<Post Warp: 4 days>
Lincoln fidgeted and crossed her arms, then feeling that it was awkward uncrossed them again.
“I swear you were more nervous during the flight,” Said Malcolm.
“I don’t see the point of this, we need to work on refining the equations and the systems. From the cursory data analysis I was able to run when they finally let us out of medical I think we should be able to replicate our flight with a far smaller amount of antimatter and strange matter, the amounts we used were extravagant due to the unknowns. If the systems on the Longboat IV were properly tuned the amount of fuel we used would have been enough to send us nearly anywhere in the galaxy, with just a few micrograms of antimatter and strange matter you could go to Epsilon Eridani in a day and have enough fuel to make it back!” said Lincoln excitedly.
Malcolm nodded, he had learned by now to just humor her. When she got going she would continue on for hours and although Malcolm had at first found it annoying he had quickly figured out that it was her way of dealing with stress. Sitting up on a stage in front of a crowd of thousands with live video feeds streaming to the rest of the Sol system in what had to be one of the most viewed streams in history had him nervous.
Malcolm shifted in his chair and winced, the strengthening drugs still hadn’t managed to eliminate the pain in his joints he sometimes got while on Earth but then it was better than most Martians. He had been in peak physical form when he started the regimen at the end of the war. The older Martians were having difficulty despite the anti-aging formula which was supposed to keep people young, many of them wearing power suits when daring enough to show themselves on Earth.
“So you think they’ll go for it?” asked Lincoln cutting into his thoughts.
“For what?” asked Malcolm.
“Building more ships, to explore!” said Lincoln.
Malcolm chuckled, “No, this was a political stunt doc. You know that. Besides we used up all of the antimatter and both sides have vowed never to produce it again. The political mess to get the production of that started up again will be insane. That was the last flight for a long time,” said Malcolm.
Lincoln’s face visibly fell. “I know that, but now that we know it’s possible. You don’t think they won’t try?” she asked.
Malcolm shook his head. “No, one of the factors of the war was Mars wanting independence, and that’s a single planet. How much worse would a war be if it’s between star systems and over dozens of planets? It’s not politically worth it to expand right now.” Malcolm paused. “We might even go back to being stagnate,” He said.
Lincoln slowly nodded a frown on her face. “It would be nice though, to explore the stars. You don’t want to fly towards a black hole or a red supergiant? Fly through an atmosphere so rich with hydrogen that you never need to touch the ground? I would think an old pilot like you would love that!”
Malcolm considered this, the gleam in her eyes was something he had once seen in his own. It was naïve and excited glee, not that unlike a child. For a moment he wished he could feel like that again. Lincoln might have been working for Earth during the war, calculating trajectories for fighter intercepts and bomb yields, hell she had even developed the Rods from God program, but if what he told her was right she had never seen the carnage on the front lines, he had and the carnage had squeezed all of that hope out of him.
Malcolm opened his mouth to respond but it was too late, the President for Earth had stepped onto the stage and a quite had fallen over the crowd.
Malcolm looked the man over, he was the typical political type his suit impeccable and grin fake. Still he was better than the last one who had provoked the war. This man was a new unknown element looking to gain power in the post war landscape.
The President waved his hand at the crowd and a cheer rang up from the throng of people.
He stepped up to the podium and still smiling slowly lowered his arms and the noise in the stadium slowly fell.
“Mars, and Earth have succeeded! As many saw yesterday we together have done the impossible! Together in what I hope is only the first of many successful cooperative projects between Earth and Mars we will strive for a better future for both our peoples, a future where we prove that nothing is impossible!”
Another cheer ran through the crowd and Malcolm felt a shiver go down his spine, the sound was almost primal. These were not planted actors in the crowd cheering, these were real people. He sat up a little straighter in his chair even as his back complained. The President was annoying, but the people were a different matter.
“The team that defeat the laws of physics and proved that nothing is impossible, a Terran and a Martian working together and braving some of the greatest dangers known to man, willing to face the unknown together. That is something that we should all strive to do as we rebuild our planets and work towards a better future!” The president raised his fist and the crowd again cheered.
The President continued on for several more minutes on the same theme, the continued co-operation and peace between Mars and Earth. Talking nothing more about what the teams of scientists on both sides had done, what the engineers had conceived and built, nor what the dreamers like Lincoln were hoping for. What humanity was hoping for.
Malcolm stood.
The President continued on for several moments before he noticed and turned slightly to see Malcom standing behind him a small grin on his face. The politician took it in stride however.
