The World Game (2 page)

CHAPTER 3

Korean Hegemony, Pyonyang -  24th June, 2034

Lun Jong Il was seated at a large conference table. An image floating before him changed as he pointed and made a flicking motion with his finger. The positions around the table were occupied by his cookie cutter, blank faced, subservient government ministers.

His voice was intense and shrill, fitting with his moon face and clownish hairstyle, as he ranted about the threat of the Iranian Islamic Empire. “They have more nuclear capability than we do. We cannot tolerate the threat of nuclear destruction that hangs over us. What is even worse,” he stood up going red in the face, in almost apoplectic rage, and screamed “THEY ARE USING THE TECHNOLOGY WE SOLD TO THEM TO THREATEN US!”

Jong Il collapsed back into his seat with an exhalation and sudden evaporation of his anger. He continued calmly, with just a little screaming, “We have Japan, China and Western powers paying us not to use our nuclear capability. Paying us tribute! They are SCARED OF US! Now these Iranian upstarts come along and tell us to move out, THEY ARE MOVING IN!”

He placed his small hands on the table and slowly scanned the faces of his ministers. “This means war my friends. Something we have been able to avoid all these years by making the rest of the world think that I and my father and grandfather were all maniacs cut from the same cloth. We have done well until now, but these Iranians really are insane. We did it for the money. They are doing it in the name of religion. There will be no stopping this madness.” He was silent for a moment and his hard expression turned to one of forlorn, abject sadness. A real tear, the first of a lifetime, trickled down his cheek, evoked by the thought of the loss of all that easy wealth. “Prepare the army and the population. Arm all our satellites and missiles. There will be no winners in this war.”

In a far corner of the conference room, a patch of paint on the wall imperceptibly changed color and fluidly altered shape.

Jong Il raised his head. “Does anyone not concur with my assessment?”

Half way down the table Jun Park, a cousin and close adviser of Jong Il stood. His tone was aggressive. “How can we be so sure that the Iranians will strike first, or even strike at all? We risk everything just on your word? Where is the intelligence information that leads to this conclusion?”

Park stopped and stood, leaning on his hands on the table, staring at Jong Il, waiting for an answer. Jong Il whipped his hand up and a flash of red light slashed across the room, inches above heads and across the neck of Jun Park. With a brief spray of blood Park’s head tumbled off his standing body and clunked onto the table, rolling erratically down the middle, the neck almost cauterized by the searing heat of the light blade. The body collapsed back onto the chair and then slid out of sight under the table, just the fingertips peeking up from the arms wedged into place.

Mouths and eyes were wide open in shock all around. Park’s dead eyes stared at them all as the head finally came to rest, teetered on the table edge and thudded to the floor. There was a collective sigh of released breathing as the ministers turned as one to see the fingertips dip out of sight.

“Does anyone else have something to say?” Jong Il peered around, the white faces swinging back to him, as he waved circles in the air with the deadly light blade finger. His voice was icy. “There is no room for the faint hearted or the doubter at this table. We cannot afford to be wrong. We MUST first strike!”

The patch on the wall moved again, contracting into a perfect disc shape.

CHAPTER 4

Greenbelt, Maryland- 24th June 2034

Announcement:

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Skyhook Terminus is home to the nation’s largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. Goddard is the Earth based control center for the International Space City and the Skyhook Transport Sysytem, a direct evolution of the early International Space station, which is an unprecedented achievement in global human endeavors to conceive, plan, build, operate, and utilize a permanent, self sustaining habitat, in space. With the assembly of the space city at its completion and the support of a permanent population of one hundred and sixty, a new era of utilization for human expansion is beginning. During the space city assembly phase, the potential benefits of a closed cycle space-based habitat were demonstrated; including the advancement of scientific knowledge based on experiments conducted in space, development and testing of new technologies, and derivation of Earth applications from new understanding. The Skyhook System has reduced the need for costly orbital launches, conserving resources and making near space available to all. (See net.skyhook.vid for more information.)

The newly developed Dinkshif FRF Ion Drive will be transported to the ISC for proving under real space conditions. The brainchild of Euro-Russian scientist, Nylast Dinkshif, the ion drive is capable of accelerating a large mass (small asteroid size, 20 to thirty yards across.) up to and beyond light speed using Frame of Reference Focus theory. Dinkshif claims to have conceived of this radical mathematical anomaly while swimming laps and staring at the black line on the bottom of the Goddard pool. Micro model testing of the FRF Ion Drive has so far verified the validity of Dinkshif’s discovery. We are on the threshhold of interstellar and possibly interglactic travel.

On a different note – 20 award winning students from around the country have joined us today at the Goddard Space Flight Center to prepare for a ride of a lifetime on the ISC Shuttle, to visit the ISC for two weeks.

Hosted by the Goddard Education office, NASA scientists, engineers, educators and astronauts will engage these top students in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (FRF Theory). Students will have the opportunity to experience Earth science, planetary exploration, astrophysics, heliophysics and more through Skyhook travel and two weeks of hands-on activities in the Space City.

