite of all the channels.

Steven and some of the scientists installed the transponder.  A host of nanobots were left to reconfigure the transponder to accept commands from the Earth systems.

When they were finished Steven retreated to the Moon.  Buzz found him pacing in his room.

‘What's the matter buddy?’

Steven shrugged, ‘what the hell do we do now?’

‘There's plenty to do man.’

‘I know, I know, it’s just a case of where to start.’

‘At the beginning.’

‘We’re already past that point.’

‘So what point are we at?’

‘We’re at the part where we need to do too many things at the same time.’

‘Like what?’

‘Well we need personnel for a start and there's thousands of applications for both ships, that has to be sorted out and of course the collecting of those people is a hazardous occupation at best.  We need to appeal to the peop
le on Earth for support to overthrow the Presidents policy on us.

Then there's the finishing of our base, it would be a brilliant place to select candidates, but of course we would have to be able to collect them first.’

‘You were going to appeal on TV weren’t you?’

‘Yeah but the Japanese Prime Minister is up and fighting in our corner at the moment and the footage that crew took is going to be doing us a lot of good as well.  I don’t want to swamp people and detract from the good those broadcasts might do us.’

‘So its round and round and round.’

‘Yep.’

‘Ok so why don’t we get this base up and running first.  Then in a couple of days when attention is beginning to flag a little we go in there with guns blazing.  In the mean time we can sort through some of those candidates and maybe pick up a few.’

‘It's not a few we need to pick up it’s about a hundred at a time.  The longer we’re in close proximity to Earth, the more chance he has of tracking us and firing more nukes.’

‘I thought you had a few ideas about how to deal with them?’

‘I do, but I also don’t want to start an international incident.  If we go screaming in there and start neutralising his nuclear capability there’s no telling how he might react.’

‘You think?’

‘Yeah I do.  Come on, you’re a yank, how would you feel if someone came along and yanked away your nuclear comforter?’

Buzz thought the matter over seriously, ‘you have a point I suppose.  As long as we have a nuclear deterrent we feel safe and have done for near a hundred years.’

‘Exactly, how is the man on the street going to react?  It’s his blanket too.’

‘I know exactly how he’ll think.  He’ll think we’ve left them open to attack from every other country with a grudge to bare and a nuclear arsenal of their own.  Christ they could wipe out half the United States in the blink of an eye and we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.’

A slow smile spread across Steven’s face, ‘exactly the point I was trying to make my friend.’

‘So how do we get around it?’

‘I don’t know yet.’

Buzz grinned, ‘you'll work it out Buddy.  Hey why don’t you get everyone to make their way to Scotland or Japan?  We can pick them up there.’  

‘Yeah and how nice a target would that make for the President.  Something that big we couldn’t keep secret for long.’

Buzz sighed, ‘I think I’m gonna get a headache.’

‘You can have mine if you want?’

Buzz grinned and stood, ‘no thanks I can get my own.  Listen do you think the completion of our new base will put us in a better bargaining position.  I mean we could offer up a contract to protect it, highest bidder wins.’

‘I can see what you’re getting at Buzz.  Of course the States would win the contract and put up the man power to protect it, but how would we stop them taking over the whole thing and launching an assault on the ships at the same time once they were entrenched.’

‘We could say no weapons.’

‘We could but as soon as we’re gone what's to stop them sending up a shuttle full?  They have the capability.’

Buzz slumped, ‘you’re right, bad idea.’

Steven shook his head, ‘no it wasn’t a bad idea.  It was a good idea, just unrealistic to our situation.  I will take one piece of advice from you Buddy.  I’m going to wait until this base is complete before I make our next move.  It will improve our bargaining position tenfold.’

Chapter 47

T
he two silver ships slid slowly into their bays on either side of the structure.  Steven shook his head in wonder.  Both ships were over three hundred meters long but the massive building dwarfed them.  They slipped into recesses on either side of the top of the building and Steven fancied it somewhat resembled the bridge of an old freighter he had seen in a picture once.

