“You got it, Yoshi. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…the flying city of Helium!”
As I said the words, I brought the city down through the clouds to hover fifty feet overhead. Well, okay, ‘city’ was a little trumped up. It would be the size of a double lot in any suburban setting. Circular, about a hundred feet in diameter, the floating platform was flat on the top side, covered with a clear fibrex dome, with a series of hemispherical protuberances arranged radially on the underside.
“I will be dipped in shit.” Yoshi’s mouth hung open. He turned toward me, eyes goggling. “Okay, I’m impressed. How’s it work? Not like the flyers…”
“No, of course not. No turbo-props. Or helium, ironically. Helium, the city, uses a series of SURGE coils.”
“But that can’t be right. Gravity is always nullified in a SURGE field. This isn’t supposed to be a free-fall city, is it?”
I laughed. “No, Yoshi. No zero-G. The field doesn’t envelop the city. The SURGE coils are set up almost like the VTOL fans on your flyers. They provide lift, nothing else. That’s those hemispheres on the underside.”
“Damn.” Yoshi’s eyebrows were starting to come together in the signature engineer frown—a sure sign that he was starting to think things through.
He turned to face me squarely. “So what you said before—this isn’t going to be offered to the colony?”
“Not quite. This won’t be offered exclusively to the colony administration. I don’t want them controlling it. They’ve already got too tight a grip on things.” I shook my head slowly. “If you’d asked any Bob, we’d have guessed it would be FAITH pulling this kind of fascist crap. Not some former island nations.”
Vinnie, despite the group’s earlier promise, muttered almost inaudibly, “They’ll try to shut it down.”
“Short of violence, Vinnie, there’s not that much they can do. Their power is mostly in perceived authority, implied threats, and social pressure.”
“So we ignore them.” Kal nodded.
“What if they do start shooting?” Gina asked. “I keep hassling you about this. Are you prepared to shoot back?”
“If it came to that,” I replied, “I still have the biggest weapons. But they know that. And they know I can take out all their space-based assets.”
Yoshi gave me the stink-eye. “Why are you doing this, Marcus?”
“You have to ask? This is supposed to be a fresh start for humanity. We’re supposed to start over, without all the former prehistoric bullshit. And instead, this government is just starting it up all over again. I want to pull their teeth.”
I turned back in the direction of Helium and waved expansively. “I’m just giving people a way to vote with their feet.”
*
It took no convincing at all to get everyone up to Helium for an inspection. People walked around, gazing over the edge through the clear fibrex dome material, or just pacing the perimeter.
“It’s a little short on buildings,” Kal said, smiling at me.
“I’m not really sure to what extent we need them,” I replied. “With the dome, this is completely climate-controlled. No rain, no cold, no snow. Beyond basic privacy requirements, you could just live al fresco.” I stamped my foot on the bare metal surface. “We could put down a layer of soil and have grass everywhere.”
Kal nodded. Gina cut in. “What you have here, Marcus, is a basic framework. Very nice technical proof-of-concept, but it needs a few things. Cargo bays, landing bays and garage for flyers, evacuation pods, emergency equipment, weapon emplacements, food storage, kitchens…”
“And, she’s off.” Kal laughed and inclined his head at Gina.
“Well, it is my job.”
“That’s fine, guys,” I said. “And Gina’s right. A fully usable and livable city has to have the infrastructure for people to live and do their jobs. So, I’m open to suggestions. With your help, version 2 will be move-in ready. Also bigger, of course. You need enough room for a community to work as well as live.”
Kal nodded. “And who will we invite?”
“Ah, now, there’s a whole other conversation.” I’d been waiting for someone to bring that up. “I have some notes…”
*
Gina grabbed a couple of beers from Kal’s fridge and returned to the couch. She handed one to Vinnie, and popped hers. Bobbing it in my direction, she said, “If you just throw it wide open, Marcus, you’re effectively inviting in Council spies.”
“Don’t care, Gina. In fact, I’m also going to file the construction plans with the appropriate government departments.”
“Just don’t expect them to issue permits.” Kal grinned at me.
I chuckled. “No, I wouldn’t expect them to move quickly on that. Anyway, the point is to make this as open as possible. No secrets, no espionage stuff. Completely out front. Everyone will know about it, everyone can get information. It pulls the teeth of the Council in a lot of ways.”
“Sabotage?”
“Wow.” I frowned at Gina. “It would have to be after the fact, when there are already citizens on board. Maybe I’m na?ve, but I can’t see even the Council being willing to kill people.”
You’re right,” Gina said.
I smiled at her. “There you go.”
“You are na?ve.” She smiled back.
I rolled my eyes while Vinnie and Kal chuckled. “Okay, fine,” I continued. “But if it gets to that point, it’s open war.”
“Well, here we go,” Vinnie said. “Vive la révolution.”
I sighed yet again. I wasn’t sure just exactly what it was about this that I found so mentally tiring. “I keep saying it. I’d like to avoid that entirely. Look, it’s not like we’re doing anything negative. We’re not blowing things up, or going on strike, or burning down the Bastille, or even sailing off into the west. People will continue to do their jobs, they’ll continue to produce food, perform manufacturing, whatever. They’ll just have a different mailing address.”
“What the hell is a mailing address?”
I grinned at Vinnie. “Sorry. Before your time. I meant they’ll have a different residential location. The point is, there’s no downside, not materially or economically, for the Council. Sure, we’re thumbing our noses at them, and I expect them to get grumpy, but to start shooting? Killing people?” I shook my head. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that it would pretty much end any credibility they might have up to that point.”
Gina, rolled her eyes. “Marcus, you’re a loner. You always have been, the way you describe it. And you’ve never sought power. But some people need power, and they need to have power over someone. Preferably lots of someones. Taking away the Council’s subjects—which is what you’d be doing—is a declaration of war.”
I grinned at her. “Ever the optimist. I love your Pollyanna view of humanity.”
“Kidding aside, Marcus, when I say war, I mean the first thing they’ll try to do is take you out. You’re not immune, or off-limits, or anything. And when the Bobs show up in a decade or two to investigate, they’ll be met with a fait accompli.”