THE KOSTROMA SAGA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 11 – THE WAR IS OVER

 

15:02 (Universal Time)

Tuesday, April 25, 2316

Crew mess, MSS KOSTROMA

Low Earth orbit

‘’…a planet-wide ceasefire is thus declared immediately and the allied Spacers and Northern Alliance forces will only fire from now on in self-defense or to protect unarmed civilians. We, the leaders of the Spacers League and of the Northern Alliance, realize that this unfortunately does not mark the end of the ignorance, distrust and hatred which caused this war in the first place. More importantly, the main problem of Earth, its gross overpopulation, still has to be dealt with. That problem will take some drastic measures and decades to fix, but the time to dance around it and avoid taking the measures necessary is well past. Those regions of Earth which have proven unable or unwilling to deal with their overpopulation problems will be put on notice to act without delay, on pain to see all federal aid and subsidies to their regions cut. Also, those who have been satisfied for years to sit at home and do no productive work while collecting social benefits will either accept the work offers done to them or see their benefits terminated. Only through those measures will Earth be able to overcome its problems of overpopulation, pollution and squandering of its precious natural resources. Also, applying those measures will not be an option, even if some regions vote against their applications. The past failed regime had too often bought votes or incited uneducated voters who knew no better to follow its short-sighted policies. No more! As well, local customs and so-called religious rules and traditions will no longer be accepted as excuses not to deal with uncontrolled population growth, pollution and mismanagement of resources. Some will scream dictatorship when faced with these measures, but those people can only blame themselves for having been unwilling to face the true problems of Earth before this war started. On its part, the Spacers League will be ready to help those who deserve it, as it always did in the past. A program of restricted emigration will soon be started for those Terrans who have the basic education and technical or scientific skills needed to live in space and who wish to leave Earth. It must however be

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emphasized that Spacer worlds have only a very limited capacity in terms of population growth that it can handle safely, so emigration will be by waves of at most a few thousands at a time, and not millions. This further reinforces the point that Earth must reverse its population growth if it is to be able to survive as a viable ecosystem. Only the citizens of Earth can do that. In the name of the Spacers League and of the Northern Alliance, this is Janet Robeson, Governor of the Jovian System, wishing to you all peace and a better future.’’

The crewmembers assembled in the mess for that planned announcement started discussing and commenting the speech as soon as it was over on the main plasma display screen of the mess. Tina, sitting at a table with Dana Durning, Patricia O’Neil and Rose Tillman, let her men and women discuss freely around their drinks without adding a speech of her own, preferring for the moment a more intimate discussion.

‘’That speech was certainly direct and to the point, I would say.’’ said Dana, then taking a sip from her white wine. Tina nodded to her words.

‘’It was, but the times for sugar-coating problems is well past. Did you know that over seventeen percent of the populations of Africa and of the Indian Sub-Continent is illiterate or nearly so? The same regions which show the highest consistent rate of population growth on Earth while being the poorest. Ignorance is truly the enemy here.’’ Rose Tillman, the chief engineer of the KOSTROMA, shook her head in disbelief.

‘’Seventeen percent illiteracy…in the 24th Century. Who would have believed that?’’

‘’I would!’’ replied Patricia. If you look closely at Earth news from those continents, the conditions you see in many small villages are still pretty damn close to the Dark Ages: no in-house sanitation or running potable water and, sometimes, not even electricity, while they still use farm animals to plow their fields. Most of these people will never be able to qualify for space emigration.’’

‘’You can actually blame the political and social leaders of those regions, who were too happy to keep their populations in ignorance in order to better control and exploit them.’’

‘’Well, Dana, if those same leaders stay in place, then we will have fought that war for nothing, as the problems of Earth will perpetuate themselves.’’ said Patricia in a bitter tone. Tina then jumped in.

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‘Well, I, personally, am in no mood to have to fight again in the future because of them. Let the Northern Alliance make them swallow their medication!’’