It stretched out behind them for over a mile.  He decided thousands of people could live and work here and probably would.  A slight tremor went through the ship as they came to rest and he detected a slight sense of satisfaction from Babe.  From now on she would always refer to this place as home.

Steven wasn’t sure if he or Komoru was the first to set foot in it, but it was a close thing.  In an instant the crew seemed to vanish as they went on a tour of exploration.   

Buzz rocked back on his heels and looked down at his friend, ‘well Bud where to first?’

Steven shrugged, ‘well I have a good idea where my quarters are and what they look like, I’m curious to see the command centre.’

‘No shit?’

Steven frowned, ‘is there something wrong with that?’

Buzz raised his eye brows, ‘Stevie, there's a bar.’

Steven looked around him looking a little perplexed, ‘yeah, but it ain’t stocked Buzz.’

‘Hey I hear it’s got a great line in space water.’

Steven patted his friend on the arm in a gentle understanding manner, ‘why don’t you just go knock yourself out Buddy.’

Buzz grabbed him by the collar and began to march him towards the bar, ‘oh no you don’t.  You’ve been working your butt off for days and you need a break.  The first thing we
’re going to do is visit the new bar and have a drink.  Then we’re going to do a little exploring.’

‘Buzz this place is over a mile square,’ Steven sounded exasperated.

‘Yeah well we both need the exercise.’

The so called bar was in the central complex.  They weren’t the first to reach it and the sound of laughter carried easily to them.  Steven and Buzz passed a puzzled look, but all was soon revealed.

They found Cookie and Lewis jumping off one of the balconies laughing as they leapt.  They rushed to the rails but as they reached them something strange happened.  They seemed to slow down and a large step bounced them over the rails. 

Buzz just managed to catch a foot in the rail and grab Steven as he fell, but he wasn’t falling in a normal fashion.  With his heart hammering in his chest he managed to grab a rail and hold on.  The sound of laughter reached up to them and they looked down to find Cookie and Lewis still in free fall.

They burst out laughing to as they realised there was no artificial gravity in the central plaza.  Buzz suddenly reversed his grip on Steven and pushed.  The look of surprise on his face made Buzz roar with laughter, ‘now we really know we’re on the Moon, eh Stevie?’

‘I’ll get you for that you shit,’ Steven shouted back up.

‘Yeah, you’re making me sweat,’ Buzz shouted back as he leapt over the rail and joined in the fun.

The bar was as big as everything else.  Still feeling the effects of euphoria, Steven and Buzz poured themselves a glass of water from a strange looking dispenser.  Buzz winched as he sat down at a table, ‘we
’re going to have to get some decent furnishings.  This Moon rocks pretty but its hell to sit on.’

Steven laughed, ‘you know we could probably swap one table and chair from here for a couple of dozen back on Earth.’

‘Yeah the new in thing, we could sell them for a couple of thousand bucks a pop.’

Steven shook his head grinning, ‘and what would we spend it on or rather where would we spend it?’

Buzz’s smile turned grim, ‘the President has really turned the screws on huh?’

Steven sighed, ‘y
ep, he sure has.’ 

‘Can’t we just waste him?’

‘It’s always an option.’

The two men slumped into silence to contemplate ways around the latest presidential manoeuvre.  He had threatened any nation that gave aid to the two ships, with military action.  That both ships would be attacked on sight by his nations armed forces and any base giving aid.

Japan and Scotland had both rejected the Presidents warning but within twenty four hours, Navel Task Forces had set out from their bases to prowl close to Japan and Scotland’s national waters.         

Buzz shook his head, ‘there must be a way round it.  What about giving shield technology to the bases that re-supply us?’

‘I've thought about that, but what's to stop him hitting the rest of the country as punishment.  It doesn’t take much to disrupt a modern country Buzz; just a few well aimed bombs.’

‘Yeah I know.  Any help from our allies in congress?’

‘No they seemed to have removed their support since my mother set up base in Scotland and Komoru took possession of the second ship.’

