J Mauldin - Final Solution

“It was fun,” he beamed. “It was a lot of fun. You have any siblings, sir?” His back had become straighter.

My nose scrunched up. “One sister, and we don’t see eye to eye.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Me too, Kelly. It’s a can of worms I don’t like to open, and neither does she. Our blood relationship is tenuous, to say the least.”

“Time heals all wounds, as long as people still breathe.”

I shook my head. “Not this one.”

“You know,” he started, passion growing in his voice, “if not for the Pan-X Trade Agreement , the Ceres incident would never have happened. Starving people get desperate and afraid, then mix that up with religious fanaticism, and it’s a recipe for bad things.”

“The what?” I asked, feeling confused for being a generally well-informed person. What was the Pan-X Trade deal? And religious fanatics, on Ceres? Where? The Axis wasn’t religious at all.

“Umm, the Brethren used our agreement, I mean, a new agreement with China to cut off supplies to the Axis and redirect goods. It made trading too expensive for the outer colonists, and they got hungry.”

“I’ve never heard of it.” I tried thinking harder. Maybe it had been called something else. “I thought Russia was our major trade, not China.”

Kelly’s eyes darted around the room as if he was embarrassed. “Oh, sorry, sir. Maybe I’m not remembering something right. Rumors get around, ya know? That must be what I’m on. I hate when I buy into some rumor, taking it for truth. Like reposting something on the Sol Net you didn’t fact check first. Makes you look like a first rate idiot.”

I nodded, knowing just how he felt. “Rumors soar with wings and fusion engines. I swear sometimes they travel even faster than light.”

The far hatch opened, admitting César and Griffin into the Cargo Bay. Kelly rubbed his face and got up, removing as many bags from the crate as he could manage. I think he was trying to show off.

“Can I get some help, guys?” he eventually asked.

I whispered in his ear, “Don’t be scared to make friends. We’re all just as frightened. Being at war brings up complicated feelings. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who the bad guys really are. Sometimes the bad guy is yourself. We just have to protect each other and stick together. That goes not just for combat, but everyday life. We’re all alone, but that doesn’t mean we have to feel alone. We can be alone together, know what I mean?”

“Thank you, sir.” He cracked a brittle grin. “That helps more than you know.” He then strained to lift nearly a hundred lbs. of freeze-dried food. He was far stronger than he looked.

I turned around and raised my voice. “By the way, from here on out, all three of you are mine. XO passed me the leash.”

César looked puzzled. “So, señor, are you calling us dogs? Cause if you are, I can bark pretty loud.”

“And I bite pretty hard,” Griffin added, while chewing at the air.

Kelly rolled his eyes at me and I shrugged. I had a good feeling he was clean, but his words had raised a few questions. What was the Pan-X deal? Something about that tingled a part of my memory. I needed to know more.

Text LOG #3 with Captain (Goddard’s watch).

11:00

Goddard: Griffin and Enela are on duty, checking PV alignment and fuel pumps - Dour Face standing watch beside bridge.

Captain: Dour Face?

Goddard: Sorry, sir. Autocorrected. Brixton standing guard. Graham off duty. Devins is trimming tomato plants in the arboretum and talking to Jacks about boxing. Lacey is pouring water from the recycler on a small row of potato plants and humming to herself. No crew near critical systems. Kelly is playing around on his personal tablet from the cupola. Rosaleigh is in forward observation exercising furiously.

Captain: Don’t I know it.

Goddard: I’m sorry, sir?

Captain: Nothing. Press Smith with the question.

Goddard: You sure? I’m pretty sure Navigation’s clean.

Captain: Yes. Do it.

11:25

Goddard: Sir, she told me to get the fuck out of Officer 2. Pardon my language.

Captain: Very good. Have you talked to Liberty?

Goddard: Why would I, sir?

Captain: No reason to. No reason at all.

16:15

Goddard: Doc just got done checking Lacey’s ankle she twisted after watering the potatoes. The nurse stayed fixed on her tablet the whole time, didn’t look like she was much help to him.

Captain: I’ll note that in my report.

Goddard: We have a blur of movement in the port hallway. Standby.

Captain: Who is it? What’s wrong?

Goddard: It’s Enela. He’s getting fast, sir.

21:00

Goddard: Crew is down for the night other than a few insomniacs.

Captain: Who’s awake?

Goddard: Devins is up. He’s trying to open locked boxes in the cargo bay. Do you need me to take action?

Captain: No. Anyone else?

Goddard: Kelly’s sitting on the gangway of the arboretum. His face is in his hands and he’s shaking. I think he might be crying.

Captain: Good. Very good.

I couldn’t get my mind off the Pan-X Trade Agreement . What was it? And how had it brought about the war? Kelly may have backed off when I suggested it was just a rumor, but he’d seemed convinced in the moment, as if he’d heard this information all his life. There had to be some truth, at least from one group’s perspective. What made no sense to me was how China was involved. Much of our trade with Earth involved Bear Logistics, a Russian firm the Brethren had long-term contracts with. But China and Russia weren’t exactly friends, let alone trade partners. After the turmoil with the North Korean nuclear program in 2020, a deep rift had been left in Chinese-Russian relations. So what was the connection? How did all this fit together? And how did it involve the war?

After my shift was over I laid back on my bunk, scrolling through the historical databases on board. I first tried searching for “Pan-X” outright and got no results. I tried “Trade Alliance” and “Agreement” netting about the same as far as recent history. Zilch. I didn’t think 1994’s NAFTA mattered all that much in this context. This was a little strange to me, not finding results, but then again, it was widely known that the Brethren censored the information networks. I wasn’t sure if what I was looking for was even available.

Well, here goes nothing. General history. The best I’d hope to get were the high points.

2015: Space X, a company run by CEO Elon Musk, successfully tests their Falcon 9 rocket for reusable applications. The sub-orbital stage of a Falcon 9 rocket returns to a landing pad under its own power. This brings humanity one step closer to making space travel economical, saving nearly $50 million per launch.

2016: Massive shifts occur in American politics, due to far left and moderate Millennial voters, fueling “Income equity” and “Exo-colonization” movements. The American people was done with establishment politics.

2018: ConStruct, an automated construction research company, releases their innovative 3D printing and drone assembly construction processes. Simple, eco-friendly structures are able to be made on sight with low costs and almost no human requirements. This paves the way for automated construction on Mars in advance of settlers.

2026: Mars Exploration begins in earnest, first by a NASA/ESA cooperation, only to be soon followed by Space X and many other aerospace startups.

2028: Under the cooperation of an international alliance known as OrbitLift, Elon Musk spearheads implemented technologies developed by Space X and open corporate partnerships to begin construction of Earth’s first space elevator; a 36,000 kilometer long tether attached to a counter weight in geostationary orbit around Earth. This, more than any advancement in the space age, brings humanity closer to interplanetary travel and trade on a sustainable scale.