Resources: Freedom Is Reborn Page 13

  "That should work, I don't like the delay though. It feels like we are running on borrowed time and that the FBI could raid us at any time."

  "You don't have to tell me; I feel the same way. After the FBI raided Infinity Metal's hangar, I knew it would be just a matter of time before we are shut down," replied Jim.

  ******

  Day Later

  The next morning cargo supervisor's office. Things were more hectic than usual with the damaged lifter not launching and having to remove its cargo.

  Cargo handler, "Boss, we should have the cargo container removed from the lifter by 3 PM today."

  "What is taking so long to remove that cargo container? It should be a quick and simple thing."

  Cargo handler, "Usually it is, but the gantry damaged one of the cargo releases. The launch pad crew is having to cut it free. Once that is done, we will know if the container attachment was damaged."

  "Keep me informed, we need to get that cargo up to the station as soon as possible. They have assured me that we will have a lifter landing to take the cargo tomorrow," the cargo supervisor replied as he returned to his other work.

  ******

  Two days later

  The cargo supervisor, "You guys have really stepped up the last few days and achieved miracles. I am proud of what you have accomplished."

  A handler in the crowd yelled, "I don't believe it, you proud of us!" Everybody started laughing.

  "I love you too. Okay, back to business, the company has promised to throw you a party at a swanky restaurant in town, along with a couple of days off if we get these birds out of here today." Everyone started whooping and hollering at the top of their lungs.

  "Let's show them what you can do. If you don't make this deadline, you're going to have to answer to me! Now get to work." Some of them were still chuckling as they left. Now that they had something to look forward to, I think the tension was broke.

  Five hours later while sitting at my desk. I listened to the last of the third lifter takeoff. The guys had did me proud, and they deserve the time off.

  After closing down the computer, I decided to take a few days off myself and go relax at the cabin. Even with a stop at the liquor store, the IDV should get me there in a couple of hours.

  Oval office, White House, Washington DC

  "Mr. President, the leader of the UN Security Council, has arrived and is requesting an immediate meeting with you," said the Chief of Staff. "He is demanding and adamant that he see you immediately. Do you want to make time for him??"

  "Dammit chief, can't you handle anything yourself? Did he indicate what he wanted to see me about?"

  Chief of Staff, "No, he did not indicate why he wanted to talk to you. However, I believe it has to do with the Sustainable Earth Initiative and the Third World."

  "Go ahead and send him in."

  As I shook his hand, I asked, "What can I do for the UN Security Council today? I'm not aware of any crisis at the moment."

  He responded, "You have assured us for months now that the aerospace companies in your country would be shut down and their resources dedicated to Third World countries to improve lives. We have received intelligence information that indicates they have no intention of shutting down."

  "I assure you, that the legal issues will be resolved shortly and that the companies will comply with the executive order. I'd like to know what information you have and the companies that do not intend to shut down."

  UN security director, "Your assurances are not enough. There will be no more delays. Within the next seven days, the UN will be voting to require all member countries, companies, and individuals to exit space. In conjunction with that vote, they will authorize the UN peacekeepers to be armed and raid the companies that are involved in space."

  "Now these things take time. The companies lawsuit against the executive order has been accepted by the Supreme Court and will be ruled on in five months. We certainly can wait that long."

  "Unacceptable; we are going to take matters into our hands. You either resolve the problem quickly, or we will revert to force and resolve the problem," the director stated. "I will provide you with the information the UN has by this time tomorrow. You will find it quite detailed."

  "I'm going to make a formal request through our UN ambassador to delay the vote for six months. If you or any country take action against any US company, we will be forced to respond in kind. Good day, sir!" said the president as the Chief of Staff escorted the security director out.

  Chief of Staff, "I think you handled him quite well."

  "Chief, you should know better than anyone how important this executive order is to me. Even if the fools do grant me six months, I have no intention of waiting that long."

  "What do you mean sir?" asked the Chief of Staff.

  "From the reports, it seems like Agent Chane and the deputy director of the FBI are making progress in the investigation. It's about time we took the fight to these people. Find out what it would take to launch that rocket that the FBI confiscated and have Agent Chane put together an assault team. Contact the Department of Defense and get the Space Force involved.

  Tomorrow lets leak the information the US is providing to the media. Include the information that the US will vote to take action in six days. Also, have the Justice Department draft a letter requesting that the Supreme Court make a ruling on the matter as soon as possible due to national security issues."

  Chief of staff, "That is pretty underhanded sir, and should put a lot of pressure on the court to move up the ruling. I know just whom to release the information too. If there's nothing else, I'll get right on that Mr. President."

  "No, that will be all for now chief. Please have my next appointment rescheduled and advise my staff that I am not to be interrupted for the next half hour."

  Without thinking, I wandered over to my desk and pulled out a bottle of bourbon and a glass. I had scoffed, when the previous president told me that sometimes you had to do things off the books. After pouring a couple of fingers of bourbon, I pulled out the satellite phone that he had handed to me at the time.

