Chapter 02: The Council

Other than the front desk, and an arch positioned behind it at the far end of the room, the lobby was both beautiful and empty. Gleaming steel beams lined the walls at equidistant intervals, narrowing out as they reached higher, curving inward along the underside of the overhead dome. The freshly polished floor of brown tiles created a perfect duplicate of the room and everything in it. I glanced down for a moment and watched my upside down self walk in perfect sync with me.

The secretary seated behind the welcome desk was only visible from the waist up as the desk blocked the remainder. Her blonde hair had been brushed back before being twisted into a tight vertical roll along the rear of her head from the base of her skull to the top. Her apparel consisted of a long sleeved teal uniform, and the off center zipper for her jacket ran up the right side from waist to shoulder.

"Good morning, Mr. Kovair," the woman said sweetly, flashing a genuine smile in my direction. "You're right on time for your appointment with the Council. If you will please sign the register, I'll activate the arch for you."

Her irises were reflective silver, similar to a ring of mercury. Unlike the cyborg eye patch I'd seen on the gentleman outside, the secretary's artificial eyes were more cosmetic, and only a close examination revealed their true nature. Of all the implants I'd seen, I thought her eyes were the most lovely, to say nothing of functional. Moments after entering her field of view, she'd already scanned my features, compared it to a facial recognition database, retrieved my name, and learned about my morning meeting scheduled with the Council. Although the tech and its application were quite common, it still fascinated me.

I approached her desk and picked up the stylus sitting on the smooth black surface. A rectangular box had been outlined on the desktop by a needle thin line of bright white. I wrote my signature in the box, the letters appearing as the digital surface responded to the touch of the electronic pen. When I finished, a red scanning beam swept across my name from underneath as the signature was compared to the one on file. The rectangle around my name blinked green once as it checked out as valid.

The secretary turned her silver eyed gaze toward the stylus when I put it down, and I knew she was scanning the fingerprints I'd left behind. In the space of time it took for her to look toward the stylus and back to me, she'd verified my identity again. Although apparently only a smiling face to welcome guests, I knew the secretary played a far more vital role in being the front line of the building's security.

"You're cleared for entry, Mr. Kovair," she said sweetly to me. "Have a pleasant day."

"You too," I offered in response. Nodding a silent thanks, I headed around the desk to the arch mounted against the far wall.

The arch was made from three cylinders forming a doorway of two vertical sections topped by a horizontal cap. The tubes were mostly a flat bluish-gray in color, but a clear panel on each showed rippling energy of bright orange contained inside. The orange light rippled behind the clear sections of conduit in a resemblance of water reflections at the bottom of a pool. I looked closely at the flowing ribbons of color; they were almost hypnotic in their graceful and fluid movements.

I felt a prickling sensation of static electricity an instant before a flash of white light momentarily stole my vision. I stepped out from a duplicate arch on the one hundred twenty-seventh floor, the Council's chamber.

An almost exact replica of the first floor lobby, metal beams curved slowly along the incline of the walls toward the center of the overhead dome. The brown tiles of the floor reflected everything in mirror quality. Instead of the secretary's station, five blue and white marble desks were positioned opposite from where I'd entered. The Councilors behind each desk wore uniforms of differing colors to designate the department over which they were in authority.

First on my far left was Major Barlow, head of engineering. His royal blue uniform had the customary off center zipper on the right side of his chest, but the left side was completely hidden behind a blanket of medals. Major Barlow had served with distinction, and his highly decorated uniform spoke silently of his accomplishments.

To the right of Major Barlow sat the oldest of the Council, Captain Dawson. Her silver gray hair and well lined face indicated her age, but her posture and expression were as tough as any. The round data access port on her right temple and the red uniform she wore identified her as the leader of the Science and Research division. As with Major Barlow, the jacket of her uniform was covered in a wide array of medals for distinguished service.

Seated in the center of the group was General Trent. Clad in the reflective silver of command, he presided over the Council and worked to maintain unity among the different points of view present in the administration. The reasonable people sitting behind their blue marble desks made his job much easier. They all wanted the same thing, to be successful and productive in their reach across space, and conflicts only arose when there were different opinions on how to reach those goals. General Trent was soft spoken, understanding, and always willing to listen; he was tailor made for the command position.

General Trent, like his fellow Council members, carried the medals of his long career, but he showed further evidence of his turbulent history. The man's right eye was reflective silver, a cosmetic synthetic similar to those used by the secretary in the lobby. His left hand from the wrist down was also artificial; it was only at the joints where the skin colored material was missing to allow flexibility that the constructed nature of his hand could be detected. Despite the old injuries, the sandy haired General was in top physical fitness, and even though no longer going on missions, he'd be ready if the need arose.

Next to last was Lieutenant Farris. First of the medical corps, the dark skinned Lieutenant wore a pure white uniform that was surprisingly lacking in any ornamentation. Although he owned as many awards as the others, he preferred not to wear them as he was frequently called into medical operations where such things only got in the way or required extensive cleaning afterwards. The sleeves on his uniform had been removed, allowing his artificial arms to show. From the shoulders down, Farris' arms were completely mechanical. They weren't of the cosmetic style designed to appear human, but they were wrapped in gleaming steel. As a medic, he'd been proficient to the point of being gifted, but enhanced, Farris had all of his original skill combined with the speed and precision of a machine.

The final member of the Council, seated on the far right, was Commander Linton. Her shoulder length dark hair matched well against the rich green of her uniform. In charge of ecological construction, her patience, understanding, and scientific knowledge were legendary, even among her fellow Council members. Whenever a new planet was colonized, or a station established, her department went to work building a thriving ecosystem in the artificial environment. The goal of her efforts centered around creating self-sustaining systems to maintain human habitation without the need for any external supplies shipped from Earth. The department under her leadership had been most successful.

