She slept through the first day of travel as she’d timed her activity over the last few days so she would be tired. She’d always found travel extraordinarily boring so sleeping the first day was a goal. At her age and considering how busy she was, it was a pleasure to catch up on sleep and relax.
She’d found it was becoming more and more of a struggle to stay awake during holomesh conferences as she knew it was her age catching up. Time, the implacable foe was winning at long last despite her best efforts. She knew that regularly drifting off in meetings would be a sure sign her time to pass was near but she had a few tasks to perform before then. This was one such task.
A real concern and the reason for the trip was succession. She knew she’d pass in the next few years and it was highly likely another would awaken in just the same way she had. Her greatest desire was to make the transition smooth, and her greatest fear was that she’d make it too smooth as without adversity there would not be the strength forged from exercising strength of character.
She’d read that in the making of a sword, the hammering, the heating, the grinding would not be a pleasant experience for the sword, but the sword was the greater for the experience. She’d faced enough adversity over the centuries to know the truth of that.
This was just one task in pursuit of satisfying that dichotomy of her desires and perceived needs of the one following her.
The trip from Earth to the JRF (Jupiter Reclamation Facility) took six days which she knew was fast by the standards of a hundred years ago, but now it was a boring standard. The Gnomes of Black Mountain had disguised her ship, changed its outline and Sheena had used a back channel into OS1 to give it a bland set of ownership and use credentials. It would be seen as the plaything of a rich traveler hence only mildly interesting and worthy of just a glance or two when it was inevitably scanned and checked by a human, not an AI.
Six days was a long time to be cooped up on her ship, but for a trip to Jupiter it wasn’t too bad because of the sustained one G acceleration for the first three days, and then the turn over and deceleration for another three days. This made the trip boring for her, even with long sleeps and continued holomesh sessions back to Black Mountain and Unity offices.
The silence of space was lovely.
She enjoyed the relief of the complete absence of other people’s thoughts intruding and the absence of any need to physically be anywhere helped relax her too. She could have come with a tour group on a much larger tour ship but would not have felt that isolation, that peace, but she would have had more space. It was a trade off, but the prospect of peace won. In some ways it was better than being on her island. That only had a few hundred kilometers of separation from other people which had been fine when she was younger. As she grew older and grew in strength, she could feel those presences in the distance, tickling her, needling her just below the surface of her mind if she didn’t go to the trouble of walling them off. Here on her way to Jupiter she had millions of peace inducing kilometers of separation but at the cost of being in cramped quarters.
After the six days of travel, the highlight being the turnover after day three, she felt almost young again from the enforced rest and relaxation. She was ready to do what she had to and was actually looking forward to feeling other people nearby.
She felt the eventual arrival at JRF, the distant firefly presences in her mind, hours before she docked. Then the vista of Jupiter, the enormous planet taking up much of the screen was almost hypnotic as she sat in the command chair. Even at over a quarter of a million kilometers, Jupiter was immense, hulking, and the detail awesome. She’d sat watching it for an hour before she’d needed to be in the command chair.
She could understand why tour groups had this as their number one solar system destination. The sheer size and activity around JRF itself was infinitely interesting and particularly if the ship AI overlaid the magnetic and radio spectra on top of the visible.
Adding to that was the sight of JRF and the Legion vessels docked or in close proximity. She saw the personal transport gravity frames with space suited workers strapped in flitting around doing she knew not what as they worked. She saw in the distance a framework erected around a huge asteroid and could see the bright light from the reflections of the fusion furnaces melting it for raw materials. In a few weeks even that behemoth of an asteroid, probably moved from the Kuiper belt or the asteroid belt, would be processed then shipped to Earth on a transport.
Jupiter was a ‘God Send’ planet she’d thought when they’d setup the JRF. Of all the planets in the solar system, it was the most heavily used, apart form Earth that is.
First of all, with its huge gravity well Jupiter would soak up any mistakes. Sending a kilometers wide asteroid from a long way off meant it had to have a significant velocity and that made large asteroids a civilization killer. If something went wrong, planet Earth could be destroyed. Therefore processing asteroids near Jupiter made sense. Any mistakes, any equipment failure meant an asteroid would be eaten by Jupiter and no harm done to that monster planet. More, since all incoming rocks and vessels entering the solar system were monitored by the Legion, they would take decisive action against anything heading toward earth that wasn’t under control and using Jupiter the way they did, reduced traffic to Earth and made it safer and easier.