‘’Wow!’’ said Rose while looking at Tina with some surprise. ‘’I never saw you so passionate about politics before, Tina.’’

‘’Having to kill 26 million people tends to change someone.’’ replied Tina, who took a swig of her scotch and grimaced as the alcohol burned its way down to her stomach. The three other women looked at her with concern, with Rose finally speaking up.

‘’Tina, the only other alternatives would have left opportunities for those ISF scientists to flee with their damn chemical agent, apart from forcing us in a battle where we would have lost possibly hundreds of our people. Besides, you didn’t take that decision, nor did you actually do it yourself. You simply looked at the problem at hand and presented options to the Spacers League Council, which then chose the rock strike.’’

‘’That’s not completely true, Rose.’’ objected Tina at once. ‘’I did not only present options to the Spacers League: I recommended the rock strike as the preferred solution. Big difference.’’

‘’And? If not you, then someone else would have, since it obviously was the only viable option if we wanted to be certain to destroy those damn chemical agent stocks and their makers.’’

‘’But I was still the one who did the recommendation, Rose, and I will never be able to forget that.’’

Dana, possibly the closest friend of Tina on the KOSTROMA, then slammed a hand on the table, making the heads snap around her, while staring hard at her captain.

‘’So, that will justify in your mind sinking into guilt and self-pity? WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE, TINA! We all had to do things that we would not normally have done. What the hell do you think I was thinking while calculating the effects of that rock strike prior to its firing? Did I refuse to do those calculations out of moral objections? No! I did what had to be done then, no more and no less. Do I feel regret? DAMN RIGHT I DO! Do I blame myself? NO! The ones to blame are those ISF leaders who were planning to poison to death 340 million Spacers with their lethal gas and forced us to act, not you, me or us. So, get out of your pit of guilt and start acting again like a ship’s captain!’’

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Tina, shocked by the tone of her friend, was left speechless while everyone around stared at her. Slowly putting down her glass, she then got up and left the mess at a hurried pace, her closed face hiding her feelings. Her three friends followed her with their eyes until she was out, then Rose Tillman looked at Dana Durning with some misgivings.

‘’You were quite harsh with Tina, no?’’

The head navigator sighed heavily, her head low.

‘’I had to, Rose. Tina needs to get out of that funk, now. If not, she may lose her self-confidence, which would be very bad for this ship and all the crew.’’

‘’I think that Dana did the right thing, Rose.’’ said Patricia O’Neil. ‘’Personally, I would hate to see Tina continue the way she has been like since the strike on Lagos.’’

As the three women continued to sip their drinks in silence, Anwar Duharto, who had stayed on the bridge with a minimal duty crew, came in the mess with a message printout in his left hand, looking left and right. He then saw Dana and walked to her table.

‘’We just received a message from the Spacers League Council. Where is the Captain?’’

‘’Probably in her apartment, Anwar.’’ replied Dana, who then extended a hand. ‘’I will take the message for her.’’

Anwar gave her the printout, then left to return to his duty station. Rose and Patricia crowded Dana at once as she started to read the printout.

‘’So, what does it say?’’

‘’Jeesh, you impatient Irish girl!’’ chided Dana, who then read quickly the printout.

‘’We are asked to pick up our ground fighting contingent, which is presently in Seattle, so that it can return to Hygiea and Pallas. We are then to return to Callisto and await further instructions there. I will go bring this to Tina. In the meantime, Patricia, can you go to the bridge and get us to the vertical of Seattle?’’

‘’I think that I will go prepare to light up our fusion drive.’’ said Rose Tillman, as Patricia O’Neil got up from their table. The trio then split, with Dana going down three decks to head towards the Bow Gravity Sail Deck apartments, which now housed all the crew. Thankfully, she found Tina in her apartment, where she had hoped to find her. Tina’s expression was neutral when she answered her door ring.

