The Last Revolution (15 page)

“Don’t worry, I’ve hacked the system and downloaded our fingerprints and identifications into the national registry.”

“What happened to
not
being a secret agent? Besides, it’s next to impossible to hack the Alliance network. It would have taken the Federation or Islamic Empire a year to insert one name into that database, let alone two.”

“Imagine that, me a little old girl, hacking the big Alliance network.”

“Whatever. I’m not saying that you couldn’t do it, just that I’m…impressed.”

“The cab should be outside any minute.”

“You called a cab, but what about your bike?”

She just shrugged. “I don’t own a bike.”

Alden smiled. “Of course you don’t.”

The room was flooded with light as a small cab pulled up out front.

As they walked down the stairs Alden asked, “So how did you hack their network so fast?”

She gave him a quick wink before walking outside like she owned the place.

He opened the cab door, helping Kira inside. The inside of the cab was hollow, with two bench seats that faced each other. They were well worn and had a dusty smell.

“Please enter destination and deposit required funds.” The computer asked over a speaker in the arm rest.

Alden held his breath and pressed a button on his wrist deck. Kira just looked on as if she had no cares in the world. He had to stabilize himself as the car lurched into motion. Guess it worked. As they crested the ramp onto the highway the sun burst out over the horizon and illuminated the sky in the most brilliant display of orange and red. The distant skyscrapers lit up under the glow of the sun and appeared to be on fire. For a brief moment he wished he could have stayed just a little longer.

They hadn’t traveled very far before the spaceport started to take shape in the distance. It was a large structure and the top half of the shuttle launcher could be seen jutting up from the ground towards the sky. They finally pulled up outside a large gate, which swung open as they approached. The cab took them all the way to the runway, where a sleek aircraft, outfitted with an X57 engine, rested in anticipation.

Didn’t they stop producing those things back in the seventies? The outside was dented in several places from micro-meteorite damage.

Alden furrowed his brow. “I’m surprised we’re able to get so close.”

“No one really flies commercial anymore. It’s only the politicians, corporations and militaries that make the trip. It’s a dying industry. Honestly, most don’t even think about it—oh God.”

Alden turned. Several large military transports had stopped behind the plane. Dozens of fully armed soldiers dressed in combat fatigues spilled out on to the runway. It felt like cold water had just been splashed into his face. Where was his gun? Maybe he could hotwire the cab. As his mind raced, a set of stairs descended from the back of the ship and the soldiers began to board one at a time.

“We’re okay.” Kira put her hand on his leg. “They’re not here for us, follow my lead.”

The computerized voice came over the cab speaker once more. “Please vacate the vehicle.”

“Pushy thing, isn’t it?” Alden muttered

He stepped out, helping Kira in the process. Several more military vehicles arrived in quick succession. Each one deposited dozens of fresh recruits. They hoisted their bags onto the cargo rack and then headed up the steps.

Kira took the lead and walked towards the ship. A group of civilians had already gathered at the bottom of the steps as they waited to board. When it was their turn, Alden strode up to the ticket agent and held up his wrist deck in front of theirs. A green light clicked on and he was given the nod to board.

“Thank you for flying with us, and have a nice time in New Tranquility.”

***

Arakiel crept between the trees, pushing branches out of his way. Light broke through and he could make out the launch complex in the distance. As he crouched and edged forward, he noticed a figure patrolling the outer edge of the forest. The person had an assault rifle strung over their shoulder and was dressed in a full military uniform. Arakiel didn’t mind killing mercenaries and thugs, but the thought of murdering a soldier troubled him. The Guardian had been explicit about not leaving any witnesses.

Picking up a large rock, Arakiel flung it at an adjacent tree. Several branches and twigs broke as it made contact with the forest floor and bounced away. The soldier raised his weapon and scanned the trees in the direction of the sound. Arakiel stood perfectly still, pressed against the back of a large spruce. The man crept into the dense foliage. It was obvious that he was trying to be quiet, buteach step seemed to produce more sound than the previous one. Arakiel slid out one of his knives.