I knew the backgrounds and history of the Council by heart. To prepare for my meeting them, I'd read their personnel records in great detail. They were of such exceptional quality, with greatly admirable traits, I felt honored to simply be in the same room with them.

"Mr. Kovair," General Trent spoke first and got straight to the point without preamble. "We understand there hasn't been much in the way of progress in reaching past the asteroid belt."

"No sir," I replied. There was no point in denying the truth everyone in the room already knew. "Although it has been problematic, we are close to a solution."

"How close?" Major Barlow asked. He leaned forward on his desk, and it made the medals on his green uniform jacket clink together softly.

"We're making progress," I explained.

"In other words, you still haven't solved the problem," the Major continued. Even with part of his face hidden behind his red beard, the Major's frustration was evident. "I understand how much energy you've already put into this project, but we can't continue pouring resources into something unless there are tangible results."

The Major sat back in his chair and sighed heavily. I shared his irritation with the current situation. We both wanted to conquer the problem and achieve what no one had been able to do, but after considerable time and effort, the impasse remained.

"Perhaps it would help to explain in detail the difficulties you are having and the current line of work you are pursuing to compensate for it," Commander Linton suggested; the tone and attitude of the ecological construction leader remained caring and helpful, seemingly immune to the stress and aggravation present in the room.

"Asteroids continually cause damage to the ships and transport pods we send through the belt," I explained. "Up till now, the focus had been on trying to build stronger ships, heavier armor, or some type of energy shielding capable of repelling the asteroids before impact. None of these have come to fruition, so when I took over the project, I put it in a new direction.
"A cockroach can survive and function temporarily even if half of it is crushed or removed because its bodily functions are spread out. The ship we're building has such a design. It's extremely generalized in order to prevent a system failure, even with catastrophic damage. After breaching the field, we may limp to our destination, but we will arrive."

"How long until completion of this super ship?" General Trent questioned.

"Initial construction has already been finished," I stated. "We're in the process of bringing the remaining systems online, and final testing should begin in short order. If all goes well, we should be ready for launch in a month."

"Unfortunately, things aren't going to go well," Lieutenant Farris said.

I could tell by the tone of the medical officer's voice I wouldn't like what came next.

"With the recent outbreak of the podara virus on Mars, we have immediate need of the funding currently going to a project still in the developmental stage," Farris continued.

I knew what he was about to say, but I held my tongue and braced for it.

"You've put together a very convincing case," General Trent admitted. "Nevertheless, the Council has decided to reduce your budget."

I winced as the decision was handed down. "By exactly how much of a reduction are we talking?"

"Half," General Trent replied.

Another wince. My jaw tightened, and my hands behind my back clenched into fists as I felt all my efforts turning to dust.

"We want you to know the deep respect we have for everything you've accomplished," General Trent went on. "If the resources were available, we'd increase your funding many times, but there just isn't enough at the present."

"I understand," I managed to say. Forcing myself to calm down, I unclenched my fists and took a slow breath. "I appreciate your generosity in this matter."

The Council stood and bowed their heads in silent salute. I returned the bow before heading for the arch. The project I'd tried so hard to save was now on life support. I stepped through the arch, instantly being transported back to the lobby. My frustration returned in full force, and if the front doors hadn't been automatic, I would've slammed them behind me.

A fiery resolve formed in my mind, intertwining with my synapses until it couldn't be separated. It didn't matter what the Council decided; I would get my ship past the asteroid belt if I had to put it on my back and drag it across.

***

It took twenty minutes by train to reach the construction site for the spaceship. My entire staff was waiting for me when I stepped out of the train car onto the platform.

"Are they going to shut us down?" was the predominant question being asked by most of my team.

"It's worse than you think," I said over my shoulder as I departed from the platform and took the stairs leading up. "They're cutting our budget by half."

No questions followed me up the stairs, only silence. I stopped at the upper landing and turned to face the people who had signed on in an attempt to reach new heights of exploration. The crowd had halted at the base of the stairs in a state of shock. They deserved so much more than what I could offer them and more than what I required of them if we were to prevail.

"My friends," I began. "Your work has been essential toward getting us this far. With our limited budget, we're going to have to cut a few corners."

"We can't cut corners, or this will fail, and all of it will have been for nothing!" shouted someone in the crowd. I couldn't see who spoke up, but I did see the nodding heads and resolute expressions on their faces. None of them wanted to compromise the integrity of the project.

"I agree with you," I told them. "What I was referring to was us. I've put my house up for sale, and I'm going to be moving in here. We have all the necessary supplies for building a balanced ecosystem on another world, so food isn't an issue. I'll be working for free, so the credits I would've received shall be spent toward completing our ship. I know I have no right to ask it of you, but if any of you would be willing to do the same, step forward."

As a single group, they all came forward, even climbing the first few steps. I paused a moment in order to maintain my composure before answering.

"Thank you," I managed to say. "Storage room 196 isn't being used since the last of the thruster assemblies were finished. We can transform it into a dormitory. Environmental engineering will need to create a rationing schedule, making sure we don't deplete our available food supplies needed for the colony. There should be plenty, but I don't want to take any chances. Let's get to work; we still have a long way to go."

My team joined me at the top of the stairs, talking excitedly as we walked deeper into the facility, and I even heard a few laughs. We'd been struck a powerful blow, but we were still standing. Despite our troubles, hope endured.