City-Ship Ascension

Central Park

In the following weeks, things settled down on the massive City-ship; the people went on with their lives and worked hard to make this place into a proper and permanent home. By Max’s detailed records, there were currently more than ten thousand people living in space, and the numbers were climbing progressively. There were multiple births every day, and by what doctors were saying, there will be many more since the number of pregnant women was exceptionally high. The population of ten thousand may not sound a lot for a nation to have, yet these were extraordinary circumstances. The recruitment drive never stopped, that was why Jack still spent most of his time on Earth. He had built an entire organization with the sole task of looking for new people who would be a good fit for their growing nation.

Michael was taking a lunch break with Elizabeth in the Central Park and was lying on a picnic blanket, thinking of all that happened after they returned from Switzerland.

The rescue of President Garner went according to their plans. The medical nanites in his body reported that they were done with cleaning the toxic deposits from his brain. And with the apprehension of the ‘High Council’, all the conditions that needed to align to give the rescue operation a green light were met. Agent Martin had managed to assemble twenty loyal service secret agents, and they carried out the rescue. With Michael and the team in the background, unseen and ready to assist if there was a need for a backup.

Philip Cain really did not want anyone to have access to President Garner, so every member of security in the hospital was on his personal payroll. Because of that, the strategy with tranquilizing mosquito drones that were so effective in Switzerland was utilized once again. At the prearranged time, all of the compromised security agents were knocked out, then agent Martin and his colleagues secured the premises. It was just in time for them to witness President Garner waking up from a chemically induced coma.

A few hours later, he called Michael, using the videoconference line.

“Michael… I can’t express my gratitude for what you have done for me, and this country,” he began, still visibly shaken from his ordeal. “Martin told me about everything that happened and without your help I would still be lying in that hospital bed, wasting away.”

“It’s all right Craig, we were glad to help. Besides, I couldn’t let that scumbag get away with what he had done. Did agent Martin give you my message?” Michael asked.

“Yes, and we are doing it as we speak. I received a clean bill of health and was officially reinstated, an hour ago. Of course, there were some objections from certain individuals. The rot has spread deep. I browsed through some files your associate Max provided, and could not believe the size of this conspiracy. I’ve already issued a few arrest warrants and will be issuing many more, very soon. Our image on the international scene will be a bit smeared, but we pulled ourselves out from worse situations than this. Tell me… where is Philip Cain? It seems as if he disappeared from the face of the Earth.” The President asked and Michael could see the beginning of a knowing smirk in the corner of his mouth.

“Well… let’s just say that he is officially in hiding. Between you and me… he has left the planet and is not coming back anytime soon.”

They talked for a while and Michael warned President Garner about the media storm they were about to unleash on the world; to give him some time to prepare for the fallout that was bound to happen.

The next day, Max started releasing some of the recovered files. The video of Philip Cain’s damning monologue in the Oval Office was a hit; it went viral in a matter of hours and spread around the globe like wildfire. In one single day, it became the most-watched video in the history of the world.

Former acting President Cain became the subject of the greatest manhunt in history, he was on top of the list of every bounty site Max created, with the price of billion dollars for his capture. It was a way to conceal the fact that the S.U. had him, and President Garner kept the secret. Cain’s infamy soon reached cult status as the ultimate villain, and his success at avoiding capture added to that. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air, despite all the alleged sightings of him around the world. The conspiracy theorists went nuts with explanations where he was hiding, and some of the speculations were plain crazy. The popular one was that he went through a sex-change operation and was planning to make a new career in the porn industry. Well, people love their fantasies. The fact that so many other influential people, who were charged with various crimes, disappeared at the same time, just added more fuel to the fire.

President Garner once again regained the full control of the United States, and as he said, he did clean his house with a vengeance. With Cain’s files of loyalists, supplied by Max, it was a madhouse for a while. Arrests and indictments were flying like beads on Mardi Gras carnival. Most of the accused tried to run, but it was of no use; with Max’s satellites in the sky and their faces on the bounty sites, they didn’t last long before they were all caught.

In an expedited process, the United States of America officially recognized the Solarian Union as a valid political entity with all the rights of the sovereign country. There was only one point of contention… they wanted their satellites back. Which was a bit difficult to arrange, since Max had already recycled most of them. In spite of them being highly sophisticated devices, compared to his own, they were all pieces of junk, yet junk that was made of very valuable materials. Finally, the compromise was reached where the Solarian Union would provide all services those satellites previously delivered, free of charge for a period of twenty years. God forbid that people suddenly lost connection to their social media sites, it would have been a virtual Armageddon. It was a particularly good deal for them since their old satellites had a life expectancy of fifteen years, and now they did not even have to do any expensive maintenance.

