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Beyond Hope
- Chapter 54 - Envy[]
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“Much of human conflict can be traced back to the basic principle of ‘my neighbor has something nice that I want and I can just take it from them’. Much of this is rooted in how much one values human life and in more modern conflicts if it will cost less in destroyed government property than to just buy whatever is to be gained. With the Succession Wars it also became about denying it to one’s enemies. Throughout these conflicts there is always a nasty tendency for the investment to outstrip the reward in sunk cost fallacies or ideas like pride and honor or even ideology itself to become the focus of the conflict, but at the core it is always because as long as there are multiple humans, someone is going to envy another for what they have or blame another for what they don’t have.”
-Cameron, Helena, Lecture series "On Human Conflict and Governance"
University of Kowloon Nha Tranh, spring semester, 3063 (lecture series, distributed by Kowloon University Press and Media)
Journey to the Inner Sphere[]
Deep Periphery, near the Inner Sphere
Cassius N'Buta barely glanced at the receding world behind them as they lifted. The navigation data was nonexistent, but there had been enough recordings and abandoned papers.
The Not-Named had landed on this world, and tried to make a go of things… and run out of critical medicines and food, forcing them to leave. Where they went was not in what was left behind, only that they were diminished significantly by the experience… "We can continue to root them out after we have dealt with more immediate enemies."
“Aff, my Khan. The delay has caused us to dip into our reserves earlier than expected. Perhaps we should send out one of the scout ships for provisions. There are a number of options not too far off our course.”
"Aff. Deploy the scouts as foraging parties with instructions to the Merchant Caste to barter. But reserve two to return to the homeworlds for additional supplies as well. We are not Dark Caste barbarians," the Khan stated. "We will need them, and it will serve to remind others we have not abandoned our holdings."
“It will be done, my Khan.”
“Knowing the scale of the task now before us, it will be difficult to be patient. But we must be. No amount of Warrior fury will speed our journey.”
Reading Material[]
Clan Embassy Compound
Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth (Lyran State)
3063
"What is that you are reading, Kenneth?" Nathan Roshak asked.
"Well…" Kenneth showed him the cover. "Comic books," he said. "Only, this comic book includes some fairly advanced physical theory."
Wild Tales of the Periphery!! The Terrifying Riise of Doctor Mechbender!!
"Propaganda?"
"Aff. The quality is… not the best, but I do not think 'quality' was the objective. Not with quantum state equations worked into the dialogue-the same equations are in use with Hyper Pulse Generator technology. Of course, here, it is being portrayed as something other than it is."
“Information warfare. I only have a passing familiarity with the concept,” Gabriel said as she joined them.
"I believe it is more akin to accommodating sales figures by giving an otherwise average, even poor, story some bit of… authenticity."
“Similar to Clan Spaniel in the Homeworlds then,” Gabriel nodded.
"The apparent target age group would support that. Though I think our media caste would know better than to incorporate real calculus, not all children can grasp… oh wait," Kenneth paged to the next set of panels. "Huh.”
“Something interesting?” Nathan asked.
"Aff. I was looking at something similar this morning in one of the free courses…"
They were on the campus, they'd walked right past the bronze plaque… Roshak figured it out first.
"The words on the plaque. About lost knowledge… this whole establishment, and now comic books? Clever."
"If you keep being cryptic I will have to challenge you to speak plainly," Morgan Icaza stated.
"Distributing information that has been… 'forgotten', Morgan," Nathan said. "Indirectly. I wonder where she got the idea?"
“It is a reaction to their savagery. She probably was not the first to make an attempt, just the first one to succeed.” Gabriel nodded.
"That describes science," Kenneth said idly. "For every success, there are thousands of failures to get it right. We eliminate the failures until what is left is the truth."
“Perhaps. Perhaps that is just a part of human nature. The Clans were an attempt to create a better humanity. But looking at where we are, what we have accomplished…” Gabriel shook her head.