‘’Yes, Dana?’’

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‘’We received this message from Callisto Prime, Captain. I already took the liberty of ordering the ship to move to the vertical of Seattle.’’ Tina took the message and read it quickly, then looked back up at Dana while giving her back the message.

‘’Very well, Dana. Advise me when our ground contingent will be about to fly in, so that I can greet them in the hangars.’’

Tina then hesitated, briefly looking down before eyeing back Dana, a hint of a smile on her face..

‘’About what you said to me in the mess, Dana: you were right about me. Thanks for the straight talk.’’

‘’Hey, what are friends for, if not to tell it to you when you need it?’’ replied Dana, suddenly feeling much better. She then turned around and made her way back to the bridge.

20:34 (Universal Time)

Lower Hangar Deck, M.S.S. KOSTROMA

The weary men and women, along with the sprinkling of teenagers in their ranks, got out of their heavy personnel shuttle to find most of the crew of the KOSTROMA lined up in the cavernous hangar and cheering them wildly. The members of the ground combat contingent, breaking into smiles at that reception, started shaking the hands of those around, while the few members who had spouses or parents on the ship went to hug them, some with tears in their eyes. Two young teenagers from the KOSTROMA who had been with Michel Koniev’s ground contingent since the Mars expedition got a most special hero’s welcome from their parents and friends. On her part, Tina Forster greeted personally Michel Koniev, who was still wearing his combat gear and had a sober look on his face, with an accolade.

‘’Welcome back, Michel. I am happy to see that you are in one piece.’’ Koniev made a weak smile while looking into her grey eyes.

‘’Thank you, Tina. Your ship’s support did a lot to help us during the fighting. Unfortunately, not all of us made it out intact. Our dead and wounded are inside the shuttle. In all, since our departure from Pallas in December, 27 of us got killed and another 61 were wounded.’’

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Tina let her pain show at those numbers: she already knew that one young teenager from the KOSTROMA, a fourteen-year-old boy, was part of the dead, while another teenager had been wounded, thankfully not to a serious degree.

‘’Those are painful losses indeed, Michel. Let’s disembark them with the honors they are due.’’

Using a microphone tuned to the loudspeakers of the hangar, Tina then gave a few short orders.

‘’WE WILL NOW LET OUR DEAD AND WOUNDED COME OUT OF THE SHUTTLE. PLEASE CLEAR THE AREA OF THE SHUTTLE’S RAMP. PARAMEDICS AND MEDEVAC TEAMS, COME FORWARD!’’

Many in the crowd of crewmembers, including dozens of teenagers, went to the anti-gravity stretchers lined up in one corner and quickly pushed them towards the shuttle, climbing the rear ramp and disappearing inside its hold. At the same time, the walking wounded of the ground contingent came down the ramp, to be immediately offered seats in a small fleet of anti-gravity carts. They were then driven away towards the ship’s medical center while cheered by the crowd. The 42 litter cases were also cheered when they were floated out of the shuttle, with shouts of encouragement echoing as well. Then it was time to take out the dead. Calling the crowd to silence, Tina had a deck hand pipe an arrival, then signaled him to start a recording. The timeless, mournful bagpipe music of ‘Amazing Grace’ resonated through the hangar as the first of 27 coffins, draped with the flag of Hygiea, was carried out of the shuttle and put on a cargo platform, to be carried towards the ship’s morgue like the others after it. Tina and Michel Koniev stood at respectful attention as the dead were brought out of the shuttle and carried away. Once that was done, Tina spoke up to those still present, crewmembers and ground fighters alike.

‘’HOPEFULLY, THIS MARKS THE END OF OUR SACRIFICES IN THIS WAR, MY FRIENDS. YOU ALL FOUGHT AND SERVED WITH COURAGE,

DETERMINATION AND COMPETENCE AND YOU CAN ALL BE PROUD OF YOURSELVES TODAY. WE ARE NOW GOING TO LEAVE FOR HOME, FIRST FOR HYGIEA, THEN TO PALLAS AND CALLISTO, SO THAT YOU CAN ENJOY SOME WELL-DESERVED TIME OFF WITH YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS.’’ The cheers brought out by that announcement could not be more heartfelt then.