  Once the phone was on, I called the only number listed. After ringing a few times, a man answered, "How can I help you, sir?"

  "To whom am I talking?"

  He replied, "It is better that you do not know who I am."

  "I have a problem that needs to be resolved. Are you familiar with the executive order to exit space?"

  "I am familiar with that order, sir," He replied.

  "I need the lawsuit that was filed against the executive order to be dismissed or withdrawn immediately. I don't care how you do it."

  He replied, "It will take about a week to set up and complete correctly. I really cannot do it any faster if we want all the loose ends tied up."

  "How will I know when it is done?"

  "You will know when the lawsuit is dismissed by the Supreme Court." He said and disconnected.

  After I had finished the drink, I put everything back in the drawer and locked it. Is this the right thing to do? Answering myself, I said aloud, "Of course it is!" While in my mind I am asking Do the ends, justify the means?

  Command Center, Space Colony, Lagrange 5

  "Congratulations everyone, we have what we need for a self-sustaining space colony. By the way things are deteriorating, it looks like the critical launches were completed just in time."

  Jim, "So Ben, when will Jackie, and Theo be coming up?"

  "It is looking like they will catch the last passenger launch from Jacksonville next week. Theo has some business that he needs to conclude, and it was decided to keep Jackie under wraps till the last launch."

  Theo, "I wish we could just leave today, but in my case, I am testing the new submersible habitat. We won't be back until a couple of days before the launch. We are testing it with a modified environmental unit, like the ones in the space habitats. So far we have stayed submerged for 30 hours with no problems and up to 50 feet depth. Tell Jamie, I wil
l see him when I get up there."

  "If I had a choice, I would be up there today. This hiding is driving me crazy. Sometimes I feel like just walking out and let them find me," said Jackie, as she was fidgeting with her hair.

  Jim, "Too bad you guys are going to have to miss the first sustainability party. We're going to hold it in the newest 250-foot habitat. One of our engineers had the idea that we could use an old 50-foot construction sphere to create a holographic sphere in the center of the habitat. He is building the hologram using a series of lasers mounted on the inside of the habitat. He was able to locate 3-D recordings of some fireworks and display them in the holographic sphere. Amazing didn't describe the beauty of the fireworks when they were displayed. You're going to miss a heck of a party."

  "Just make sure you record it for us. Oh, don't dismantle the holographic display after the party, I have an idea for it."

  "I couldn't dismantle if I wanted to," replied Jim. "The engineers also have a few ideas for the holographic sphere."

  "Thanks for all the work hard work everybody. Jim, I will see you at the party. Theo and Jackie, I look forward to you guys getting here."

  ******

  250ft Habitat, First Self Sustainability Celebration.

  It took several hours for the passenger ships to ferry everyone to the party. The two docking bays sped up the transferring of people with the double airlocks.

  Just for the party, a slide was added from the docking bays to the floor of the habitat. Everyone enjoyed sliding down to the deck. The children just kept riding the elevators back up and sliding down all over again.

  When we first came in the holographic sphere was like a bright yellow sun. It gave a feeling of warmth to the habitat that I had not experienced before. As I watched the sun started shrinking, and the planets of the solar system began spinning around in all their glory. It than zoomed in on the turning earth and moon getting ever closer until the spheres of the space colony with their sparkling beauty could be seen. Someone had just labeled it "HOME."

  "Hi Jim, this is really something else." Looking around the interior of the sphere.

  Jim, "JJ, it truly is something. I think the technician that dreamed up the holographic ball really outdid herself."

  "I never would've imagined when I decided to join the colony that I would see such a spectacular site. The only thing missing is Therron, but I am not going to let that get me down."

  "Regretfully JJ, I have not heard anything from Ben on whether Agent Chane is going to join us. We could really use a knowledgeable person to get law enforcement set up," said Jim. "Let's put all that aside for this evening, enjoy the festivities and celebrate sustainability."

  Shortly after that Jim and Ben wandered off, and I was left to mingle with others in the colony. Having been cooped up in the command station, I hadn't realized the variety of people we had in the colony. Most of them had dressed more formally for the occasion than usual.

  After a while, I tired of the socializing, so I snagged a drink and moved over to the table where Jim and Ben were sitting. He motioned me to sit down. As I sat down, I noticed some cameras focused on him and a microphone.

  With a smile and a chuckle, he indicated to be silent. I couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but he finished in just a moment.

  "Sorry to keep you waiting, I was recording a little surprise for everyone at the start of the festivities," said Jim with a twinkle in his eye.

  As he was talking the holograph slowly changed over to billowing flames and smoke, then a face began to appear when suddenly a loud voice bellowed, "I am OZ, the great and all powerful! Silence the festivities are about to begin."