"The result is not final," Kenneth stated, interrupting her despairing observation. "The experiment is not final yet. It remains unfinished."
“Aff.” Gabriel admitted. “Which is why we are here. So that we can see to the conclusion, or at least make it possible.”
"That experiment concludes when humanity ends. I'd as soon not see that happen today," a voice interrupted. A short man with a limp approached. "Let's see… Falcon, Falcon, Scorpion? And a Blood Spirit.. I thought you guys never left your house."
“Extraordinary circumstances. Otherwise, Aff, I would still be in the Homeworlds.” Kenneth answered.
"Well, good on you. I was asked by the campus admins to come pick up a bunch of new students for orientation, I thought it was a prank. I'm Eddie."
"Why you?"
"Well, my best friend's dating an ex-Clanner, and I spent two years playing blood tag in the Homeworlds with the Smoked Kitties. So someone thought I might be able to grasp your accent and not offend you over-much," he said with an ironic expression.
“A Warrior eh?” Gabriel’s eyes turned predatory.
"Marine," Eddie said. "Scout sniper and sapper. 'Warriors' don't do what I did. I made sure none of our fights were fair."
“I may have questions for you later of a more personal nature,” Gabriel smiled.
"Anyway, first stop's the Registrar's office, it's this way," he gestured. "We'll get you sorted with your class schedules, then I get to get back to MY classes."
"What are you studying?"
"Business. I've got to take over the family place and I spent my youth doing… non-business things in distant places. 'Servicing' clients if you will. Not the best prep for a man who's due to take over a major ranching operation with employees."
“We are looking forward to our experience here,” Nathan said.
"Excellent… this way?" He led them out of the canteen and into the double sunlight. "So… I see a mechwarrior, an Elemental, maybe another mechwarrior, I'm pretty sure the quiet girl's a Merchant, and Kenneth… you ain't a pilot, you're not even a fighter."
"Scientist."
"They're gonna LOVE that," Eddie smiled. "Her Grace is a big science nerd. Dad says she loved the stuff when she was a kid… when her and her brothers hung out on the ranch, but that was kinda before I was born. Not a LOT before, her dad and my dad grew up together."
“I am certain an audience can be arranged via our Embassy. Which does beg a question, how far is our Embassy from the campus? We have street names and maps but the scale…” Nathan asked.
"Four hours on the Highway, or thirty minutes on a commuter flight," Eddie said. "Her Grace hasn't pushed through the railway idea, so you'll want to get a room in the dorms, unless you LIKE spending hours on Highway One."
“That would be less than ideal. We shall arrange for local accommodations.”
"Easier to do with the registrar, they can get you dorm rooms or find a flop in town for you at decent rates," Eddie noted. "See, your Embassy is in Hue, which is four hours away because of the Highway One Autobahn with it's 'no speed limits… Which makes for dangerous driving if you're not used to things here. If we kept things at 'reasonable speeds' it'd be more like eight to twelve hours."
"Why so far away?"
"Because the Star League Council meets across the river from Hue, in Ia Drang, so they can hang out on the Balcony between meetings," Eddie commented. "Hue's just across the river, so it's logical to put the Embassies there instead of the planetary capital."
“Interesting. Thank you Eddie,” Nathan nodded.
"Embassies… plural?"
"CapCon, Free Worlders, Dracs, Taurians, Outworlders, Rasalhague," Eddie listed off. "All of 'em have embassies in Hue, and have sent students to the University here."
“Makes sense, each member would want to maintain their own diplomatic mission to facilitate operations and have a place of their own for when their leaders arrive to convene the Council,” Gabriel nodded. “Much like each Clan has a holding on Strana Mechty.”
"Yeah, that was actually a pretty nice place," Eddie said. "The Jaguar enclave on Strana Mechty, I mean. Probably the easiest tour I had. I didn't have to kill anyone there. I didn't even need to spot for airstrikes or arty. Just supervising the garrison turning over their weapons after the surrender."
“Food recommendations, certainly you have some,” Nathan sensed the need to change the subject.