Jupiter itself was also useful as a source of resources. JRF regularly mined the atmosphere with AI controlled open framed ram-scoop ships bringing compressed gasses back to process to make hydrocarbons, freeing up planet Earth’s depleted fossil fuels. Jupiter was a gift that kept on giving.
As she neared, JRF took control of her ship but as per regulations, she sat in the command chair and made sure she was docked where she should be and that it was safe. She had no doubt the Legion controllers on JRF watched the AI as well, checking everything and all the time. Her ship was large compared to many and could do significant damage if it went astray. Same as for asteroids, it had been vectored to enter Jupiter’s atmosphere and burn up if it’s AI and herself had lost control so it was fail-safe for the JRF station also.
She had to disguise herself as she was known here and though she’d not been here in a few years, she would be recognized. Putting on the dark wig then taking a lot of time to make herself look younger she exited then went through inboard control. Sheena had crafted credentials that were boringly neutral for a tourist, she was given a glance then with a wrist band fitted she was admitted. They hadn’t given the fact she was traveling solo and in a vessel that few could afford any thought. The only thing they’d been concerned about was contraband but Sheena had used OS1 to indicate that the Legion had already inspected and passed her as safe.
She had no desire to explore. She’d been here often enough to know more than any casual tourist so she moved to the viewing area then used the bathroom facilities to remove her disguise and freshen up. Here, with everyone’s attention on Jupiter and the reclamation happening in the distance, she would not be noticed unless she did something note worthy.
She collected a small meal and the drink she liked then set down to wait. Her information was that her target took lunch late in the day, fairly soon, and did what most in JRF did, sat and watched Jupiter as they ate. She could understand that, it is exactly what she did as well.
It look all her patience to wait, but finally the two meter tall form arrived, collected food and drink, then sat looking out onto the vista, eating slowly. She watched and was again pleased at her own small and nearly invisible stature. She could blend in anywhere and drop down out of observation with ease. The person she was watching was as far from that as it was possible to get. At two meters height, looking extremely physical and strong and with the rich chocolate skin and mixed parents genes the woman was even to her own eyes, strangely attractive. Not just that, she looked ‘interesting’ as if she was doing something even when sitting still. No man in proximity could not have his eyes drawn to Henrietta Galt and she noticed that effect in the area as interest was spiked.
She got up then collected a drink. She walked over to and sat at the table opposite the woman, looking down and fussed with her drink as she put her tabbie onto the table. She felt the mild annoyance and then the dismissal as Henrietta after one slightly bored glance went back to eating and watching the view.
“It is an amazing sight,” she floated out, “watching the frames knowing there’s a person in a space suit inside one puts it all into perspective.” And it did. Some of them in the distance were just pin-prick size and gave scale to the fusion smelters they were working beside.
Henrietta Galt nodded slowly, not taking her eye off the view. “I’ve done that work. You gotta keep your wits around you. I heard of one rock jock getting crushed, she died badly. We lose one every few years.”
She nodded slowly at that. Space was not a place where you got to live through mistakes. “I would have thought the JRF AI would have over-ridden her controls if there was imminent danger. Didn’t her frame AI squeal back, bring attention? What about the self sealing pressure loss backup?”
That caused a slight reaction as she’d used all the right words and described the actual systems in place designed to make space work as safe as possible. She was now being inspected, “Yeah, it did but it was far too slow. It was a splinter from an asteroid being shunted in from a holding pattern. It was only small but going fast, it ripped the command module off the frame so it couldn’t squeal or control it. It pushed her into the wrong place at a bad time between the asteroid and the smelter, squashed her, the suit’s self seal didn’t make any difference.” There was a moment of silence, “You know these systems? You worked out here before?”
Looking into the large woman’s eyes was a little daunting. She was used to facing down all manner of people in management and in her youth more than a few criminals hell bent on violence. Henrietta Galt exuded strength and certainty.
