The Ice Moon Explorer (8 page)

Snyder sat back, nodding and smiling. “I love
it. I think it’s a lot of work, but you’d be crazy not to try with
a pay off like that.”

“That’s what I thought. I can get out of the
VC business, and be a square.”

“A square with an industry. So that’s going
to be? Making big space ships?”

“Oh no, to hell with spaceships. Orbital
habitats is where it’s going to be.”

Synder frowned. “Like, for endangered
birds?”

“No, for endangered people. Think of it,
climate-proofed towns. They do all their own farming. There’s no
storms, no hurricanes, no droughts. You don’t have to worry about
Land Efficiency laws: you could even get away with raising cattle.
Real beef, Sam! People can have large homes, large yards, large
offices. And no climate refugees, panhandling on every street.”

“You want to build Suburbia, in space?”

“Well of course, and why not?” Spektorov
leaned forward. “White, middle class Americans are the highest
spending consumers in the world. We have data from the 1940s on,
that Suburbia is what they most want to pay for. It’s not a product
to them. It’s their culture. A culture that’s been under economic
assault since the early 2000s. That was the first generation of
Americans went into the workforce, who could expect to make less
money than their parents did. Can you remember what a shock that
was? Sam, if we don’t create Space Suburbia – someone else
will.”

Sam whistled and shook his head.

“That’s a hell of a project, Daryl. Let’s put
it that way.”

“No. Going to the stars would be hell of a
project. But there’s no money in that.”

Sam laughed. “Oh, don’t worry Daryl. You can
take that up as a hobby, you know, for retirement.”

Daryl looked up, suddenly, his knife and fork
still.

Sam raised an eyebrow and kept chewing.
“What?”

“Yes, you’re right. I suppose I could.”

2051 (ten years later) Spektorov Foundation,
Alexander Graham Bell Orbital, Low Earth Orbit

“So?” the man leaned back and sipped his
drink. His steering wheel recessed and the cart began self-driving.
“What do you think?”

“I like the campus format,” said the suit.
They drove past white buildings with thick ivy. “It’s a nice change
from Sun Star Tower.”

A pair of joggers waved as the electric cart
passed them. Sprinklers erupted over a lawn; the water arcing
further in low gravity. Off the side walk, a segway was parked by a
bike rack. None of the bikes were chained.

“I was never in favor of the Tower,” said the
man. He wore a golf-shirt, shorts, and loafers. “But we needed
something in the city and land was too expensive.”

The suit snorted. “Ironic, given that we make
the stuff.”

“I wanted to move us up here instead, but the
board hated the idea,” they pulled alongside a café. People sat out
around white tables, sipping lattes and reading tablets. “So I gave
this space to the Foundation instead.”

They got off the cart. It left them to wait
outside a conference that was ending. They sat at a vacant table
and an attractive server took their order.

“You should try the Viet Robusta. It’s
local,” said golf-shirt.

“Grown here?”

“We have a few organic farms and vineyards.
Aphrodite is self-sufficient in food except for some luxuries.”

The suit studied the server as she left.
“Pretty girl wait staff. Daryl, I’d say you have luxuries covered
alright. What is she, college-age?”

“That’s Jenny. She came to us from a refugee
camp in Lousiana. Even in space, you still need wait staff. Sure
robots are dirt cheap, but who wants them, really? We bring up low
and semi-skilled workers to do those jobs. You just screen for the
right traits. Once they’re up here, they take night classes. After
a few years they graduate; gain residency; and a free
apartment.”

“Upward mobility. Is that the real deal, or
just so that no one can say you’ve created an underclass of
gardeners and housekeepers in space?”

“It’s the real deal, Sam. But they have to
work at it. They can’t make the grade; they’re fired and sent back.
There are no hand outs here.”

“Nice. I can’t stand welfare.”

“I have no problem with welfare. I just think
we need to be careful not to turn people into beggars. We give
preference to boat people. Makes it harder for people to attack
us.”