"Yeah, my first would be to get a place with a kitchenette and cook your own. It's hella cheaper than buying in town, even the lousy places charge more than you're likely to be carrying in common scrip. Nha Tranh is almost as expensive as Oldtown in Hue."
“I see.”
"Barring that, the Caf here on campus reverts to Heinie style cooking: so bland," Eddie noted. "Most other places, if you don't speak Viet you'll get at most two-star spicing, which is 'families with small children' and foreigners. I'd warn you off trying anything made with Brassfish unless you really dig very, very acrid fish taste that has to be hidden under pepper sauce to make it other than nauseating. But if you stick to places with a six pointed star somewhere on the sign, you won't get really revolting stuff even by accident."
“Gym. Tell me there is a gym,” Morgan said.
"Yes. It's open 30 hours a day, and if you sign up for any of the athletics classes, you'll get your very own chance to do shifts as staff, cleaning up during off-hours and doing property monitoring, for which you'll get paid."
For all their preparation, and how each was almost an outcast, all of the Trueborns had an uncomfortable look on their faces about the idea of performing labor for wages.
"It's the authentic University experience: every degree program comes with a paid labor requirement. Her Grace thinks people given gifts without a price tend not to value them… or something like that," Eddie noted blandly. "I've got gigs here, like showing you guys through the paperwork and getting you oriented."
“Very well. We are guests and will abide by your customs,” Nathan declared.
They reached the registrar's office, and Eddie, per his own words, walked the group through the process of registering for classes. "Physics… Mister Blood Spirit, we need you to come to testing room eleven to see where you place, given your previous accomplishments… and Mister Icaza? You as well," the frail looking woman at the desk said. "Mister Roshak, testing room thirteen, along with Miss Gabriel and mister Hawker."
Kenneth found himself sitting at a desk, and the tests looked so much like the aptitude exams for a Clan that for a moment he was re-experiencing the dread he'd felt when he'd been taken from Sibko without a Trial of Position, based on 'natural aptitudes'.
"These tests are timed…"
Four hours later, their class schedules were ready, and Eddie brought the sheets.
"What did you get?"
"What is a 'Graduate Student'?" Kenneth asked.
"It means you skip the elementary stuff and go straight to working with a Prof," Eddie said. "You don't have to take the bonehead courses. They're credited based on your test results… Cheer up dude, Grad Students get paid to study… Your advisor's… Professor Steiner-Davion himself."
Gabriel was staring at her results.
“History and literature marks are good, but that is no surprise for a member of Clan Goliath Scorpion,” Nathan said as he maneuvered for a look.
"This must be a mistake," Gabriel said.
"Well, it's possible…" Eddie said. "Not likely, but possible. You scored right behind Kenneth over there on math…. huh, weird."
"What is 'weird'?" Gabriel asked.
"Your stack would fit the Comp/Sci program. You, and Morgan there, but oppositional scoring. You're stronger on the math side, but he's got you on formal logic composition."
Gabriel and Morgan looked at each other for a moment, then at Nathan.
"Hey, I am taking a project management stack already," Nathan said lightly.
"Show," Morgan challenged.
Nathan turned his sheet to the others. His History section was roughly twice the scored outcome that Gabriel had, placing his knowledge at postgraduate levels.
"A Jade Falcon scoring higher on history than a Goliath Scorpion?"
"I studied before the test," Nathan said. "Several years before… it was useful for being a combat leader."
“I…Uggh…Savashri!” Gabriel sputtered at being outdone.
"Cheer up. I have to take 098 remedials in Literature and Composition," Nathan told her. "Despite being seen as outstanding within my Clan at rhetoric, I also have to take credit hours in THAT."
“Now, now. We all have some area where we scored better than the others. So it is a victory for each of us in the end,” Morgan tried to soothe the angry Goliath Scorpion, who began to visibly calm down.
"History is very local,” Eddie said. "I'd fail a Clan History class, at a Clanner… site? School? We didn't see much besides sibkos when we took the Jaggies down."