She shook her head slowly, “No, not worked here but I’ve been here a few times before. At my age you tend to get around. I did a tour just years ago and yes, I’ve used a ‘frame on the surface. I’ve played with combat frames when they were developed and flown them off OS1 to the surface and back. With your size, I guess you’d have a custom?”
That brought more surprise. Flying a personal transport frame off Orbital Station One in Geo-stationary orbit down to the Earth’s surface wasn’t trivial and a combat frame with a delta wing and ordnance slung under it was even more difficult making gaining authority unusual. The Legion took a dim view of troopers or civilians smacking into planet Earth at a dozen or more times the speed of sound when things went predictably wrong, AI or not.
“I’ve done it in a personal transport frame, a PT Frame but not a combat frame. You were in the Legion then? Combat frames are restricted for good reason. What load-out?”
She grinned back, “It was in the early days when everything was being established. Mine was an early model with a pair of sixty mill streaker rockets and a twenty mike mike cannon. Made me feel invincible with the suppressor can pointing out the front like a lance. Got a few looks when I landed too.”
“You’d get looks today coming in with a combat frame, and a few hard Legion questions you’d better have great answers for. You must be retired and doing some travel then. So, what brings you here to Jupiter anyway? It’s well off the beaten track,” and with that Henrietta was inspecting her closely, questioning in her mind just who this old woman was.
She looked up from her drink and stabbed her eyes into the other woman, piercing her in the intensity of her stare, then she relaxed it after a moment. In that time she’d read Henrietta Galt. She had taken the measure of the woman, felt her soul and knew her. She’d been doing that the whole time anyway, but now she made it obvious and she did it deeply.
“I’m here to choose a new governor of space.” She said that plain faced, blandly as she relaxed back into her chair after the traumatic moment of examination.
Henrietta Galt jolted for a moment, looked surprised, then the recognition came as she stared.
She was pleased that all these years of avoiding having her picture taken had paid off. The anonymity made it so much easier to do jobs like this.
“You? No! It can’t be. You’re Cath, that Cath, the one, you know.” And with that Henrietta was looking furtively sideways, not wanting other people to hear her.
She’d chuckled at the surprise, something she’d worked hard all her life to achieve. “It’s nice to not be recognized. Now you, with your height and looks, that would be impossible. I’ve often wished I was taller and better looking, but being small does have its advantages.”
Henrietta was shaking her head from side to side slowly, “It can’t be you, there hasn’t been any kind of announcement about the Governor leaving, what’s happening. Some kind of illness or something?”
She shook her head slowly, “No, no, nothing like that. He’s been in the job a long time and wants a rest. He was going to leave in a few years anyway but after I told him my plans he said he’d be happy to bring it forward for someone new to take over. That’s been the problem, finding someone suitable.”
Henrietta was still in shock and not thinking terribly clearly which was to be expected. All she could say was, “A replacement? You’ll have to trawl the databases, look at who’s in management and available. Maybe bring someone up from the surface but they wouldn’t be accepted to well. You need to find someone with some experience.”
She nodded, “I’m sure you’re right. Maybe someone who’s ridden a rock back from the belt. Someone who knows how to fix a rogue catalytic converter, can jury-rig a PT Frame to provide pull for a wayward rock in orbit. That sort of person.”
Henrietta shrugged, “Sure,” then she looked blank for a moment when it sunk in, “you mean like me?”
She shook her head slowly from side to side as she kept the woman’s eyes locked with her own, “Not like you, not like you at all.”
Henrietta’s mouth went open and her eyes stood out, “ME?” she almost squeaked, “Governor of space? I don’t have much management skill. Well, almost none in fact. I’m trained as a space-GOAT, Galt Of All Trades.” It was a standing pun with her.
“Excellent. I didn’t head a NO in that. There will be a complete management infrastructure for you to lean on and delegation is a wonderful thing you’ll enjoy. No. Your job will be to take and shake space command, make some new mistakes, fix some things that aren’t broken but will break in the future. But that’s not the big thing.”
She knew she should have spoken in shorter sentences. She could see her words echoing round in Henrietta’s head as she tried to get her mind around them.