As the soldier moved towards the rock, Arakiel slid around the tree and attempted to get the jump on the soldier. But just as he was about to make a move the man turned around and leveled his assault rifle at him. Arakiel kicked the gun out of the man’s hand. The soldier tackled him and they went flying back into the spruce he’d hidden behind before toppling to the ground. A whistle sounded in the distance, last call before departure. He couldn’t miss that flight!

He used his height advantage to overpower the soldier and then cut off his airway until the man passed out. Arakiel dropped him to the ground. He checked his pulse, still alive. There was no time left, he had to move fast. Arakiel stripped the soldier down, grabbed his clothes and quickly changed. In the distance the last soldier was already climbing up the stairs. Arakiel picked up the bag with the reactor inside and slung it over his shoulder.

He reached the back set of stairs just as someone started to wheel them away.

“One more!” Arakiel jumped on the steps and raced up. The attendant waved him in. He made the small leap from the top of the steps into the jet. Moments later the door was sealed and the spacecraft moved into position on the launch track.

***

Although the concept of up and down didn’t matter as much in space, Alden could feel the plane begin to level off. The pressure on his body also eased as they passed beyond the upper limits of Earth’s atmosphere. Their intense departure reminded him of aerial combat training. Kira seemed to be in her own world as she stared out the window.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’m just admiring the view. It doesn’t matter how many times I make this trip, I never get tired of it.”

Alden peered over her and out the port window. The blue hue of Earth’s atmosphere was rapidly dissolvinginto total darkness. In its place were billions of brilliant stars. The entire arm of the Milky Way galaxy stretched out from one end of their view to the other. Clusters of nebulas and white dwarfs dotted its exterior edges.

“You’ve never been off-planet, have you?” Kira asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

“I’ve spent more time in zero-grav training than you can imagine.”

“How could you have never made this trip?”

Alden shrugged as he sank back in his seat. “What difference does it make? I’m here now.”

She shook her head, “You can watch a sunset on the vids, but there’s nothing like actually running your hands through the sand, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face, the sound of waves crashing against the beach.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what it’s like. It’s so…predictable.”

“Well that may be, but up here nothing is what it seems. Once the laws of gravity disappear, so does everything else. The first time you walk across the surface of the moon and watch the Earth set behind the lunar horizon—”

“Look at that!” Alden said excitedly.

Outside their window, the field of stars had begun to vanish. In their place was an ever expanding darkness that grew until it consumed every visible object in the night’s sky. In that moment, the distant light of the sun exposed the leading edge of a colossal Battlecarrier.

Alden could barely contain his excitement. It looked like a dozen skyscrapers bundled together. Thousands of lights were visible along the length of its hull. There were a number of blue barriers that allowed a constant flow of ships to safely enter and exit the hangars. Swarms of space fighters patrolled the outer perimeter. Cannons the size of their spaceship lined the top and bottom.White lettering along the leading edge of the ship read,
ALLIANCE OF DEMOCRATIC NATIONS DES: COLUMBUS.

“Are we going to land in there?” Alden asked.

“No. We’re carrying military crew members so they won’t bother searching us.”

“Besides, no one would be foolish enough to fake their papers and ride on a military transport to the lunar surface, would they?”

Alden couldn’t get over the immense size. Based on the portholes and barriers they were still several kilometers away, but it obscured their entire view.

“Judging by your expression, you haven’t seen one of these either. The Alliance has twelve of them in operation. This one isn’t even the biggest. The Olympus is twice that size. It took them fifteen years to complete her.”

He had been enthralled with these ships for as long as he could remember. Something about their size and sheer military force never ceased to amaze him. It had been his favorite subject in school. Some of his fondest classroom memories were spent studying diagrams, reading reports and watching vids on the space based aircraft carriers. They were so large they had to be built in space; the energy required to break the gravity well would have been incalculable. The Olympus was his favorite.