“Creche and University, or Trade School,” Gabriel offered.
"Right, I'd fail your history too," he told Gabriel. "Colonel Roshak? He studied our history ahead of time, and probably had a tutor. Because I guarantee he didn't find some of that stuff in the Oh-Zee. I actually expected MOST of you to score below one-oh-one level there, so you surprised the shit out of me, being aware of our history at all."
“It is ‘our thing’ in Clan Goliath Scorpion to preserve the history of the Star League.”
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the rumors we got during the war were that Goliath Scorpion's thing was Star League history," Eddie persisted. "Which is a hell of a lot bigger than just the shit my people went through during that era."
“That would be another way to put it, yes.”
"So just knowing about Dinh Diep already puts you ahead of most offworlders, Gabriel," Eddie continued. "Knowing that House Amaris got the Camerons to block SLDF enlistment after the '29 uprising is outstanding work. Most Earthers who take that test don't know that. And it was their ruling family that signed the order to expel Kowloonese expatriates from the SLDF as a sop to their ally, House Amaris."
She cocked an eyebrow, "How… Why did that happen?"
"Because the leaders of the uprising in 2729 were all ex-SLDF veterans who came home and led the revolt to throw the Rim Worlds yoke off our necks. Which is why the Rimjobs had to call Chivington in in the first place: they couldn't handle fighting people who knew HOW to fight them… For that matter, Chivington and the 332nd didn't either, so they bombarded the city."
“Real history has blemishes,” Gabriel nodded.
"History provides us with a guide of what not to do. When the sixty-eight revolution kicked off, the first thing our folks did was bombard Rim Worlds bases from deep orbit. Including knocking out the HPG so they couldn't call in another SLDF punitive force with warships," Eddie noted. "We didn't get the HPG rebuilt until Helena and DeChevalier negotiated our entry into the war to destroy Amaris himself. In the ‘29 revolt, the leaders tried to negotiate, and left the HPG alone. It's where the Rimjob Governor holed up… We learned."
Gabriel just nodded.
"Hey, if you guys aren't too busy next weekend, I'll let you come see the Scar. It's only a few klicks from my family's southern range and across the water, and the radiation's down to safe levels now. There's a dig site that's opened up areas that haven't seen a human being since before the bombardment."
“I would be honored.” Gabriel looked down at Eddie.
Museums and Schools[]
Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth (Lyran State)
3063
"We're proud of our History, Victor," Elizabeth said. They were sitting on the Balcony, at a bistro, after a day-trip to the Dinh Diep dig-site.
"It's still a lot to take in…" the Archon-Prince said. "You're still planning to open it to the public?"
"Absolutely, we've re-interred the bodies we found in a proper cemetery, and I've got restoration crews working on preserving things as they were in 2729."
“At least Helena only cried. I was afraid she’d do worse. She’s come a long way.”
"She's stronger than she realizes," Liz said confidently. "If she wasn't, I'd have asked her not to come."
“She’s got a good support system around her. That makes it a lot easier,” Victor nodded.
"We try. So… who's getting stuck in the big chair?" Liz asked. "Theodore's term is almost up."
"You know who," Victor told her.
"Yeah, but minds can change," Liz shrugged. "Wanted to make sure minds haven't changed."
“Fair. Sometimes I think Sun-Tzu has gotten so used to saying one thing then doing another, he doesn’t even consider it lying or going back on his word.”
"From his perspective, it probably falls under 'nuance'," she chuckled. "His agents at the University have been, at least, doing well in their course-work. So he delivered there."
“Good. Any issues from the Fleet training courses?”
"Jane hasn't delivered a single rant from the SLDF officer candidates in the Fleet Training course… at least, not yet," Liz shrugged. "Maybe later. Katherine ran some experiments of her own, and she's come up with some interesting results with the inertial warp systems and gravity polarizers."
“My sister in the science game? Why do I suddenly feel very afraid?”
