Orbital Disruption Page 2

  “But afterward? Those fuckers are all rich now,” Dennis was nearly shouting. “And Ruben, that prick, turfed me and my team out on our asses. Just like that. Kept it all for himself. Fuckers.”

  Jessica looked away. “Yeah, that really sucks.”

  “So, yeah. I don’t like those guys very much,” Dennis finished, lowering his voice again. He didn’t usually raise his voice or swear in front of strangers. Somewhere during the intense conversation, the waitress had arrived with their drinks but he hadn’t noticed. His empty Sapporo had become a full bottle again and Tony was sipping whiskey. Jessica hadn’t touched her martini yet but Dennis decided now was a good time to drink some beer and stop talking.

  Tony broke the awkward silence.

  “Like I was saying, Jovian’s going to be huge. This isn’t just Starlight all over again with better funding. This is the next generation. Intelligent systems to enable fully autonomous operations in the belt. At scale. Seriously, what Dennis and the team are doing is going to knock your socks off.”

  Jessica smiled at Tony. Dennis got the sense that Jessica used that smile a lot with men like Tony.

  “Yes, you mentioned that, Tony. And I read the press releases.”

  Jessica turned back to Dennis.

  “I’d like to understand how you’re going to pull this off. I know you’re better capitalized than last time but the industry’s moved ahead too. Excelsior - with your tech - is rumored to be announcing their first large-scale return mission soon, maybe in tomorrow’s keynote according to someone I talked to today. Mitsubishi has launched their third wave of prospecting craft and a dozen startups have been funded this year. What are you guys doing differently?”

  Dennis looked over at Tony who had one eyebrow raised. The expression that meant “think about what you’re going to say.”

  “Well,” Dennis started. “I can’t tell you a lot about the details. Trade secrets and all that, yeah? But, the AI’s the key. Tony occasionally exaggerates,” Dennis tipped his head in Tony’s direction and smiled, “but for once he’s telling it straight. We’re testing out some tech that allows our spacecraft to operate with real autonomy. With a one-hour round trip time for communications between Earth and the belt, that makes a big difference. Other guys need to plan their missions out in crazy detail and hope nothing goes wrong. Or else they have to creep forward at a snail’s pace in order to allow time for operators back on Earth to react to events on location. We don’t. Our craft can plan, react and coordinate with minimal intervention from us. And they’re a lot cheaper.”

  Dennis leaned against the cushioned back of the bench and took a swig of his beer.

  “Well, that sounds impressive,” Jessica admitted, “but how far along are you?”

  Dennis looked at Tony again and Tony gave a slight shift of his head.

  “I’m afraid I can’t say anything specific right now, Jessica. At least not without an NDA.”

  “That’s fair,” Jessica agreed. Without a pause she turned back to Tony. “And when are you raising your next round?”

  “As it happens, we expect to be making some announcements in the next couple months,” Tony said, feigning nonchalance. “After we reach certain milestones we’re considering a raise.”

  “Some big milestones,” Dennis added smiling again.

  “Sounds intriguing, gentlemen,” Jessica said, returning the smile. “Please keep me in the loop.”

  “Oh, we will,” Tony assured her.

  The conversation turned away from business and, after pretending for a few minutes to be interested, Dennis finished his beer, made an excuse involving jet lag and went to bed.

  Three

  The Narita International Expo Center’s main convention hall was a cavernous space. It reminded Dennis of the airplane hanger where he had his first job after dropping out of college. Installing satellite internet receivers in commercial airliners. Vast open space dominated by one or two aircraft at a time and a handful of techs scurrying over them like oxpeckers on the back of an elephant.

  The convention hall had no elephant. Just swarms of oxpeckers. Oxpeckers in Oxford shirts and t-shirts. Strutting and squawking amongst the booths and pavilions, examining the wares of hundreds of firms. Microdrones. Anti-missile radars. Satellite launch services. And at the far end of the hall, partitions blocked off a temporary auditorium with a raised platform and a lectern facing hundreds of folding chairs in even rows. The main stage.