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22:49 (Universal Time)

Tina Forster’s apartment

Bow Gravity Sail Deck

Tina, having come from the bridge barely fifteen minutes earlier after setting her ship on a course for Hygiea, answered her door ring to find a smiling Michel Koniev on the porch. He was now wearing a clean civilian outfit and had shaved. His sight warmed up Tina’s heart at once.

‘’Michel? What can I do for you at this hour?’’

‘’Let me in, maybe.’’ replied with a grin the tall, blond security officer.

‘’Oh, of course!’’ she said before stepping out of the way to let him in. Only then did she notice the bottle in his hands. Michel presented her the bottle as she was about to ask what it was.

‘’May I present you a little present that I collected for you in Seattle?’’

‘’A bottle of 2299 red Chateau Laffite wine? My god! It must have cost you a fortune!’’

‘’Maybe.’’ said Michel with a grin. He was not going to tell her that he had been given that bottle by a rich Seattle citizen whom he had saved in extremis from looting ISF soldiers. However, it was the intention that counted, like they said. Tina admired the bottle’s etiquette for a second before showing him the entrance of her lounge.

‘’Please, make yourself comfortable, Michel. Anything to drink for you?’’

‘’A simple mineral water will do: I am quite tired and it wouldn’t take much to knock me out.’’

‘’I still have a couple of bottles of Ceres mineral water, I believe. I won’t be long.’’

While Tina went to her small kitchen corner, Michel went to sit in one of the sofas of the lounge and started looking down at the large round floor viewing port showing the giant aquarium running under the apartments of this level. Only then, as he was relaxing, did he realize how truly tired he was. He had to fight off his fatigue before Tina came back with two glasses of mineral water and gave one to him before sitting beside him on the sofa.

‘’So, happy to be going home, Michel?’’

‘’Very much so, Tina. It will be nice to return to simple bar brawls and cheating gamblers after this bloody war.’’

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Tina giggled at his tone of voice.

‘’Sounds like your job on Hygiea can be quite interesting.’’

‘’At times it is. I certainly get to meet all kinds of interesting people with kinky tastes or weird habits. And you?’’

‘’Me? I simply fly from point to point around the Solar System and load or unload cargo: nothing very exciting, really.’’

‘’Except if you run into pirates, of course.’’

‘’Of course!’’

They were then silent for a while, looking discreetly at each other but staying in their respective corners of the sofa while sipping their mineral water. Michel finally decided to make a move.

‘’So, what will you do once back in the Jovian System, Tina?’’ Tina’s eyes became dreamy as she thought about something.

‘’First, I will go get back the spouses and kids of my crewmembers whom we sent to the safety of Triton before going to war. Without kids running around, my ship nearly feels empty. Next, I will go see the Jovian Shipping Lines, to check in what state the interplanetary trade is following this war. Many things have changed, especially on Earth, but I have to think about obtaining new shipping contracts, so that I can continue to sustain my ship and crew. Things may be tight at first, especially considering what this war cost to everybody, both in lives and treasure.’’

‘’All that was about your ship. What about you, Tina?’’

‘’Me?’’ asked Tina, genuinely surprised. ‘’And what about me?’’

‘’Well, apart from driving a ship around space, do you have any personal projects in mind?’’

‘’Uh, I don’t really have much else in mind at the moment. I have been living on this ship for thirteen years now and it has become both my life and my home. I actually truly love this ship.’’

‘’Answered like a true Spacer.’’ said Michel with a smile.

‘’And you?’’ replied Tina. ‘’Do you have any personal projects?’’