"No, she hired experts and told them what she wanted. They tried it… and some of it worked," Liz countered. "She's still management, and military, not science branch."
“Something of a relief there,” Victor admitted.
"Given you're approving her budgets, I would think you already knew about her skipping a modified Avalon off New Avalon's fourth planet straight into Hyperspace and out at a neighboring system."
“Liz. Take your stack of Ducal paperwork, multiply it by about 500. That’s after my assistants parse it down to stuff that really needs my attention.”
"That tells me you need more staff you can actually rely on," Liz commented. "You're still doing too much of it yourself."
“I know. It’s just that I feel like I’ve over-relied on assistants.”
"When it ends up being your turn in the big seat, and it will, you're going to need to stow that idea in a dark, wet, smelly place and get with the program or you'll be a disaster, Victor," Elizabeth scolded. "You're a good guy, but I'm pushing the limit on what I can handle, you're under water as it is, and we both know it. Art knows more than I do, and you're giving my husband more gray hairs than our kids do. Didn't your spin through the military tell you you need to delegate? Helena's got an excellent series on project management, and another one on personnel. Maybe you should pick up the audiobook versions."
Victor chuckled weakly, "Now you're sounding like my mother."
"She knows how to do the job," Liz countered. "Yes, there will be mistakes. Nothing and nobody is perfect. But there are ways to handle things, and trying to do everything yourself is not one of them that works."
“There are a lot of days where the battlefield makes more sense. And is more comfortable than sitting the throne.”
"That's because the battlefield IS easier. It's always easier to destroy than to build anything meaningful, Victor. Entropy is the natural direction. Fighting it is naturally going to be harder than just blowing shit up and killing people, even if you do it very artfully. Look at the Clanners. They sent a delegation to study at my university because we shocked the hell out of them by discovering something that should've been discovered in the 26th century. Arthur and I are still working through what should've already been known. We aren't yet close to hitting that 'edge' where we'd be discovering things that are actually new." She sipped her juice. "They should've been ahead of us," she concluded.
“When Napoleon invaded Germany they were technologically superior, but culturally inferior…”
"If I remember from my history class… There wasn't really a 'german'. It was The Holy Roman Empire, and they were so divided they made the Inner Sphere look like a monoculture. Something like the Free Worlds on drugs."
“Well, the quote I’m mangling if I remember right was from a post unification German,.” Victor admitted.
"Post Bismark? Then it wasn't Napoleon. It was Napoleon the Third, the grandson, in the 1870s. And France had better gear, but the Germans had better organization. Different techs, you might say. The French had rifles with more range, but the Prussians had a stronger understanding of logistics and strategic movement. That war set some bad examples that really hammered everyone in the first Global Conflict of the 20th century."
“Either way, the point is there are many ways by which to measure superiority, and I agree with you that we are superior in the correct things while the Clans are superior in the incorrect things for long term prosperity.”
"They gave me the weapon to break them," Liz said. "I don't think they realize that yet, they might never realize it, even after they're broken."
“It’s a historical rarity where a minority can implement wide scale sociological change.”
"Widespread social change is a rarity in and of itself," Liz observed. "Usually when it happens, it represents a turning point. The American Revolution sparked revolts throughout the Americas, and overturned five hundred years of French Monarchy and Feudalism. The conflicts of the 1860s through 1870s dismantled social orders, the global conflicts of the 20th century erased whole ideological movements and implemented other, more dangerous ones in their place. We learned the terms 'atrocity' and 'war crime' from the 20th century, along with Nuclear Annihilation."
“The Age of War, and how it scared humanity so much we got the Ares Conventions out of it,” Victor nodded.
"I counter that like the preceding conventional agreement, the one from Geneva, those were far more often honored in the breach," Liz noted. "And they were suspended when it was inconvenient, which is why the Taurians are considered so nuke-happy, and why the Outworlds is like a quarter the size it was before Reunification War. People didn't stay afraid. Because fears like that have a shelf-life, and it expires the moment someone thinks they can do it 'better' than the last guy."
