Space Race (Space Race 1) Nathan Hystad (ebooks children's books free .TXT) 📖

from the room, and he whispered to another guard before we entered the long arm of the station.

This place was huge, with a hundred docking segments spread across fifty levels. I wasn’t sure how many people lived on the station, but it could house fifty thousand people at any given moment. Today, it seemed quiet, more subdued than normal, but that made sense. It was ranking time, and most of the corporations were focused on Earth and the announcements coming from Primary City.

“What were you saying about Oasis?” I asked as we walked.

“You haven’t heard? They’ve sold off their Eris Elurnium division to the highest bidder.” Hewitt Barnes seemed pleased by this.

“You mean the load I’m carrying isn’t heading to Oasis?” Then who was going to pay me?

The bar was in the station’s central hub, which extended for five kilometers from top to bottom. I followed him to a table, and he waved at a striking woman across the room.

“I suppose not.”

“Who bought it?” I asked.

“Have you heard of SeaTech?” Barnes asked, his voice deep.

“Sure. Who hasn’t?” Everyone knew about the fortieth-ranked Corporation that had clawed their way to fifteenth in the span of two decades. It was unprecedented.

“Well, they’ve become the eleventh-ranked firm with the latest acquisition.” The serving woman arrived, and I admired her as she set two tall glasses on the table. The beer was dark, an inch of foam threatening to spill.

“Eleventh?” I was impressed. SeaTech had one of the smallest footprints of them all, owning the Hawaiian Islands and the two-hundred-kilometer radius circling them.

“Too bad they’ll miss out on the Race.” Barnes took a drink; a touch of foam stuck to his white moustache when he was done.

“Race? What race?”

“You really have been living under an asteroid, haven’t you, Lewis? The Race… the Corporations have decided to create the largest event ever seen. The Primaries will each put forth a team, competing for future rights to Proxima.”

I almost choked as I sipped my drink. “Are you kidding me?” I shouted, and the few other patrons in the bar stopped what they were doing to stare. 3D projections played in all corners of the bar, and Hewitt Barnes indicated one closest to us.

“If you don’t believe me, see for yourself.”

I hustled to the corner of the bar. “Can you turn this up?” I asked the serving woman, and she brushed her brown bangs from her eyes, nodding with a sly grin. When was the last time I’d…?

“This contest will be something we can all cheer for. The Board is thrilled to announce the start date is in three months’ time. Not only will this be a new standard for the Corporations working collectively, but it will give our people an event unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” The woman speaking was around fifty, with short graying hair and a permanent scowl. Octavia Post, the Lead Chair of the Board. Despite her outward harshness, her words came across as friendly.

The image cut to a group of protesters, somewhere within the Sage Industries capital on their West Coast. A reporter asked the gathered a simple question. “What do you think of this Space Race?”

The people were ragged: poor and hungry, from the looks of things, which wasn’t uncommon in the Primary States. “It’s a distraction from reality. The Corporations have grown stronger, and we hold less power than ever. They see the change coming, the revolt, and this is a drastic move to confuse the people. There’s nothing in the Race for us.” The others around the articulate man cheered him on, their signs raised toward the sky.

The image faded, returning to a news center. The caster looked shocked, and she composed herself. The news was funded by the Corporations, and I was shocked they’d allowed it to air. The anchor tried to recover. “I for one am thrilled at the concept of this Race, and cannot wait to cheer on my favorite teams. The leading analysts have Sage Industries in a tight sprint with Luna Corp, but don’t count out Lotus as a contender.”

The serving woman turned it down as it cut to a loud ad, sponsored by Sage’s robotics division.

“Whether you’re building a mine XPO-38 or habitation for gaseous integration in the moons, use Robo-Span, powered by Sage. Link your PersaTab to learn more.” The ad showed a burly man striking a molten iron rod with a blacksmith’s hammer. He faded out and was replaced with the arms of a robotic manufacturing unit from Robo-Span. The company’s logo flashed over the screen, and the feed returned to the news.

“Now you see what I’m talking about,” Barnes said. I’d almost forgotten he was there.

“The people are planning a revolt?” I whispered. This was news to me.

Everyone in this station worked for the Corporations in one form or another, even the Belt Protectors, and I opted to tread carefully. My parents had always told me this day would come, when the people had had enough. I just never thought I’d witness it.

“I highly doubt it, Hawk.”

I disregarded my old callsign, not wanting to correct him. “Why’s that?”

“Every decade, some group forms, threatening to fight the Corporations, but look at them. They’re pathetic, with no resources or real skills. They’re at the bottom because they couldn’t climb the ladder. You understand that, don’t you, son?” He motioned me toward our table.

I nodded but felt an ulterior motive coming. “Why did you seek me out?”

He finished his beer, and I finally took a sip while he spoke. “You no longer work for Oasis.”

I was growing tired of this man’s sidestepping. “So you said.”

“I’ve become good friends with Bryson Kelley.” His words were barely audible in the bar.

“Who?”

“SeaTech’s CEO. Fourth generation. Best guy I know. He asked that I speak with you when you arrived. He’s requested a meeting,” Barnes said.

“What does Kelley want with me?” I thought about Capricious, and the disrepair that needed attending to. I was behind in my payments and hadn’t sent money to my parents in months.