There was one more thing they really wanted back, and that was the International Space Station. It was an international endeavor and some of the backers were not guilty of abducting extended families of the S.U. citizens. Currently, it was orbiting close to the Ascension. Max's original plan was to scrap it for useful materials but the popular opinion was to preserve the battered station, in view of its historical significance. So, it was decided to make it into a museum exhibit, an example of human perseverance. The old girl embodied that spirit of exploration and what those early pioneers of space had managed to accomplish using only Earth's technology.

For that reason, President Garner, under constant nagging from the director of NASA, arranged a videoconference meeting between him, the director, and Michael.

“Mr. Freeman, you must return the ISS to us,” the NASA Director whined. “It’s a beacon of hope for humanity and represents decades of hard work and dreams of thousands of people. That is not even mentioning billions invested in it.”

Michael made a face as if he was deeply thinking about the subject.

“Very well, you convinced me; I’m perfectly willing to sell it back to you since it was legally claimed as salvage. Now, you spent around $150 billion on it, and I am willing to sell it back to you for $50 billion. Will that be cash or charge?”

“What?” The confused man replied.

“The large discount is on account of its used state. You know, like when you bought things in those old stores, the moment you paid for something it stopped being new; to be honest, it is a little worse for wear. All those holes from the debris did a real number on it. I am willing to tow it to whatever altitude you want; only make sure there are no people around at its landing trajectory, it will most likely make a big mess when it touches down.”

“What?” The man repeated himself, very confused.

“Well, it won’t remain in orbit by itself, no propellant, you see. However, for a measly fee of $250 million a month, we are willing to keep it in low Earth orbit ourselves. It would require installation of our proprietary engines, hence the $250 million a month renting fee.”

The NASA Director was turning an unhealthy shade of pale, and the look in his eyes was one of resignation and defeat.

“Come on Michael, stop pulling his chain and throw him a bone. I don’t want him to die on me; he is the first one who doesn’t overspend his budget,” President Garner interrupted.

Michael mischievously smiled. “Or we could make another deal. What if we build a new station for you, and let’s say ten times the size, with artificial gravity, a swimming pool, and all kinds of additional perks. We will even throw in a free toaster.”

The director's eyes shot back up, and even his color started to get better.

“What is it going to cost us?”

“Don’t worry about the cost; I’m sure we could find some arrangements so you don’t have to pay a penny for it. It will take some time to come up with the design and to construct the entire station, but I’m sure that by then we will reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

Michael already had a plan of what he wanted for it, it was just too soon to disclose it. There was no reason to give people enough time to think about how to refuse, and when he was ready, the entire world would find out about the price.

The Solarian bank became officially recognized Bank of the Solarian Union and as Max said, the business was booming. They had millions of customers who were transferring their accounts to it; all transactions being free of charge was a too tempting deal to pass on.

Suddenly a grape hit him on the forehead. “Hey Buster, this is my time, so start paying attention to me,” Elizabeth said from the other side of the picnic blanket.

Michael stopped his reminiscing and smiled at her, “all right, I am in the present now. Any more of those grapes left?” he asked.

The grapes were from the hydroponics level, where separated and climate-controlled sections were used to cultivate a variety of food plants.

They casually talked for the next half an hour, enjoying the feel of a simulated summer afternoon in the Central Park.

Elizabeth looked at the holographic sky and asked, “What are you going to do with Philip Cain and the ‘High Council’? Did you and Max come to a decision?”

“Oh, yes we did,” Michael said with a smirk. “Max is finishing the project we decided on and we are waiting for Alice to finish her recovery.”

She frowned, “yes, but what is the plan, the final decision about him?”

Michael gave her a sly smile. “Like I don’t know that there is a betting pool going on. Sorry, but it is still a secret and you will find out when everybody else does, so… no inside information,” he answered and caught the grape she threw at his face.

“Do you really think I would use our relationship to dig for information?” She asked, faking outrage.

Michael tried to stifle a laugh. “Oh no, I would never think that of you, and neither did Max when you tried to make him tell you. I’m sure it was the last thing on your mind.”

The look on her face told Michael that the storm was coming; her eyes might as well had lightning shooting out of them. For that reason, he quickly jumped up and started running away.

“Got to go, things to do, thanks for the lunch!” He yelled over his shoulder.

“Come back here, you coward, I’m not finished with you!” She shouted at him, “I know where you sleep buster, this is not over.”

He laughed all the way to his office.

The betting pool had some serious cash in it since most of the inner circle wanted a piece of the action. And every single one of them had tried to pry out some clue from Max and him. In spite of that, Max was the official bookie and he was all about fair play… most of the time. Therefore, when Elizabeth grabbed him from his office and arranged a picnic with every single one of his favorite dishes, he knew the game was on. He did not give out anything and still got one hell of a meal in return.

Then again, she really did know where he slept… right next to her and the lady did have a devious mind.

“You know, there is nothing that prevents you from sleeping dressed in a full battle-suit.” Max sent through his CEI.

“Max… shut up.” He answered. Although he was starting to consider it since those suits were designed for all kinds of dangerous situations.