‘So it all comes down to profit in the end.  They’re not making so they don’t give a damn.’

‘Oh come on Buzz, that’s the way it’s always worked.  It’s how we were brought up wasn’t it?’

‘Not me Dude and not you either, it went on all around us yeah but we never caught the bug.’

‘I might have done if I never had the accident.’

A look of scorn lit up Buzz’s eyes, ‘yeah right.’

It forced Steven to smile, ‘well thanks for the vote of confidence.’

Buzz smiled back, ‘hey no probs, but it still brings us back to the same problem.  We’re up to our ears in cash and jewellery but have nowhere to spend it.’

‘Yep and sitting here drinking water isn’t going to solve the problem.’

Buzz took a deep draught, ‘why the hell not.  I’ll bet half the words problems have been solved in a bar.’

‘Yeah and half its wars started as well.’

‘We could declare war on the States, we would win easy.’

‘Oh yeah we could reduce the richest nation on Earth to a pile of smouldering rubble, but then civilisation as we know it would probably crumble back into the dark ages.’

‘He’s really got us by the balls hasn’t he?’

‘Yep.’

Buzz sat forward, ‘we really don’t need to land, I mean that’s what he said wasn’t it.  We can just beam everything aboard.’

‘Agreed, but how long until he finds out and bombs those supplies before we can reach them?’

‘Then there's the retaliation he will take.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Did you try Switzerland, they’ve always been neutral and they like Gold?’

The corner of Steven’s mouth pulled up, ‘I tried but the man just looked at me as though I was mad and switched off, didn’t even bother to talk to me.’

‘The shit!  What about stealing the supplies?’

Steven frowned, ‘don’t even go there.’

‘Hey we could leave Gold as payment.’

‘Haven’t you heard?’

‘What?’

‘He’s trying to ban our Gold from the market.’

‘Can he do that?’

‘Looks like it, and he’s getting a lot of support from the Gold producing countries.’

Buzz smiled grimly, ‘I knew it wouldn’t take them long to throw a wobbly.’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah but the Scottish Prime minister has already found a way around that.’

‘Has he what’s he doing?’

‘He’s minting them into collector’s coins and selling them for ten times their market value.’

Buzz’s head came up, ‘Christ of course he can’t stop individuals buying souvenirs.’

‘That’s right and the interest is what's going to keep us in supplies.’

Buzz let out a great sigh, ‘yeah but then we can’t go and collect them, which brings us right back to the beginning again.  What the hell are we going to do, we’ll starve.’

A strange twinkle appeared in Steven’s eyes, ‘no we won’t.’

Buzz was instantly alert, ‘why what are we going to do?’

A smile slowly spread across his face, ‘we’re going to use a good old fashioned capitalist hammer to smash that fucker into the ground.’

Steven slammed his fist onto the table forgetting it was stone and cried out with pain.

Buzz doubled up in laughter, ‘why what are you going to do?’

Steven rubbed the side of his hand, ‘what does this place remind you of Buzz.’

Buzz thought it over, ‘a great big bloody mall.’

‘Exactly!  We’re not allowed to go to Earth to pick up supplies but what if they come to us.  We can lease out space to any company that will take it.’

Buzz shrugged, ‘yeah that’s a great idea but how do we get them up here in the first place?  We can’t go and get them.’

‘No we can’t but what if we build a couple of transport haulers and lease them out to someone else.  That and maybe a passenger liner of some kind to bring people up.’

‘You mean tourists?’

‘Of course.’

Buzz leaned back, ‘that’s brilliant Stevie.  There's no way he could stop people coming.  That would infringe on their civil rights.’

‘That’s right and all the big bucks would want a piece of the pie, and that’s the people that pay for his campaign.’

‘I think we might just be able to bring it off.’

‘Yep but we’re going to need the consensus of everyone else.’

Buzz stood, ‘let's go try and round them up.’

Steven grinned and pulled him back down, ‘I can get Babe to get them all, but first I want to bounce a few more ideas off you.’