“I assure you, plenty of people find nasty
things to say about Daryl Spectorov and Sun Star Mining. We just
hired someone in PR to study the effect of your speeches on
trolling patterns.”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you
about. For better or worse, it’ll give the trolls something new to
rant about,” he pulled out a tablet. It threw up a holo display as
large as a salad bowl.

Sam smiled. “So what are we talking here? Do
you want to grab another Near Earth Asteroid? 2028MD should last us
for at least another three years.”

“No, not asteroids. Not new orbitals. This,”
the display changed to a detailed, tube-shaped, wire frame. Sam
leaned forward and peered.

“Well what is it?”

“It’s a ship.”

“Those are some insane fuel tanks. Those are
fuel tanks, right? What is this, some kind of outer planet space
probe on crack?”

“It is a space probe. It’s also a bit of a
factory, a nursery, and a space station.”

“You want to what? Colonize Jupiter?”

“No, not Jupiter. Those aren’t Argon or Xenon
tanks. Those are either going to be Helium Three, or even
antimatter. This will be the first ship humans send to another
star.”

Sam lost his smile. He sat back, and the
server returned with their drinks. He picked up his cup and stirred
it slowly, deliberately.

“Something tells me you’re not excited by the
idea.”

Sam looked up, brow furrowed. He kept
stirring for a few moments.

“Well, it’s not what we do, Daryl.”

“I know, but I think it’s something we should
seriously look at.”

“Seriously look at?” Sam frowned. “Daryl, are
you out of your mind? This is completely against the spirit of
everything we’re doing!”

“Everything?”

Sam looked away. He seemed to be lost for
words.

“Yes, everything,” he leaned forward, his
eyes dark. “The entire point of the Sun Star Foundation, your
foundation, is to make up for the image of Sun Star Mining, your
company. This company makes gardens of Eden, and puts them in the
skies of a dying world. Gardens for the rich, with just a twentieth
of the people they could support. Gardens where people eat organic
food, raise Kobe beef, and play golf. While on Earth, nearly ten
billion people go hungry.”

Everyone else around them had gone quiet.

“The Foundation’s mission is to help climate
refugees and conduct eco-repair programs. To channel profits into
helping those left behind. It’s critical for our image, and the
morale of our workers. Workers like me. Not to fund extravagant
projects with no bearing on people’s needs.” He shook his head
slowly. “Come on, Daryl. How could you be so out of touch?”

Daryl sipped his coffee slowly. “You
certainly never were one to sugarcoat. You’re dead wrong about one
thing. It does have bearing on people’s needs.”

“How does a starship help Bangladeshi boat
people?”

“Because exploration and science are always
important, especially in times of crisis. They are investments in
our future, and we cannot stop doing that. If we do, we’re as
derelict in our duties as the generations that brought us
here.”

“This isn’t self-repairing dykes and
drought-proof rice we’re talking about. This is building a
spaceship to reach another star.”

“Precisely. How does that not advance
science? We can’t even guess at what we’ll learn. This ship would
fly to the Alpha Centauri system. We know it has at least one world
with free oxygen in its atmosphere. That’s the surest sign of
Earth-like life there is! You can’t tell me that this an
investment,” he gestured to the hologram, “we shouldn’t be
making.”

“Actually yes I can,” he jabbed his finger at
the floating design, “I’m specifically pushing the case that we
can’t make this investment. How much money is something like this
going to cost?”

“Well, I’ve done some calcu – “

“No, stop. This isn’t scholarships for
runaway, African, child soldiers. Even your entire personal fortune
couldn’t bankroll a project like this. You’re not putting together
modules Daryl, you’re developing technology. When has that ever
been cheap? You’ll have to go to the board. Where is the return on
investment? How can you make this something they would invest in?
Even if they said yes, we just don’t have the money. We’re one
company, Daryl. Something like this needs a group of nations.”

Daryl smiled.

“Oh come on!”

“I’ve done some calculations. An
international program is indeed the only way this could be funded.
Nations have already come together for clean energy and eco-repair.
The UN High Commission for Refugees’ funding exceeds the GNP of
some nations. The world is pretty good at getting serious, Sam. I
think the Sun Star Foundation should get the world behind an
expedition to Alpha Centauri.”