  The Excelsior Launch Systems logo hung from two giant banners on the wall behind the stage on either side. Red lettering with oversized E, L and S and a star-speckled backdrop. The red lettering always looked bloody to Dennis.

  Three long tables of refreshments had been set up behind the seating area and Dennis was waiting patiently in line for coffee. He’s already acquired a bland pastry of some sort which he’d just placed into his mouth when he heard his name.

  “Hey Dennis. How’s it going?”

  Eddie Morton. One of the communications techs from Excelsior. Apparently now senior enough to warrant coming out to the expo.

  Dennis swallowed a bite of pastry and replied, “Hi Eddie. Nice to see you. I’m doing ok. How are you?”

  Eddie already had his coffee but he followed alongside Dennis as the line slowly moved forward.

  “Oh, fine. You know. Business is good. Can’t complain.”

  Dennis had liked Eddie when they’d worked together briefly after Excelsior had acquired Dennis’s startup, Starlight. A nice guy. Mostly talked about his kids. Went to Disney World on his vacations. Too bad he worked for the enemy.

  “Yeah, I hear Ruben’s making a big announcement today. Can you give me a hint?”

  Eddie chuckled and looked at his feet.

  “Sorry, Dennis. You know how Mr. St. James is. Top secret and all that.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Dennis agreed. Perhaps a bit harshly.

  “Well, say hi to Molly for me, ok?” Eddie said, looking back up at Dennis.

  “Sure, Eddie. And give my regards to the guys. Good luck with whatever you guys are announcing today.” Dennis smiled as best he could.

  “Thanks, Dennis. Take care,” Eddie said, gave a little wave and turned away.

  Dennis tried to remember the other members of Eddie’s team. He could picture Wei Chang with his colorful glasses, Robert something who always wore baseball caps and a woman fond of pearl necklaces whose name escaped him completely. There had been at least one other person. Or had there? He’d spent nearly four years with these people, he ought to remember their names and faces, right?

  Dennis’s reverie was interrupted when the woman in a dark pantsuit in front of him stepped away from the coffee dispenser and Dennis filled a cup for himself. The material of the cup was thin and light like paper but much stiffer and it was a good insulator. He could see steam rising from the top of the cup but his fingertips felt no heat at all. The cup had a logo made from stylized Chinese characters and the name of a popular Chinese internet company. On the opposite side of the cup was the phrase “revolutionary materials for the aerospace industry”. Dennis made a mental note to look for the company’s booth after the keynote - it seemed like everyone was getting into the space business these days. A man cleared his throat behind him. Dennis apologized and stepped away from the coffee dispenser. It was time to find a seat anyway.

  Dennis found a row of empty chairs near the back and sipped his coffee. At the side of the stage there was a small knot of suits talking loudly. A high nasal laugh rose above the conversation. Ruben St. James. Dennis’s eyesight wasn’t good enough to recognize the face of the CEO of Excelsior Launch Systems at this distance but the laugh was unmistakable. Dennis’s grip tightened on his coffee cup before he realized it. Had it been a paper cup it would likely have crumpled, spilling coffee on his jeans. But it hadn’t. Neat stuff.

  The knot dissolved as a light came on the stage. One suit broke away from the others and climbed the stairs. A woman in a skirt and blouse climbed the s
tairs at the other edge of the stage. They met at the lectern, exchanged a few words and a handshake. Then the man stepped back and the woman tapped the microphone. The taps echoed as thumps through the PA system.

  “Testing… Good morning everyone,” the woman began. “I’m Dr. Michiko Yamanaki and on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Trade it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 16th annual Aerospace Asia conference.”

  Dennis was distracted from the introductory remarks by a solid thud in the chair next to him. Tony.

  “Good morning, Denny!”

  Dennis turned to Tony and nodded. He noticed that Tony’s eyes looked a little redder than usual. “Good morning, Tony. Did you sleep ok?”

  “Well, sort of,” Tony replied with a hint of a smile.

  “Oh geez, how late did you and Jessica stay out?”

  “Well…” Tony was definitely grinning now.

  “Oh no. You didn’t. Seriously?”