‘’Well, I have to say that I am a man of action and am not attracted by anything that would land me behind a desk. On the other hand, I like meeting new people, which makes my present job quite satisfying. So, here we are, two people dedicated to their jobs and having no desire to change.’’

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‘’Here we are, indeed.’’ said softly Tina while looking Michel directly in the eye. ‘’Sounds like we could grow old before deciding to settle down from our jobs, you on Hygiea and me in some corner of the Solar System.’’

‘’Indeed!’’ replied Michel, becoming suddenly quite sober. ‘’Tina, I know that we will have to say goodbye to each other in two weeks and that we then may never meet again. You have however made quite an impression on me during the last months and I would like to keep in contact with you once I disembark on Hygiea. Would you mind that?’’

A warm feeling went through Tina as Michel said those words in a tone that was nearly pleading. She had come to admire him for his courage, strength and honesty. That admiration had however turned lately into attraction for that splendid man. Putting down her glass of mineral water on the low table in front of the sofa, she slid on the sofa to snuggle against him, looking softly into his blue eyes.

‘’I would be happy to stay in contact with you, Michel. In truth, we have had too little time to get to know each other during those months of war. Of that time, too much of it was spent by me worrying if you would make it alive and well. Let’s take the next two weeks to learn about each other.’’

She then approached her lips to his, with Michel meeting her half-way. He put down his own glass and used his arms to hold her as they kissed. Still holding each other, they got up from the sofa a minute later and walked slowly towards her bedroom.

16:14 (Universal Time)

Wednesday, May 24, 2316

Bridge of the M.S.S. KOSTROMA

Arriving in low Callisto orbit

Jupiter System

‘’We are now on automated final approach to the Callisto Prime Space Terminal, Tina. Docking estimated in seven minutes at Docking Station 5.’’

‘’Thank you, Frida, and congratulations: that was a nice, smooth approach.’’ As Tina was about to give another order, she suddenly saw on the viewer screens the navigation lights of the space terminal and of all the ships already docked or floating in proximity to the terminal starting to quickly blink in unison. Blood rushed to her brain as

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she recognized the old custom meant to salute the arrival of a meritorious or exceptional crew or ship.

‘’Frida, blink our navigational lights in response: we are getting a heroes’ welcome, guys.’’

There were a few happy comments and exclamations around the bridge as the duty crew realized the honor they were receiving. Then, Patricia O’Neil spoke up, joy in her voice.

‘’Tina, I am getting a message from our heavy personnel shuttle TROUBADOUR: our families have returned from Triton and are here. I have Piotr Romanski on line for you.’’

Tina took no time to switch her video screen to the incoming call, making the head of the jovial purser and financial officer appear.

‘’Piotr! You can’t know how happy I am to see you here.’’

‘’And you can’t know how relieved we all are here to see the KOSTROMA returning safely and in one piece. We heard many scary stories about the battles you fought. We ask permission to fly in once you will have completed your docking procedure.’’

‘’Permission granted, TROUBADOUR. I am going to reserve my first accolade to you, Piotr. See you on the Lower Hangar Deck.’’

Now feeling like a million credits, Tina finished giving her last orders for the docking and let her crew do the rest. When the last docking clamps and communications tubes were declared secure, she switched her microphone to the ship intercom mode.

‘’Attention all hands, this is the Captain speaking! We are now docked safely to the Callisto Prime Space Terminal. You may secure from flight stations. All the crew, except for minimum manning requirements, is invited to join me in the Lower Hangar Deck to go greet our shuttle TROUBADOUR, back from Triton.’’ She could nearly hear the cheers which then rang around the ship at her announcement. With a big grin of anticipation, she got out of her command chair and, accompanied by all but three of the bridge crew, walked towards the central elevator shafts.