“Maybe. But we now have a tool that just might make it possible to break those cycles in the new Star League.”
"It's not the tech, Victor. It's the mindset that has to change," Liz argued. "I can break the Clanners because their system is made to be broken. Their entire civilization is a hothouse flower brought out into the real world. I'll break them economically, socially, and structurally, and I'll do it without doing anything more overt than letting them study at a university where the information isn't tightly controlled."
“I’ve read the profiles on the people they sent to your university, and I’ll admit if people like them had been in charge of their respective Clans way back when they were founded and were determining what their society would look like, we’d probably be having a whole different conversation right now.”
"Yeah, they would've rolled over us in an afternoon, if their 'progress' had actually been progress. But it wasn't, for which we should both be thankful. My own view is that if they'd come to us diplomatically first, they'd be on Old Earth right now. And we'd have, what is it now, fifteen? Seventeen? Clans sitting on the Star League Council. In a sense, you owe them your job for being idiots."
“I’m not First Lord yet. So right now, I owe my job to my Dad saying ‘yes’ to the call for alliance.”
"I meant Archon-Prince, Victor," she said grimly. "If they didn't bog down with invasions of everything in reach they'd have been focused enough to remove the Steiner-Davions from the game board early. Either through direct, or indirect, means. Of course, I'd still be dying and I wouldn't have met Arthur, so we're better off that they chose the stupid way, instead of the smart way. But that still means I'm going to break them."
“And Helena would probably be in some sort of institution, whatever they would have for someone with all her traumas.”
"Maybe. Or, maybe she'd be a puppet on a throne,' Liz noted. "Puppet on a throne seems a lot more likely. Trotted out for public appearances and kept sedated. What Sunny did with Romano for the last two years of her reign, if the rumors are right."
“Or worse given their medical tech. They could easily do some horrible stuff that way.”
"Yup, some real nightmare fuel there," Liz agreed.
“Which does bring up something morbidly entertaining. LIC has wind of some of your citizens trying to get their hands on an Iron Womb, your genes, and Helena’s.”
Elizabeth snorted and shook her head, "City folk."
""Excuse me?"
"Iron Wombs. Not new," Liz said. "Using them to make people is new, but it's twenty second century colony gear. It's how most of the human sphere were able to fundamentally change biomes on Earthlike worlds with introduced earthlife animals, including livestock. My genes is a new one to me, but the equipment is… Like I said, we're nowhere near pushing the envelope. And the Clanners are retreading disproven theories like Eugenics."
“Well from what I gather, you and Helena have quite the fanclub that wants to see what would happen if your genes were mixed, hoping to get their ‘perfect leader’.”
She laughed uproariously. "That's HILARIOUS!! Gawd, Victor… Nature versus Nurture: leaders aren't born, they're Raised!! Wow…"
“There’s a reason they’re called ‘fanatics’.”
She sighed, "Yeah. That part? That's true. I'll have some of my people look into this and see how serious these bozos are. If they're more than some shut-ins we'll take… appropriate… measures, but as long as they don't actually violate the law, or… y'know, Helena's person or mine? Having cranks is always good for a laugh."
“Yes it is. But could you imagine what that would be like if they succeeded? Poor kid.”
"They'd make a cranky baby, who gets into everything and doesn't mind particularly well. I guess I'd have to adopt the kid to make sure they actually got a decent start on life," she shrugged. "Maybe a little sister for Hannah, or brother for Simon, because obviously the proposed parents are incompetent."
“Now that’s a nightmare. Your genes combined with you both raising the kid…” Victor teased.
"Hannah's reading, Victor,” Elizabeth said. "She's supposed to be just mastering talking, and she's reading. Simon is just a tick behind her."
“And that makes me a happy Uncle.”
"Simon loved the 'Victory Victor' you got him for his name-day. I can't wait to return the favor when you have kids. I'm thinking a drum set… one with lots of cymbals and a sensitive foot-pedal," she said with malicious glee.