  “Hey, they aren’t investors yet,” Tony grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “So there’s no conflict of interest, right?”

  Dennis chuckled and shook his head. He tried to think of an appropriately snarky response but was interrupted by a loud round of applause. Dr. Yamanaki had stepped away from the lectern and Ruben St. James had replaced her.

  “Oops, forgot to clap,” said Tony under his breath.

  “Shit, me too,” Dennis replied in a whisper.

  “Good morning everyone,” Ruben began. Gesturing at Dr. Yamanaki, the CEO of Excelsior continued, “and thank you to Dr. Yamanaki and our gracious hosts at the Japanese Ministry of Trade.”

  A large screen slowly descended from the ceiling behind the stage. The Excelsior logo was projected onto it and music began to play. It started as a gentle thumping, almost inaudible but slowly built. Something trendy and electronic. Dennis immediately disliked it.

  “Excelsior Launch Systems is a market leader in space exploration technologies. But exploration is just the first phase.”

  The Excelsior logo was replaced with an image of a large sailing ship, vast white cloth straining in the wind.

  “More than five hundred years ago great explorers set out into the unknown oceans.”

  The image faded into a grainy video of an astronaut stepping onto the surface of the moon.

  “And in the last century explorers set out into the vastness of space.”

  The images faded and were replaced by a real-time video of Ruben St. James’s face.

  “The first explorers set out for the wild unknown, driven by curiosity. But they were also driven by a hunger for resources. Gold, silver and other wealth from the new world made Europe rich and powerful. Today the new frontier is space. And the wealth of the solar system is at hand, available to enrich all of humanity.”

  The video of Ruben’s face faded out and was replaced by an animation of the solar system. Inner planets whirling in the small orbits, outer planets moving more slowly. Dennis immediately noted that the scale was wrong. Amateurs.

  “The greatest resource pool of all time awaits us in the asteroid belt. Trillions of tons of metals, rock and water outside any planetary gravity well instead of at the bottom. The raw ingredients for a vast expansion of human civilization.”

  The video faded out. Ruben paused. The audience was virtually silent. Dennis suppressed the urge to make a rude noise.

  “Today, I am very pleased to announce that Excelsior Launch Systems has captured the first asteroid, a 200-meter bonanza of resources that is, at this very moment en route to low-earth orbit. We expect the first ore shipments to arrive in just under 24 months with regular deliveries at each Earth-orbit crossing over the next 5 years until the entire asteroid is in orbit around our home planet.”

  The crowd broke out into applause but Ruben didn’t stop.

  “Over 16 million tons of resources available for building and fueling spacecraft in orbit around the Earth at a tiny fraction of the cost of lifting those same resources up from the Earth’s surface. Precious metals that can be refined in orbit using the limitless power of the sun and then dropped down into the ocean for recovery - at a cost far below that of mining them from the ground and free of the harmful ecological consequences that mining brings. Truly a new age for mankind is dawning and Excelsior Launch Systems is so proud to be the ones to usher it in!”

  The clapping rose to a greater level as Ruben stepped aside from the lectern to make a deep bow to the audience.

  Dennis looked at Tony who was clapping politely. Tony raised an eyebrow and Dennis reluctantly joined in the clapping.

  Dennis zoned out as the clapping died down and Ruben resumed his speech. The efficiency of ion drives? Dennis knew about that because he’d built the prototypes for the drives that Excelsior was using today. The compact radioisotope thermoelectric generators that allowed spacecraft to operate so far from the sun? Molly and Zoe had their names on the patents that Excelsior now owned. Molly had followed Dennis to Jovian but Zoe had left the industry altogether. Last he’d heard the talented nuclear physicist was wasting her talents at some Wall Street firm. He hadn’t kept in touch.

  It was hard to stomach. Dennis considered walking out of the presentation but was interrupted by Tony gently nudging his arm. Dennis looked up but Tony didn’t say anything. Dennis was about to open his mouth when he saw where Tony was looking. Near the front a man was awkwardly trying to make it from his seat to the aisle. Was it him? Yes, it was Eddie. Eddie was walking out in the middle of his boss’s big event.