Media interested in attending can contact Elliott Worthington, Goddard Public Affairs Officer. Goddard Release No. 34-112

CHAPTER 5

Goddard Space Center - Skyhook Base. 24th June.

20 teenagers sat in the two front rows of the new Goddard auditorium quietly chatting and getting to know each other. This was the first time they had all come together since individually winning  places in the Space City Experience competition. Evenly balanced between boys and girls, all the candidates were dressed casually, the regimentation of schools and uniforms left behind. The ethnic mix was comprehensive and demonstrated the intergration of diverse racial origins that has built the USA into a great, free and cohesive nation.

Suddenly the buzz stopped as all attention was drawn to a tall man who had appeared at the podium. He smiled warmly, revealing perfect white teeth. His eyes sparkled with intelligence and were edged with lines of natural humor, further accentuated by strong features and a perfectly groomed head of silver hair. His voice was rich and warm.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Goddard Space Centre. My name is Lt. Col. John Fuller and I will be your liaison officer and instructor throughout your stay here at Goddard and Space City.

Firstly let me congratulate every one of you on winning your placement. There are no short cuts to achieving this goal and your diligence and hard work has been noted and recognized. Your reward is being here today, about to enter the adventure of a lifetime.” He paused and surveyed the eager faces before him. “Before we proceed with orientation and Space Boot Camp, do any of you have any general questions?”

There was silence before a hand went up. An Asian girl.

“Yes? Please stand and state your name, then your question.”

“Amy Young, Sir. As can be clearly seen, we are from many different places, backgrounds, religions and ways of life. We are all high school graduates and young adults and I for one would hope to make friends and develop relationships within our group. Will there be any restrictions upon our private relationships here or on Space City?”

Fuller’s mouth twitched as he suppressed a grin. He had anticipated this type of question further down the track, just not right on the chin at first contact. He put his hand up to stifle a staged cough and then looked up with a straight face.

“There are rules in living together in close quarters. These rules apply to all personnel on Space City and generally follow the normal routines of daily life. Married couples live together, with their children. Single people have individual living quarters and date and interact within the bounds of the rules. Space City is not the place to develop a private relationship and the Council will enforce the rules.” He put his arms out and shrugged and allowed a little smile to show,  “So no nooky-nooky on the City. OK?”

The group burst out in laughter and Amy made a wry face and swung her arm in an exaggerated shucks. She sat down.

Fuller signed for quiet and continued. “You will all receive a coms file of the rules for Space City. You will need to read them, know and understand them before we ascend. You will be tested on these rules. The only acceptable result is one hundred percent. Any more questions?”

There were none. Fuller moved from the podium. “If you will all follow me, we will pick up youniforms and equipment and I will show you to your rooms here at Goddard. For the next two weeks you are in Space City Boot Camp. Your attention to detail is crucial. It will save your life in space.” He stopped walking after three paces and turned back to face the crowd of students. “From now on we get serious about this people.” He turned and led them out of the auditorium.

They came to a large, long room with lockers down one wall. Each locker had a candidate name on an electronic security touch panel on the locker door. At the base of each locker, below the main door, there was a small hatch.

“Find your locker and stand along side it to the left. As of this moment we are under strict military discipline.” Fuller marched along the row of standing cadets and assumed a harsh, instructive tone.

“You obey all instructions immediately and without question. There will be no please, or thank you from myself or other staff. You will be addressed as “cadet” and by your last name, which must be visible on your uniform at all times. You will acknowledge instructions with “yes sir” or “no sir” as the case may be.”

Fuller paused, looking along the line of dumbfounded faces. “Anyone who does not wish to comply with these instructions should depart now.” The silence was tangible. A few cadets looked at each other in horror, wondering what they had got themselves into. But no one spoke, or left.

“Right, let’s get on with it then. Open your lockers, read the instructions on the door, and become familiar with your youniforms and equipment. You will note the small hatch at the bottom of your locker. That is where your personal buddy parks itself when not active. You will get to meet your buddy shortly. For now, touch the green “screen” button, follow the directions and change into your youniforms.”

As each cadet pressed the button a green fabric modesty screen ejected from the locker door frame and curled around and back, enclosing just enough space to change clothing.

“Cadets.” called out Fuller, everything off down to the skin. That means plasdaids, feminine hygiene, l-eye-v lenses. Anything. Your youniform will take care of all those matters as soon as you put it on. Your youniform is the ONLY piece of clothing you will wear 24/7. Together with your buddy, it cleans you and itself, and will take care of you if you take care of it. Hurry now. Another thirty seconds and the screens go back ready or not.”

There were some noises of panic from a couple of the screens and one screen bounced as the occupant tripped over his own gear. thirty seconds later the screens retracted leaving most of the cadets standing straight by their lockers, looking smart in their deep blue youniforms. One of the boys was in a complete mess with his youniform on backwards. Fuller sauntered over to the backward youniform cadet and looked him up and down.

“Well, what are you going to do about this cadet?”

“Umm, yes sir. Ermm, no sir, I don’t know sir.”

“Do you know where your butt is cadet?”

“Yes sir.”

“So why isn’t your butt in the butt end of the youniform cadet?”

“It was sir, when I put it on. It keeps turning around on its own sir.”