“Oh, the world is good at getting serious
alright. Let’s ask the Maldives, shall we? They world got pretty
serious once their UN delegation took up more dry land than their
country did.”

“Come on, Sam. You know what I mean.”

“Do you know what you mean? You want to work
with nations that only deliver when there’s a knife at their
throats? And the UNHCR orbitals are not paid for with the world’s
money. They’re paid for with the Big Four’s money. Sure, places
like Korea and Switzerland throw in a bit. But that’s only so that
they can look like they’re paying. Its protection money we pay to
the poorest countries, to evacuate their desperate to space.”

“You mean less developed countries.”

“No, I mean poorest. ‘Less developed’ implies
that they’re in the process of getting their acts together. Most of
these places were decolonized almost a century ago. Those still
blaming Europeans are no longer able or interested in making
meaningful change.”

“Can we do this without sounding right
wing?”

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You have lobbyists in
Congress, both America’s and China’s. You’re the last person who
gets to pretend he’s not right wing. A spade is a spade, Daryl. If
we can’t agree on the facts then this conversation is
pointless.”

“Can we move on?”

“I’ll take that as agreement. The world comes
up with the money for the UN’s refugee orbitals, because it has to.
It’s political, not philanthropic. Africa and Asia are full of
uneducated, poor, and bitter people. Every penny spent resettling
them in space, is spent on defense. It’s Low Earth Orbit, or drone
strikes and Chinese peacekeepers. You can’t expect that level of
international spending and cooperation for a starship, Daryl. If
anything, they will see it as a competing interest. They will say
yes, take control, and delay it forever.”

“I fully understand the politics of the
resettlement orbitals. You may recall they were our idea.”

“Sun Star was strong-armed into giving up the
tech to build them. Pretending that it was our idea, was my
idea.”

“And under you, the PR department has done
such a good job, even I can’t remember. But the Big Four understand
that no crisis, no matter how dire, should kill science spending.
They got where they are, because they’ve always invested in
research. Often, they’ve researched their way out of crisis.
Eco-repair and climate refugees will be no different.”

“Again I ask you: how will sending a ship to
Alpha Centauri, help Bangladeshi boat people?”

“I think I just answered that.”

“No you didn’t. How will you make this real
for a climate refugee? How can you sell this to them?”

“It will give them hope.”

Sam laughed. “Hope? Who needs hope?”

“Without hope, there is no reason not to turn
to extremism. A Centauri mission will create hope, for all peoples,
around the world.”

“Orbitals create hope. Your number comes up,
and you’re out of the slums. Off to somewhere with more space and
food. There are no minorities to fight with. There’s just one
language, one religion, one caste.”

Daryl threw up his hands, “Christ, what makes
you call that hope?”

“Have you met these people, Daryl? Your
typical climate refugee is not big on middle class values. People
learn to spell or to hate. They only rarely do both. If you try to
force your values on them, they push back violently.”

“Well I can’t accept that.”

“Well you have to. This ship is a dream of a
better era. People will support this Daryl, lots of people. But you
can’t expect the whole world to get behind it. Only the rich, or
those lucky enough to be born in a prosperous nation, will support
this. People like us.”

“Us? You support this?”

“No, of course not. I think it’s a bad idea
that literally won’t fly. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t think
it’s a nice idea. I think it’s beautiful. It’s what our
grandparents promised us, and our parents squandered. This wouldn’t
be creating a new hope. It’s renewing one that was lost. It doesn’t
get better than that.”

“I really have no idea where you stand on
this.”

“You’re my boss. Where do you want me to
stand on this? I do my best to talk you out of ideas that I don’t
agree with. But if I can’t manage that, then I have to ask myself
if I still want your money. Now while I’ve asked you questions,
I’ve asked this one of myself. I know the answer. So now, I have
one last question for you.”

“Well get on with it.”

“You yourself understand this will likely
cost more than any single company or nation can afford. And, I have
pointed out that the program would only appeal to a minority. This
is however an influential minority, dominating the world’s
resources. If it went forward, this program would divert those
resources from the people who most need it. Are you alright with
this?”