“Now some words from the brave pilot of the Longboat IV Lieutenant James Malcolm!” He took a step away from the podium the false cheerfulness still on his face.
Walking forward Malcolm took the spot at the podium and looked out at the crowd, and all those billions of people sitting behind the lenses of the cameras watching throughout the solar system. If only a few people would listen, then it would be worth it.
“This is not an accomplishment between Earth and Mars,” the entire stadium was quite now, and Malcolm felt the weight of those words and what they could imply, he continued though.
“This is an accomplishment for humanity as a whole. Since the dawn of our race we have dreamed of the stars, we have seen them as holes in the curtain of night, we noticed a few of those stars that danced across the heavens. Mars, was once a star to the people who had only their eyes to gaze upon the heavens. Now millions of people live on that star,” Malcolm paused and glanced back at Lincoln, her mouth was open in astonishment at what he was doing.
“Millions of people live on that star because humanity needed to conquer it, but with our first step into the universe we stumbled and like always we fought. History has shown that for all of our accomplishments humanity is always ready to go to war. We cannot let that happen again, and we cannot turn back and return to where we came from. We cannot stop moving, our fumble was because we were still for too long. After conquering the cradle it took us nearly two hundred years to once again start moving. We cannot stop, we should not stop.”
Malcolm paused for a moment collecting himself and sorted out his next words. When he did so a small smattering of applause grew inside the crowd. Within moments it was a thunderous applause. Louder than anything before the people were stomping on the ground simply making noise. Another shiver went down Malcolm’s spine and bolstered her continued.
“I will not rest until humanity has conquered another star in the heavens above, and we should not stop until we have explored all that the stars can offer to us. Humanity has fallen tripped and stumbled, but we are poised to take our first real steps into the universe. To stop now would be an insult to those who came before us, to those who died when we did stumble. We are not Terran’s and Martians working to fix our broken worlds. We are humans reaching out to conquer the stars!”
He stepped back from the podium and in a gesture that would never be forgotten reached up towards the fading light of the sky, making a fist towards the heavens he had pledged to conquer. In the noise from the crowd that followed no one heard the final element that would solidify the vow.
Malcolm hardly felt it at first, a slight pinch in his chest. He was running off of adrenaline and the emotions of the crowd around him. Looking down though he was for a moment curious about the stain spreading across his dark blue naval uniform. The pain hit and he collapsed to his knees one hand still reaching up towards the heavens, the other moving to his chest.
Lincoln was staring at Malcolm her face on him instead of the sky, she saw him collapse and the dark stain that was spreading across his back. She would later be told that the scream from her lips at that moment was one of the most horrible things people in the crowd had ever heard, but in the moment she didn’t even hear it.
The scream was picked up by the crowd, and in an instant everyone knew. The bodyguards moved to tackle the president and other VIP’s. The people in the front of the crowd turned and spotting the man with the gun pounced on him. Lincoln stumbled forwards and collapsed to her knees next to Malcolm. The image of the Terran mathematician cradling the Martian pilot in her lap weeping, would become more famous than the pose he had struck moments before.
The Terran weeping for the Martian, two humans, one who dreamed of the stars and one who wanted to make the woman he was falling in love with happy stared into each other’s eyes.
“Don’t stop,” Malcolm took a shuddering breath, “Don’t let them take that dream from you.”
[Charles] opened the link and sat down at the terminal.
The image of an annoyed High Scientist appeared on the holographic pad in front of him, complete with desk and disheveled clothing.
“What is it?” growled the man not even looking up from his work to address the captain of the scout ship.
“I need your analysis High Scientist, on a world we were investigating, before I make an official recommendation. My team is unable to come to any definitive conclusions,” said [Charles].
The High Scientist looked up from his terminal annoyed, “That’s the work of a Science apprentice, are you trying to insult me Captain?” asked the man.
[Charles] shook his head. “No, this is a unique case. I’m sending the data to your terminal now,” said [Charles]. He transferred the data and waited. There was the sound of the notification from the High Scientist’s terminal and apparently humoring him the man turned to look at the data.
For a moment he blinked, then his eyes widened and the whites flushed blood red in surprise. The High Scientist brought the terminal in front of him closer and stared at it.
For several minutes [Charles] remained silent and let the man read, he was one of the thousand High Scientists in the Empire, and if he was astonished than there was reason to be.
After several minutes the man reached up and wiped off his brow and then turned back to [Charles].
“This, this is insane!” he said.