When she walked into the Lower Hangar Deck, Tina saw on a video monitor that the TROUBADOUR was just about to enter one of the four giant airlocks, each with openings eighty meters in width and height, connected to the lower hangars. Nearly all of the 239 persons aboard the KOSTROMA were either already in the hangar or were

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streaming in from the central axis elevator shafts, eager to greet their spouses, children or friends. This time, Tina stayed in the back ranks at first, so that mothers and fathers could have the first shot at receiving their children on the TROUBADOUR. They had to wait another eight minutes before the sealing and pressurizing of the airlock could be completed, allowing the shuttle to float slowly inside the hangar, with the waiting crowd staying well away until it landed softly on the steel deck. The moment that the shuttle’s access ramp lowered and that the first children and young mothers with babies started coming down, the men and women who had been waiting broke rank with happy screams and ran to their loved ones, hugging or raising them in their arms to kiss them. That moment of pure love and joy warmed Tina’s heart, nearly bringing tears to her eyes. Only when Piotr Romanski appeared at the top of the ramp did she start to make her way towards the shuttle, walking around celebrating families and couples. Piotr, once at the foot of the ramp, let go his two pieces of luggage so that he could share a warm hug with Tina.

‘’It is good to see you and the others, Piotr. I hope that you didn’t worry too much about us in Triton.’’

Piotr took a step back to look with gleaming eyes at her.

‘’What we heard about the ‘Mighty KOSTROMA’ sure scared some of us a bit, but it also made us all proud, Tina. If we could believe the Jovian News Network, you defeated by yourself more than half of the Terran Navy and expelled the ISF from Mars.’’ Tina’s grin faded somewhat then and she replied with a hint of regret in her tone.

‘’Killing men and women in combat, even when it is necessary, was not something I enjoyed, Piotr, believe me. We did what had to be done to free Mars from the grip of Earth. Unfortunately, we had to kill more people to rid Earth of the ISF and Zembelo…a lot more people.’’

Piotr nodded his head slowly, no trace of disapproval on his face as he stared into Tina’s eyes.

‘’I know what you are talking about, Tina. In war, unsavory options are often all that you have. The ISF and Zembelo are to blame for what happened to Lagos, not you nor the Spacers League.’’

‘’Thank you for your understanding, Piotr, I really appreciate that. We were lucky on the KOSTROMA but, unfortunately, our ground contingent took some severe losses. One of our volunteer teenagers, Robin Westwood, was killed in combat during the retaking of Ares City, while Patricia Kendrik got wounded.’’

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‘’Their mothers know already, Tina: the Jovian Administration kept us informed via regular bulletins and electronic mail sent to Triton. It was hard on Misses Westwood but she is starting to get over the worse of it now.’’

Piotr couldn’t help glance in the direction of a mature couple, with the man and woman crying in each other’s arms, as he spoke. Tina looked briefly at the Westwood, then back at Piotr.

‘’Let me go speak a bit with the crew of your shuttle, to thank them. You are of course invited to have supper at my table tonight.’’

‘’Well, I’m certainly not going to refuse such a kind invitation, my dear.’’ replied Piotr with a big smile. Tina was about to walk up the ramp of the shuttle when her wrist videophone buzzed, making her flip open its small display screen. Patricia O’Neil was visible on it and spoke at once.

‘’Tina, I have a communication from Governor Robeson for you. I am transferring it to you now.’’

Tina did not have the time to worry about what that call could be about before Janet Robeson’s head replaced that of Patricia.

‘’Ah, our intrepid battleship captain! I am sorry to disturb you so early after your arrival, Captain Forster, but this won’t take long. Basically, I would like you to come to my office in Callisto Prime tomorrow morning, for nine o’clock. I need to discuss a few things with you.’’

‘’With me, Madam Governor? And what will we be discussing, if I may ask?’’

‘’Your future, Captain.’’ said Robeson with an enigmatic smile. ‘’Can I count on your presence tomorrow morning?’’

‘’Certainly, Madam Governor!’’ could only say Tina.