“How did you put it on cadet?”

“I pulled it over my head and slid my legs in sir.”

“Did you read the instructions on how to put on the youniform cadet?”

“Sort of sir.”

“You did not see them or you ignored them cadet?”

“I couldn’t read them clearly without my contact lenses sir, so I guess I ignored them sir.”

“That could cost you your life cadet. NEVER ignore instructions. Follow them to the letter. The youniform is made of DNA keyed allo-iso-skin. The youniform is YOU cadet. Read the instructions now.” There was a short pause as the cadet squinted at the few lines. “The instructions state clearly, what, cadet?”

“Sir they say, put your fingertips of your right hand on the corresponding fingertips of the youniform and press the yellow Form-on button. The youniform will flow onto your body automatically and seal itself into place. To remove youniform put your right hand onto the youniform holder and press the red Form-off button.”

“Well cadet?”

The cadet looked at the red button, then back at Fuller, his face a mask of horrified realization. “But sir...”

“DO IT!” There was muffled laughter coming from the others as the cadet hesitantly put his fingers onto the holder and pressed the red button. The youniform immediately began to flow back off his body into the storage unit as he turned around so only his bare butt would be totally and embarrassingly exposed. The muffled explosions of mirth from the cadets were met by an icy look from Fuller as the last vestiges of the boy’s modesty were dragged back into the cabinet. This was one cadet who always read instructions from now on.

Suddenly the girl standing next to the hapless cadet pirouetted on her toes and slammed her hand onto the green screen button of his cabinet. With a grateful look the cadet pulled the screen around until he could reacquire his youniform correctly. Moments later the screen retracted and a fully clad cadet stood there with a straight face and at attention.

Fuller almost let his stern expression slip into the smile of amusement that was trying to surface. He looked at the girl cadet. “You, cadet,” he beckoned with a thrust of the chin, “step forward.”

The girl confidently took a step forward, a look of defiance on her face.

“What is your name cadet?”

“Felicity Hannaford, sir!”

“Cadet Hannaford, who gave you instructions to interfere with the cadet’s situation?”

“No one sir.”

“You will report to my office after we dismiss, cadet.”

She took in a deep breath. “Yes sir!”

Fuller walked the length of the locker room, inspecting each cadet and allowing time for the tension to dissipate.

“I now draw your attention to your buddies. Does anyone know what a buddy is?” He stopped pacing and looked up and down the ranks. He was surprised when the cadet of backwards uniform fame stepped forward. He walked up to the cadet and got right into his face, nose to nose. “Your name cadet?”

“Gerald Shaw, sir.”

“Cadet Shaw, for all present to hear, explain what a buddy is.”

Shaw looked straight ahead and spoke up. “Sir, a buddy in any context is a personal, close friend, someone you can rely upon under any circumstances. The NASA personal buddy is a biobot derivation of semi-organic hybrid protoplasm that has been enhanced with human stem cells  for intelligence, earthworm DNA for structure and organic armor growth from deep water sulphur based life forms found around volcanic activity in the Mariana Trench and the Red Sea. The organic strains have been refined and defined to be self-replicating and repairing. A buddy can pair with one human being by thought induction over a cerebral cortex link. The buddy is essentially impervious to heat, cold, vacuum, corrosive substances, radiation, biological hazards, projectiles and virtually anything outside of an immediate nuclear blast.”

Fuller pursed his lips and shook his head . “Impressive cadet Shaw. Very impressive.” Fuller looked up and down the line. “Can anyone add to cadet Shaw’s description. Someone tell us how the buddy actually functions and interfaces?”

Felicity Hannaford stepped forward. No one else moved a muscle.

“Hmm,” Fuller mused. “we seem to have a vaudeville duo with these two. OK cadet Hannaford, let’s hear what you have to add.”

“Sir. The buddy coexists with its host as a beneficial symbiont. It takes intellectual nourishment from the host thought processes and grows with and into the host. The buddy physically attaches itself to the host forming a helmet like covering over the whole head, but able to leave facial areas clear. The rest of the buddy forms a molecular mono layer over the whole host, creating total coverage and integrating with the youniform.

The buddy is able to anticipate the needs of the host by knowing the thoughts and emotions of the host through the cerebral cortex induction link. The buddy will form a total cover of the host, including face, eyes, ears and nose, and will provide oxygen, water and nourishment to the host as long as raw materials are available to the buddy on the outer surface. The buddy will work with the youniform and create clear panes for sight, with polarization to control light intensity.

The buddy will empathize with other buddies, providing instant communications for the host, and finally, the buddy will neutralize and recycle all host waste materials, including exhalation in a closed situation. The buddy takes waste that the youniform creates and shreds that waste back to molecular size. It then reassembles the molecules into whatever can logically be made and is needed by the host or for its own survival.”

Felicity stopped. There was silence. Fuller looked the cadets up and down once more. “It is time to meet your buddies. Facing your lockers, press the blue button on the top right edge of your shelf and then look straight down. It is imperative that you look down and make eye contact with your buddy the instant it emerges. This is the critical bonding stage. Anyone who fails this stage will leave the program. Understood?”