“Yes sir, we have sent preliminary data to processing, but that takes months even flagged as high as my authority allows. With your stamp of approval on our analysis it will move to the top and be brought to the Councils attention,” Said [Charles].
The High Scientist shook his head, “This far more dangerous, we need to give this information to the Emperor.”
“Sir?!” said [Charles] astonished.
“This data, it shows that a Class C species which developed from a malignant seed was able to successfully breach subspace without using tachyons,” said the High Scientist.
“The importance of that sir?” asked [Charles].
“How do our ships navigate through the depths of space Captain?”
“Through utilization of tachyons to direct out subspace jumps, the energy being derived from natural tachyon emissions..” [Charles] trailed off his own eyes going red, “How did they direct themselves, without a tachyon beacon?”
The High Scientist nodded, “Indeed, our ships function by locking onto a static tachyon source and jump to it by breaching the highest layers of subspace. I am not an expert in physics but from what I can tell this class C species was able to breach the deepest levels of subspace, any jump within the galaxy would take less than a day, and they do not need tachyons. Left unattended they could expand more rapidly than the Empire, or even jump into our most protected systems. With no need to use tachyon beacons their drives have no limits!” said the High Scientist. He was standing now, and took a breath.
“Do you see why I suggest we bring this to the Emperor?” he asked the stunned Captain.
“Yes sir!”
“I am transmitting my personal codes, I want in in orbit of the home world in a [day] I will meet you,” said the High Scientist. He then cut the transmission.
[Charles] glanced down at his console, the credentials were indeed now in his possession. He shuddered slightly, the High Scientist could be executed for giving him unrestricted access to the home world beacon. Still, if the man was putting his life on the line for this it was more dire than he had first imagined.
Lincoln looked up at the General. The man was tall and his skin was pale from lack of sunlight, traits common among the Martian population, but even in what had to be painfully high gravity the man was holding himself up straight.
“Did he make it?” asked Lincoln, although she already knew the answer.
The man sat down in the hospital chair next to her. He was unsure of how to say it, the woman was still covered in the blood of her partner and the look in her eyes was one he had seen too often. She was on the brink of snapping.
“He did not. The bullet was coated in a toxin which prevented the nano-machines from repairing the arterial wall of his heart. It also compromised the oxygen levels of his brain almost immediately, the doctors have had him on life support but there is nothing left to save,” Said the General.
Lincoln slowly nodded, her eyes were burning but she had not more tears.
“We caught the man, or more accurately the crowd caught the man. He is in the intensive care unit under guard, almost every bone in his body was fractured. From what we can ascertain he was a member of a now defunct Pro-Terran organization. His son was killed in a raid that Lieutenant Malcolm performed.”
“Can I see him?” asked Lincoln.
“Lieutenant Malcolm is in room 205, I can show you,” Said the General.
“Malcolm is dead. He died on that stage, I want to see the man who shot him,” growled Lincoln.
The General hesitated. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea, this is already a political mess. Why do you want to see him?”
“To make sure that he dies.”
The General raised an eyebrow at that, the woman was small even by Earth standards, she had never served in the military, and as far as he knew she had never taken a life.
“As much as you and I might think he deserves death, he must still have his day in court.”
Lincoln shook her head and stood. “It’s not worth it, too much would be wasted. We need to start working. His life is an obstacle increasing the tension between Mars and Earth. If we remove that variable than relations are improved and no time is wasted,” said Lincoln.
“Working on what?” asked the General as he stood up to tower over the woman.
“What he promised, I’m going to fly to Alpha Centauri for him. I’m going to colonize the stars.”
The General paused, the intensity in her eyes was frightening even compared to the horrors he had seen during the war. She was praised as the best mathematician in the Sol system, and had single handedly written the algorithms to guide the Rods’ from God in the Earth defense systems. She had calculated how to jump into subspace a feat which had escaped physicists for hundreds of years. To her everything was math.
She knew she was right, as surely as 2+2=4.
“He’s in room 406,”said the General.
“Thank you.” Lincoln started down the hallway.
“Ms. Lincoln.”
She paused and turned back to him.
“If you want to make sure he didn’t die in vain you’ll need help,” Said the general.
“Are you offering?” She asked.
The General thought about it for a moment, the politicians were keeping to known issues. On both sides neither wanted to move forward, to concerned with maintaining the little power they held. The General thought back to the sound of the crowd in that stadium, the primal sound of the will to march forward. Humanity was poised to spread out into the heavens, and would not be denied.
The General smiled, “Yes I suppose I am.”