‘’Excellent! Have a good evening, Captain Forster.’’

‘’You too, Madam Governor.’’ had time to say Tina before the line was cut, leaving her wondering aloud.

‘’My future? What did she mean by that?’’

‘’You will know tomorrow morning.’’ said philosophically Piotr, shrugging at the same time that he smiled.

09:05 (Universal Time)

Thursday, May 25, 2316

Office of the Governor of the Jupiter System

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Government center, Callisto Prime

Callisto moon, Jupiter System

‘’Please sit down, Captain Forster! I am sorry if I had to make you wait a bit, but a little matter needed my immediate attention. So, how are your ship and crew after all these battles?’’

Tina, wearing her best shipboard outfit, sat in the sofa presented to her by Janet Robeson before answering her.

‘’Crew-wise, I lost one young member on Mars during the fighting for Ares City, plus had another young member wounded there, but not seriously. My ship is fully operational, with my only battle damage being a number of furrows dug by laser beams in my bow shield.’’

Janet Robeson, sitting in an easy chair facing Tina’s sofa, nodded her head.

‘’I am truly sorry for the loss of your crewmember, Captain Forster. As for your ship’s damage, my administration will pick up the bill for your repairs. It will also reimburse you for the fuel and consumable supplies you used up during the war while in the service of the Spacers League. Your purser needs only to send the bill for their replacement to my office and I promise that it will be paid out without fuss.’’

‘’That is most generous of you, Madam Governor.’’ said Tina, feeling relief. She had not wanted to bring up that subject, for fear of appearing like a vulgar mercenary when she had actually fought out of patriotism. However, that bill for fuel, food and other consumables she had used during those months of war totaled over 115 million credits. Even for her bank account, that was not an inconsequential number. Robeson then spoke again.

‘’Before you worry about me trying to enroll you in some new Jovian Navy, don’t, Captain! I know that you didn’t enjoy having to kill and can fully understand you about that. Besides, the Spacers League is resolved not to commit the same mistake as Earth did by spending huge amounts of money and resources on military forces. The economic and social priorities we had before the war still stand today. However, we clearly need to be better prepared if someone ever threatens us again, be it by this ragtag Southern Federation emerging out of Africa and India and holding a grudge for the ouster of Zembelo, or some rogue surviving ISF elements which could turn to piracy. This subject was discussed extensively between me and the other leaders of the Spacers League and we came to a common accord on what we need to do. Simply put,

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instead of forming a standing navy and army, we will use the merchant ships armed for this war as a reserve force, while our standard police and security forces will all receive basic combat training and will have combat weapons held in store. Call it a kind of people’s militia, if you will.’’

‘’And that merchant ships reserve force, how is it going to work exactly, Madam Governor?’’

‘’The concept is actually simple, Captain Forster. The merchant ships armed for war by the Spacers League or, in the case of your ship, those who had armed themselves out of their own initiative, will be allowed to keep their weapons and combat systems and will receive government subsidies to maintain these systems and weapons. In times of peace, when no crisis is in sight, those ships will continue to ply the space trade routes like they did before the war. If, however, a crisis erupts, then the Spacers League will reserve the right to recall these armed merchant ships into military service, with their expenses and payrolls then taken care by the government, and that for the duration of the crisis. The crews of those ships will have military reservist status and will get a small monthly stipend, in exchange for brief periodic training that could be held via distant learning methods. The one point out of this of import to you, Captain Forster, is that you will have to obtain the consent of each of your crewmembers to become reservists. In view of the stellar performance of your crew in combat during the war, I believe that won’t be a problem in the case of your ship.’’

‘’It effectively won’t be, Madam Governor.’’ replied Tina without hesitation. ‘’Will we have to wear some kind of uniform as reservists?’’

‘’I don’t think so. We are still sorting those small details out, but the most you may have to wear when in service will probably be simple patches or armbands. As for your ship, it will bear the acronym A.M.S., for Armed Merchant Ship, instead of M.S.S., before its name.’’