“Okay,” she said slowly, “yeah, delegation. I can come to love that and a course in management wouldn’t be a bad thing either.” She stopped talking and was still thinking about it for a few seconds, then a few more, then the silence lingered and lengthened. “What’s the big thing then?”
“I’m old. I was old when your parents were born. I won’t be around much longer and I have a job for you after I’m gone. An important one, probably the most important one you’ll have.”
“What,” Henrietta said through a tightening throat. “You can’t be saying that. You’re not that old, it’s not your time for passing. It can’t be,” and with that tears were welling up in the woman’s eyes then flowed down her cheeks in a stream.
She put her hand out then took both of Henrietta’s, holding them, and let herself flow through the contact into the woman. She let Henrietta feel the closeness, the intimate sharing and the strength in her. Her strength silenced the fears, coiled around the distress and calmed the fears.
“Henrietta, it will be time. A few years at most and until then you have my undivided support but you won’t need it and it would take away from you. I can see that in you. I’m choosing you because you are capable, you don’t accept failure and a status quo, and you make the best of a situation.”
Henrietta was partially calmed but she remembered, “You said you had a task?”
She smiled, trying to ease the pain, “When I awoke, I was twelve. There was only Kate before me, she’d passed a while before, and the expectation was not that great. The feeling was that another couldn’t happen, that Kate was unique. I kept myself hidden for a time, my skills and talents, and that worked well. I walked into Black Mountain a nobody with the possibility of becoming like Kate.”
Henrietta smiled, “It was in my pathways course, the passing of Kate and your awakening.”
She felt slightly uncomfortable with that, as she always did. “Maybe you can understand why we’re so reclusive. Well. I believe there will be another. I want you to make her welcome, but not too welcome. She’s got to assert herself, to stand up to you to fight for it. If she’s not up to asserting herself she’s not up to making it work. Assuming it’s a she of course.” She thought about that for a moment. “It is an assumption.”
Henrietta looked at her, “But she won’t be you. You gave us space, you’ve done so much. You’ve always been there. How can’t you be there? I know I’ll resent her.” She was repeating herself, “She won’t be you.”
She almost laughed, “That’s exactly what I faced when I awoke then at the interview to be Governor of Unity it was the same. I had to assert myself at times but I played it down too. I made people think I was a no-one and that worked. But times have changed. Like you said, I was always there and now people will want someone else to take over that role. It will be like a weight on her shoulders but she’s got to be strong enough to carry it and also achieve.”
Henrietta grasped that, “Achieve? You can predict what she’ll want to do. Kate did the energy cells and you gave us space and gravity. What will the next one bring?”
She smiled slightly, “I suspect but no, that’s up to her. I did space early when I was young and fresh and aggressive. The new one will probably be the same so you can expect some action fairly soon if she’s anything like me.”
“She still won’t be you. I know I’ll have to get over that.” Henrietta was still looking teary.
“Now,” she said, “I’d like you to get back to OS1 as soon as possible. They’re expecting you. Now. One thing you need to get ready for is that you’ll be inducted into Warbird. Have you heard of it?”
Henrietta was looking a little more shocked now. “That fast? Now? And what’s Warbird then, some kind of, I don’t know, weapon or something?”
She nodded slowly, “Of everything I’ve ever done there is only one lasting regret, and that’s Warbird. It is the most powerful weapon system in the solar system and it will be under your control after I pass. Oh, until a new person awakens. The legion will answer to you, you will have the power to split a planet and more. You need to start thinking that way now. Not when you’re OS1. Now. You can’t grow into it when you get there. When you get to OS1 you will be in charge and the Legion need to know that, you’ve got to have that attitude.” She was repeating herself as she could see Henrietta needed it because she was only just keeping it together.
Henrietta had huge eyes, “You are kidding me?”
“No. We’re not renowned for our humor. You knew Governor of Space was in charge of the Legion, you just didn’t associate that role with yourself, and when I pass it is only you. Warbird is the biggest secret you’ll have though. You do not discuss that with anyone other than the Legion and the current Governor.”
For the remainder of the time, the next hour, Henrietta needed reassurance everything would be OK, that she would do well and life would go on.
She sighed, “Another six days to get back to Black Mountain,” she said as she walked through the departures area then off to her ship.