Chapter 19

A.D. 2024-2025

"We're coming to you live today from outer space. I'm standing here on the observation deck of the new Dassault-Lockheed Orbital Factory where, in just a few moments, the first spacecraft built in Earth orbit should be coming off the assembly line and making its first flight."

"Can you see the ship now, Danny?" The anchor, sitting securely in the studio on Earth asked.

"As a matter of fact, from where I'm standing, I can see several ships that are being built within the open framework of the factory. This facility is amazing, John. I'm going to ask the cameraman to get us a shot of the assembly framework, just to give our audience a feel for the scale of this factory. As you can see, there are assembly cradles as far as the eye can see. I'm told that this one assembly line is over seven kilometers long. Now, amazing as that is, what is truly astounding is that there are sixteen such structures attached to this central hub, John. Thanks to the resources taken from most of the nations of United Earth, there are more than a thousand ships being built at this one facility. Of course, all this is made possible in large part by the mining and smelting operations in the asteroid belt and on the moon, as well as the smaller factories that build the components for these ships, many of which are also part of this complex."

"That is amazing, Danny!" The anchorman said. "Can you identify the ship that's about to be launched?"

"I'm told that the one nearest this observation point will be the first off the assembly line, John, but it will be followed closely, one at a time, by the other sixty three ships on this arm."

"Wait, Danny, are you telling us that they have not one, but sixty four ships ready to launch?"

"Yes, John, that's exactly what I'm telling you. We were told they would have a surprise for us when the factory invited us to watch the launch, but we never dreamed it would be this! You know, John, seeing this facility for the first time, one can't help but wonder what will happen to it if President Ramirez makes good on his promise to disband the union. Certainly, for all the union's problems, nothing on this scale could ever have been achieved by a single nation."

"Not without the others getting very nervous about their national security, anyway, Danny," the anchor replied somberly. "Is there any speculation among the workers or executives there about what might happen after the dissolution?"

"John, the consensus seems to be that, if President Ramirez carries out his promise, this facility will have to be dismantled. Certainly, as you say, no single nation can operate it without creating a very sticky international situation."

"And how do they feel about that, Danny?"

"Most of them are not very happy about the prospect of having to return to their homes on Earth, John. As you know, before the invasion, a lot of these workers lived in abject poverty. Now their families are part of the new middle class that's grown up since the formation of the union. They know that their jobs will disappear if the union dissolves."

"That's certainly something for our leadership to consider in their decision-making. Have you had time to tour the residential facilities there, Danny?"

"Why yes, John, and I must say, it's like a city built on the outer wall of a big wheel. Unlike the zero-G manufacturing facilities, the residence ring, or 'RR' as the workers call it, rotates just fast enough to apply the equivalent of one gravity at the outer ring, and that's where most of the businesses are located. The workers' apartments, however, are built into the next inner ring. This means that tired workers, coming back from a hard day's work at the factory, usually in zero gravity, are not subjected to a full Earth gravity right away. As you can see from this diagram, they travel along the center axis of the complex to the point where the stationary inner hub is joined to the rotating Residence Ring. They enter the RR at the center hub, and then travel outward along one of the spokes to reach their homes. The apartments, in fact, are all built with the bedrooms in the upper, or inner, floors, where the effective gravity is even less than in the common areas of their homes. I can tell you from my own experience last night, John; that arrangement makes for a great night's sleep."

"You mentioned businesses, Danny," the anchor asked, "Can you tell us something about the business district?"

"As a matter of fact, I have had occasion to go there more than once since I arrived, John, and except for the fact that the street curves upward and the side streets are very short, you would almost think you were walking down a thoroughfare in any modern city on Earth. I stopped into Radio Shack after I arrived, to get a 'space phone' chip for my mobile, and it looked like any Radio Shack on Earth. You would be surprised at the variety and quality of some of the restaurants here too, John. Besides the usual fast food joints like TacoBell-KFC, and McDonald's-Red Lobster, most of the popular pizza stores are here, as well as some quality restaurants that are not part of any chain."

"But aren't the prices prohibitively high?"

"I thought they would be, John, but they are about the same as you would expect to pay at any similar eatery on Earth. I asked about that, and the proprietors all told me the same thing: Shipping costs are no more than they are on Earth, and most of that is in getting the products from distribution warehouses to the spaceport. Apparently, it costs almost nothing to ship them into space on a grav-drive ship. They even say that if the government would loosen the antiquated restrictions on the use of airspace, they could launch directly from the distribution centers and not have to pay those shipping costs at all ... I'm sorry, what's that?"

"Okay, John," Danny returned his attention to the camera. "I've just gotten word that they are ready to launch the first fighter. Let's watch, shall we?"

The camera panned to the viewport and zoomed in on the nearest assembly bay.

"I can't tell what's happening from this distance, but it looks like all the workers have cleared out of the cradle ... Wait, there appears to be some movement ... Yes, the structures that have held the ship in place while it was being built are retracting. There's just one line remaining attached to the hull ... Now that line has pulled back, and, as far as we can tell, the ship is just floating free in its cradle. There it goes! Can you see it John! The first spacecraft ever built in space has just launched! But wait! Zoom it out! Zoom out! Can you see it John? All the other ships along this arm are launching as well, in a perfectly choreographed ballet, just a second or two apart! What a truly amazing sight! I hope our viewers are seeing this as I am John! Now they're coming together into a formation ... Will you look at that!? John, these ships are performing flawlessly right off the assembly line! There they go, now, off into space! I'm told that now they will join a training squadron before being sent off to fight the aliens. Wasn't that a truly awe-inspiring sight, John?"

"It certainly was, Danny," the anchor turned from the monitor back to his own camera. "Well, there you have it folks. The first spaceships ever built in Earth orbit. For ABC-BBC news, this is John Spangler, signing off."

"The orbital factory is making all the difference, Mr. Speaker, but it is staffed by people from almost every country in the union!" President Ramirez tried to refrain from shouting. "If we have to close it down we will not be able to complete our agenda for driving the aliens out of the system, and we will certainly have to do so if we begin the dissolution of the union now."

"Not necessarily, Mr. President," the representative from the United States put in. "I've crunched some numbers on my own, here, and I believe we could provide enough workers to staff the factory, once we pulled our workers from the Earth-bound factories. They may not have all the amenities they enjoy now, but it should be feasible."

"Are you insane?!" Ramirez did shout this time. "If I were to turn that factory over to the United States, we would have war amongst the nations of Earth that would make the alien invasion seem like a walk in the park!"