  Everyone began laughing hysterically. Momentarily the hologram cleared up showing Jim's smiling face, "This is a party, I couldn't help but start with a bit of humor. All of your effort and sacrifices have lead to our very own land of Oz! Now, I present you with a recording of the man behind the curtain Ben Wilson!" Ben's face slowly took form in the hologram.

  "Everyone it is regrettable not everyone was able to attend the festivities today. I am proud of each one of you and what you have accomplished. We have reached the milestone of self-sustainability. From this point forward we do not have to worry about the governments of Earth's ending this great new adventure.

  Many books have references to great cities and societies. A couple of them come to mind "The City on the Hill" and "The Emerald City." This colony will be this generation's beacon of hope of freedom, happiness, and love. As the people of the earth look up to us, I felt that we should have a name that symbolizes those things. Tonight, I present you with "OZ" the Earth's first space colony." While he was speaking the hologram lit up with a fantastic burst of fireworks and explosions, then slowly morphed into an image of the colony.

  "Enjoy the party everyone, for you have earned it. Tomorrow we go forward and live up to what we represent. Thank you for coming and good night."

  For a few minutes, we just sat there with amazed looks on our faces. The hologram continued to cycle through, and slowly a chant started. It slowly built up into a thunderous sound. They were chanting over and over again, "OZ, OZ, OZ, OZ."

  Turning towards Jim, "That was wonderful, I didn't know you had the acting ability!" I said hugging him, "Oz is just a perfect name for the colony." Hugging Jim just made me realize even more how much I missed Therron. Shortly after that, I excused myself and returned to my room.

  UN General Assembly, New York NY

  "Welcome to Today's Political News. Samantha Snow reporting. Today we have a reporter at the UN General Assembly in New York City for the vote on the "Get out of space initiative" as some people are calling it. The last week has been a whirlwind of rumors and leaks regarding the vote and the president's executive order.

  President Rodriguez has made clear that the vote should be delayed until the Supreme Court has ruled on the executive orders legality. He has even hinted at the possibility of the US making use of its veto power on any UN resolution.

  In just moments the assembly will be closing final arguments and calling for a vote on the initiative. While we're waiting, let's take a look at the new polling data from the last week.

  Let's go over the two main questions that the latest Pew polls asked.

  Is space to costly? Last week 46% of the people replied that yes space is too expensive. However, this mornings poll showed that 61% of the people responded, yes it is too expensive.

  The second question is even more telling. Should we be devoting more resources to Third World countries? As you can see the percentage was 59% and that has increased to 88%. It seems clear that the public is overwhelmingly in favor of helping the Third World countries.

  Skeptics and space enthusiasts point out that these questions are too general and do not give an accurate picture. They point to the benefits we have received from space development and exploration. Also that the initiative goes too far dictating private individuals and companies actions.

  Economists and sociologists have debunked these points. They point to their computer models that indicate poverty will be eliminated within 20 years and a new golden age will have arrived.

  Let's go to our Reporter at the UN Gen. Assembly for the announcement of the vote."

  Reporter, "The UN secretary general Kumar Ganesha is walking up to the podium now. Let's cut to his remarks."

  UN Secretary-General Kumar Ganesha, "Good morning everyone. As you know, this morning the UN took a historic vote on the Sustainable Earth Initiative. While there has been a lot of distortions and even outright lies about the initiative, I am proud to announce that the initiative passed with a vote of 182 to 9. Regretfully the United States chose to abstain from voting on this historic initiative.

  Before I answer any questions, let me go into the details of the initiative as it was voted on this morning.

  Effective immediately all companies and individuals will cease all development of space. They will bring all personnel back to earth within
30 days of this announcement.

  Effective tomorrow at 0800 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) the international monetary fund is freezing all accounts of individuals and companies involved in space. Funds will only be released if needed to return individuals to earth. Additionally, all trading of stock for companies engaged in space will be suspended.

  All companies have 30 days in which to submit plans on how they are going to support the initiative financially and materially. If those plans are acceptable at that point, their funds will be unfrozen, and the stock opened for trading.

  Regretfully due to information that the intelligence community has brought to the attention of the UN, some companies have actively decided to work against the initiative. These traitors to the world and humanity must be held accountable for their actions. To address this issue, the UN also passed the Sustainability Enforcement Resolution.

  Starting tomorrow, UN peacekeepers along with countries, we will be seizing these companies and individuals assets. A tribunal will be set up in Geneva to try the responsible individuals for crimes against humanity.

  Again this historic initiative is a win for all of humanity. Now I open it up to questions.

  ******

  News cutting back to Today's Political News.

  Samantha Snow, "There you have it ladies and gentlemen the UN has passed the Sustainable Earth Initiative, and we are entering into a new age for humanity. For this historic moment, we have brought in a couple of experts to talk about the initiative. Please welcome back Sam Weeden and Jim Sandifer our experts in economics.