‘’That sounds simple enough, Madam Governor.’’ said Tina, attracting a malicious smile on Robeson’s face.

‘’Ahh, but wait, Captain! You have proven to be a master tactician when it comes to space combat, as well as showing strong leadership skills. We can’t possibly let you stay a simple ship captain if we have to fight again. Don’t worry: we would not even dream of trying to pull you out of your beloved KOSTROMA. What we have in mind, if you accept, is to give you the reserve rank of Fleet Captain, with the authority to take

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command of our battleship squadron in time of war. What do you say to that, Captain Forster?’’

Tina was left speechless for a moment as Robeson waited patiently for her answer.

‘’Uh, I am not sure that I deserve such a position, Madam Governor.’’

‘’Sure, you do!’’ replied the politician. ‘’You are simply too modest to accept that fact.’’

‘’Then, I suppose that I can’t say no.’’

‘’I wouldn’t let you!’’ said Robeson with a grin. ‘’Then I consider this done. I will come back to you in the next few days with the details concerning the reserve status of your ship. Now, what are you planning to do in the near future?’’

‘’Well, I will see if I can get a shipping contract for my ship, Madam Governor: I am in the business of commerce and must make a living for me and my crew. This brings me to something that is worrying me: what about the interplanetary space trade? With the new situation on Earth, with its split governments, things certainly won’t be the same as before.’’

‘’Actually, my experts would disagree with you, Captain. Earth is certainly divided now, but individual regions, including the Northern Alliance, will still have a need for space resources, while they can provide us with useful goods. Furthermore, the Terran Federation Council isn’t there anymore to suck our tax revenues and waste hundreds of billions of credits on military forces, or to veto our development plans to concentrate instead on supporting a mass of unproductive people. We are now in a truly free market for the first time in over a century and we in the Spacers League are going to use that freedom. For one thing, we can now go ahead with many projects which had been frozen or nixed by the Terran Federation, like the Mars Terramorphing Project and the Eris Expedition.’’

Tina’s ear got up at the mention of ‘Eris Expedition’.

‘’The Eris Expedition? It is going to be launched at last?’’

‘’I certainly have my mind made up to launch it as soon as feasible, and so is Governor Perez, on Titan. Titan still holds fabulous amounts of precious hydrocarbons and nitrogen, but we will need a second source of hydrocarbons in the decades to come, especially if we are serious about letting many emigrate from Earth. We are in fact already in need of expanding our capacities to house, sustain and occupy a growing population, but had been impeded by the Terran Federation Council and its misguided priorities. It has already been over eighty years ago since an automated deep space

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probe briefly studied the dwarf planet Eris and the other Trans-Neptunian Objects before falling silent. We learned then that Eris holds vast amounts of methane, nitrogen and water ice and could become a viable world for human occupation, or at least exploitation. I believe that the time has come to seriously explore Eris’ potential. Eris is presently about 54 Astronomical Units from the Sun, further away than even Pluto, and moving away from the Sun. With its orbital period of 557 years, it won’t get close again to Pluto’s orbit before five centuries from now. I further believe that your ship is the only one capable of carrying a large prefabricated base to Eris and sustaining a deep space mission more than one year long. Would you accept such a mission?’’ It was as if thunder had struck Tina at those words: She may be put in charge of what could well become one of the most significant space missions of Humanity’s history. Getting up from the sofa, she stood in front of Robeson, a happy smile on her young face.

‘’Madam Governor, it would be a true honor for me to be selected for such a mission.’’

‘’Then, consider yourself in, Captain Forster.’’ replied Robeson, also getting up and extending her right hand for a shake. ‘’The expedition should be ready to leave for Eris in about a year. I am sure that you and your crew will be up to that challenge.’’

‘’We will be ready, Madam Governor.’’ promised firmly Tina while shaking hands with Robeson.