  Tony nudged him again and Dennis looked to see a second person leaving. A woman looking at her phone. The woman whose name Dennis couldn’t remember but he knew she worked for Eddie.

  Dennis looked at Tony but Tony was now staring straight ahead, face calm and placid.

  Dennis knew what was happening before he was consciously aware of it. He’d known it was coming but hadn’t expected it to happen just at this moment. Eddie finally made it to an aisle and then to the side of the stage where he met the woman. They conversed briefly with one of the suits still standing there. Then the suit climbed the stage and walked over to the lectern where Ruben St. James was still speaking, probably oblivious under the bright lights. Ruben stopped talking when the man whispered into his ear. A buzz of noise arose from the audience. The man in the suit left the stage. Ruben gathered his thoughts for a moment and then leaned back toward the microphone.

  “Ah, ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid we’ve had a little technical glitch. A demo bug, if you will, ha ha,” he laughed uncomfortably. “We’d planned to show you live video from asteroid 207302. Well, live as of about 30 minutes ago, due to the speed of light and all but, as I said we’ve run into a glitch and lost the feed temporarily so we’re going to show some video we recorded last night. It will just take a moment to bring that up so please bear with us.”

  Dennis fought to prevent a grin from forming on his face. He looked around at the audience. There was confusion. Whispers. Of course, Dennis thought, Ruben could have just shown a pre-recorded video of the asteroid. They must have months of video. And it’s not like anyone would have known it wasn’t live. Asteroids aren’t especially dynamic environments. But that wasn’t Ruben’s style. No, a live feed from a captured asteroid, en route to Earth is what he’d wanted. And something had gone wrong at the worst possible time. Dennis failed to entirely suppress his knowing smirk.

  “Ah, there we are,” Rubens intoned, turning to point at the video screen behind him, the relief in his voice evident as a video started playing. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is asteroid 207302 taken just a few hours ago. The lighting is poor because it’s still very far from the sun. It’s dimmer than moonlight out there. But our cameras are quite sensitive. You can see the innovative carbon fiber netting that we use to hold the asteroid together in transit. You might think of an asteroid as a solid lump of rock but it turns out that most of them are loose agglomerations of smaller fragments, held together by the microgravity of this tiny world. It makes ca
pture more complex but the loose ‘gravel pile’ nature of asteroids like this one will make processing much easier when it arrives in Earth orbit.”

  After rattling off a few more facts and figures, Ruben had regained his poise and turned back toward the audience. “Thank you again, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll now take questions.”

  As the audience clapped approvingly, Dennis and Tony got up from their chairs and made their way through the audience to the aisle. Tony maintained a straight face as they left the auditorium. Dennis was less successful. By the time they were out on the main floor of the expo he was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Take that, you bastards,” Dennis thought to himself. “Arr!”

  Four

  Ruben St. James leaned back against the supple leather of his seat and loosened his tie as Leviathan stretched out across his lap. Ruben stroked the cat’s soft white fur as the sleek Gulfstream executive jet’s engines spun up. It was hard to tell if Leviathan was purring or if it was just vibration transmitted through the airframe. The gentle acceleration of take-off pushed Ruben deeper into the cushion but Leviathan hardly shifted at all. As if the cat were perfectly adapted to air travel.

  Ruben St. James loved cats. They were simple, direct animals. They understood what they wanted and they took it. They didn’t pretend to care about others, at least any more than was strictly necessary. There was a certain economy of emotion that he admired.

  Six hours earlier he’d been on stage when he’d learned there’d been a glitch with the 207302 mission. He’d kept his composure and switched over to the backup video. That’s what true leadership was - taking risks, yes, but also having a backup plan. Ruben was a great leader and like great leaders before him, he would persevere. This was just one minor setback in his world-changing vision. Stroking Leviathan’s soft fur helped as well. With a final bump the jet left the runway and began a smooth, steep climb up over the Japanese countryside and then the Pacific Ocean. Leviathan continued to pur. Ruben closed his eyes.