“Isis would kill me for that,” Victor shook his head.
"Even better. Remember, Victor, you bought the toys that make the noise. Retribution is a moral imperative."
“Just remember if this escalates, I’m the Archon Prince and I can have the NAIS to make the loudest, most obnoxious toy ever,” Victor laughed.
"I am married to this generation's premier mad scientist… Watch me quiver in fear, Victor," Liz said. "I wouldn't escalate past the drum set anyway. Toys should be educational and music helps develop the logical mind."
“Fair enough. Fair enough.” Victor gathered himself.
She leaned on the rail and looked down at Hue. "They've about finished covering up the damage from that atom bomb," she said conversationally.
“I still feel like we dropped the ball on that. LIC should have caught wind of a plot like that and warned people.”
"My people are still angry about it. But not at you, or LIC. WE missed it domestically. OCB's still in a frenzy trying to figure out how to prevent the next one."
“In this age of interstellar shipping, and how much foreign traffic comes through Kowloon now that it is Star League headquarters… Good luck, Liz.”
"I know, I've had to specifically order them to drop plans that would've crippled us economically in the name of 'security'," she told him. "In the end… Freiheit ist Risiko. Freedom is Risk, terrorists win when your reaction is to cripple yourself in response to their actions."
“Yeah. Which is why we all do our best to have a Plan B in the worst case scenario,” Victor nodded.
"Indeed…by the way, Arthur is starting a new project, now that we've handed over the last one to be torn apart by everyone."
'Do I want to know?"
"Gateway. It's going to need Star League support, and your buy-off for the Beta Site, since I plan to put it in the FedSuns."
“The other alternative you wanted to pursue. Okay. I’ll bring it before the budgetary meeting.”
"Yup," she nodded. "The Alcubierre research was more Arthur's than mine. Gateway is mine," she told him sincerely. "As in something I did most of the work on so far. If it works, we'll have a direct hop to Filtvelt from near-Kowloon. Once it's proven, maybe a hop from Kowloon to New Avalon and Tharkad…maybe further, and we can maybe turn the fleets of jumpships doing courier duty over to exploration and expansion. If we can get everyone too busy building the future, they might stop shooting at one another over the past."
“Maybe I should make you present it to the budget committee,” Victor smirked.
"Challenge accepted," she said. "I'm as confident on Gateway as we were on the Alcubierre research. More confident, really, since it's building off existing theory that's been tested for centuries. And I think we can keep it under budget now, because it doesn't rely on creating a source for exotic matter."
“Good. We’ve been getting complaints about moons getting cracked or blown in half.”
"MY count is two moons and a mountain range. If someone else is making those mistakes, it's because they didn't read the full extract," she said impishly. "Still, cracked moons make lovely mining sites. We're rolling in rare earths now."
“Leave it to a Lyran business woman to see the upside of cracking a moon in half,” Victor chuckled.
"If some of Kathy's friends are right, in a few decades we might be tearing down stars for parts."
“Geez. You four may want to consider tapping on the brakes a little.”
"The big barrier on that one, is power sources and equipment strong enough to handle it. We don't have the materials worked out that far, but the theoretical math looks good for gravitic manipulations on that scale, with sufficient power... Which we don't currently have and can't make with fusion. We'd need materials that can contain direct matter/energy conversion."
“Helena’s AI and computer research, you and Arthur redefining the face of interstellar travel, and Kate talking about tearing down stars… I’m serious Liz, you might want to slow down a bit to let the rest of us mere mortals catch up and absorb all this radical change.”
"Gateway can still fail,” Liz observed. "It's not really bleeding edge, but it's still got unknowns enough that it's scientific research, and not a pure engineering problem. Building the test prototypes is pure engineering, but we don't know if they work, because it requires two of them, and they're expensive."
“All right, Liz. I already said I’d let you present to the budget committee. So maybe you should go get your materials ready and practice your pitch.”