“I remember when she launched,” Alden finally said.

“One of the pinnacles of modern civilization,” she said quietly. “It’s the most destructive force known to man.”

“Unless you consider a nuclear bomb,” Alden retorted.

“Those relics? Besides the fact that they don’t exist anymore, what’s the worst they could do—destroy a city? That thing…” She pointed out the window. “…could decimate an entire country. The Olympus could erase civilizations...”

It seemed as if she was genuinely concerned, or scared, of these battleships. Wouldn’t a smuggler have just considered them an occupational hazard? Of course, whaling ship captains had to consider breaches an occupational hazard, but people still died. It was probably smart to have a healthy fear of the dangers present in your work. But maybe that was how you stayed alive; treating something with the fear and respect it deserved.

It was fear that originally led to the creation of the Three Nations. He remembered the lesson well. At one time there had been hundreds of different countries, each with their own unique identity. As the world’s oil supply had dropped, entire regions were thrown into chaos. Individual nations merged together in order to form larger and more powerful entities. It was argued the trend really started with the American colonies, but it didn’t pick up momentum until the Euro Zone was established.

Panicking at the loss of influence, the Arab League and African Union quickly followed suit. Only they didn’t stop. In 2024 they united their populations and established the first of the Three Nations, the United Islamic Empire. As the European Union and United States strengthened their bonds, so too did the Russians and Chinese. They expanded upon their 2001 Sino-Russian treaty of friendship and launched an economic community. In 2043 they completed the integration, and the second nation was born; the Sino-Russian Federation.

The United States and European Union established a common currency a year later, but it would be almost a decade before they completed their union. In 2050, the Alliance of Democratic Nations came into existence. It was the third and final nation. The rest of the world saw the direction of the future and didn’t want to be left behind. It didn’t take long until every country had joined one of the three super nations. Some of the connections came from a shared history, or close geographical proximity; but most made their decisions based on religious affiliations.

Humanity found itself balanced once again. He remembered his teacher pulling up a holographic map of Eastern Europe. It was now the demilitarized zone between the Federation and Alliance. The biggest oil reserve ever discovered also happened to be the last. It sat beneath the Baltic Sea, directly between the two nations. Every major international organization had been disbanded decades earlier, and no objective institution existed to whom they could make their claim. The invasion of Helsinki occurred in the fall of 2085.

The Alliance had been caught totally off guard. As the world geared up for the final war of mankind, every major religion came together and ordered the end of hostilities. They formed the Council, and worked as an unbiased party to negotiate a sustained peace treaty. They filled the void vacated by the previous international bodies. Energy had been the prime motivator for the invasion. They offered a novel solution. Mine the moon for helium-3. It was a non-radioactive helium isotope that would provide every nation with the energy they needed.

Despite these agreements, it didn’t take long for hostilities to emerge along the borders between nations. It became apparent to everyone that treaties alone weren’t enough. The Council would need military might in order to defend what they’d worked so hard to create. The Alliance had been a long time supporter of the Council, so they handed over the I.E.P. or Inner-Solar Enforcement and Pacification unit. The other two nations matched the troop and equipment donations to make sure no one nation received favorable attention. It was from this elite IEP unit that the Angele Dei ultimately came from.

Alden stared out the window at the Columbus. It was the same year the Alliance had launched the Testament. The first of the Pacific class Battlecarriers. If it had been operational before the invasion, would the Federation still have attacked? Sometimes strength was strength.

As his thoughts returned to the cabin, he realized that someone was watching them. He attempted a casual yawn and pretended to look for the bathroom. At the front of the cabin one of the supervisors was speaking with a waitress, but staring at him. The manager’s bald head had an almost reflective quality. He was short, his suit was firmly pressed; no buttons were out of place. His entire demeanor was intense. As Alden took another look, the man diverted his gaze.