Humanities Future
The far Future....circa 4230.
After 2,000 years of researching and exploring, life in space is now a reality. Cities that both sit in one place and thrive, or travel from place to place, all happen daily.Domes shaped Cities made of the most transparent, and strongest materials ever created, travel space doing their work, from major educational facilities, to Capitols of commerce, they all have one thing in common...they are owned and operated by someone...many times what used to be called Corporations, now only groups with a common name, and what was once governments on land, now families in space.
The only land they need is what their ships contain, and resources abound in space, so getting anything to operate a business is as easy as moving to another location. The Golden Age of Government is at hand, with each and every Family capable of building and running a City can be the Rulers there, and each City becomes a State on it own merits, selling goods, and buying from others, so the land grabs of the previous centuries are long gone now, and the rich are now the rulers of their own small Kingdoms , while no one would ever say such a thing right out loud.
During this time many people with conflicting ideals still exist, and by now Humanity agrees, as one, that they always will. There are still enemies to deal with, and pirates and military dictators that never seem to own enough ships or cities to make them happy, and even a few perfectionists, that turn their backs on Society as a whole, saying that people don’t deserve their help or attention, because Humans in general are not capable of acting like respectable people and so little Utopias exist (to those that believe in them) and try their best to stay hidden or just out of arms reach of the fools they despise.
Some are so good at it their names have become Legends,and when they do show their faces, things change, mostly for the better.These are the Elites, and they are well known across the galaxy. Where their bases are is never known for sure, and they travel to keep it that way. But when something bad is happening, or about to, its not impossible for them to appear, do a job, then disappear again.They seek not wealth for helping, or fame outside of the deed itself. But they make a difference, or hope to,and for some thats the real Legend right there.
Chapter 1: Home
Carl made his scheduled stop at the Industrial Station and had his cargo unloaded and paid for. His freighter was OK’d for departure, and he left and set a course back home. He followed standard procedures and jumped away from the station, then stopped in dead space and activated the security protocols. In seconds drone of all sizes from human sized maintenence drones to microscopic security drones flooded the ship, and soon discovered the devices hidden there by the station. It was a pain being from a Hidden City, their ships were unmarked and unknown, and while people always welcomed them,they were watched carefully,and often followed.
“Damn it to Hell...” Carl said to himself as one was found, and after a few minutes it disappeared, absorbed by the ship itself, and its constituent parts became food for the Replicator or repair systems. Now the ship showed as clean and he turned again and jumped... and then again... and soon got the call as his Grandmother, the head of the Family, smiled and asked if he got the job done, and Carl smiled wide and agreed.
“ 1.32 million Galactic credits..” he said all smiles, as she left out a long sigh, and his face fell.
“Didn’t John tell you..nothing less than 2 million credits? Honestly, what am I going to do with you Carl...” She declared as he demanded the man at the station said... and she nodded to hear it all again. “That man is a professional businessman, something you’re supposed to be training to be. He took advantage of you and made a huge profit, and is probably laughing at you right this very minute.” She explained, shaking her finger at the screen, as Carl growled and said he’d go back and kick his ass then, as she just shook her head no, and demanded he come home.
“Let this be a lesson to you...again...” she said softly as Carl looked sad that he had done it to the Family again. His skills were in piloting and hand to hand combat, but his Grandmother forced him to do business stuff, even when some of his brothers and cousins were much better suited for it. “Dock and get some rest, then come to the business meeting tomorrow morning just as planned.” she said as he asked if he had to, and she laughed and agreed saying he had to face his own shortcomings, and he nodded and closed the link.
He docked and left the ship, looking very sad and tired, and even without asking a few that saw him had some idea what was happening.
“Why does she make him do that stuff, its obvious he’s no good at it.” One might ask, as some just shrugged, and an older man smiled as they wondered why.
“Its BECAUSE he’s no good at it...even he has to learn sooner or later.” He said as many chuckled and one mentioned that his failures ran them short for the month though, and the older man agreed, seeing that, that load took a weeks work to mine... and he could only guess what had happened on delivery.
At the meeting the next day everyone sat waiting for the weekly report and when it came many were saddened and Carl refused to look a few in the face, as his Grandmother announced their weekly profits, and everyone knew why it had dropped substantially from her previous estimates.
“Don’t go off half cocked...” She demanded as some just smiled,” if its anyones fault its mine, so let that be the end of it!” She demanded and seeing her standing up for him made Carl feel even worse.
The meeting ended, and they all went their own ways, and Carl and his brother John walked along as Carl explained what happened... and John just shook his head at his brothers naivety.
“I’ve told you, everyone needs to make a living, so people will purposely lie to you to make more money. Its a game, Carl and you need to learn to play it better.” John mentioned as Carl agreed he was no good at this game at all.
While that was going on Grandmother Clare was getting news that she really, really wasn’t happy about.
“Charles and Carey are...dead?” She asked as the person on the other end agreed, sadly.” How could this happen, we had deals with them, and we were in charge of security at their City?” she asked as the person said that none of their security people could be reached, and she saw that it was a well oiled plan from the beginning.
“What about their children...James and Christina?” She asked as she was told they were away at school, and she nodded and smiled that they were alright at least. “They will be rushing home to see what happened, they need protected.” She said as the other person agreed.
“I’ll send someone else, you get me all the info about whats going on and why.” She demanded and closed the link. And set a plan into action that would help protect her old friends children, and a great ally they had had for many years now.
She knew right away what needed done,and she called a meeting to set it in motion. She called Carl in, while he was not the best negotiator they had, when it came to flying fighters and hand to hand, he was one of the best.
“Carl will be set adrift in their path,” She explained as she showed the route their ship would take to get the kids back to their home city.”The beacon will show them right where it is and once on board, Carl will make sure he stays close to them and watches over them, because if their parents were murdered, then the kids are next in line to own the city, and we have a good idea who is behind this.” She said as another picture came up.
“Juan Carlos, Charles’s brother and Uncle to the Carlos children. He’s been after them to militarize for years, and they refused every time. Now it seems he’s making his move to take over the City.Once he’s in power then he’ll have the right to change anything he wants, and our last security person on board says he’s set himself up as leader while the kids are away. Even demanding they stay in school until they graduate,and by then, there will be no home to return to.” She added as Carl nodded, looking at the man’s face. To him the guy didn’t look trustworthy at all, and he couldn’t see why anyone would let him into a position of power.
“The word has gotten to the school, and a ship is taking them home even now. We’ll send Carl to this position... here... and he’ll wait in his pod until they get in range. Once they pick him up then he will see whats really going on and maybe help protect the children until something can be done about Juan.” She said as everyone agreed.
“One more thing...they must never know who you really are... or why you are there, so this is an intelligence mission, got that?” She demanded as Carl happily nodded agreement.
“What if they don’t stop to pick me up? The pod only has 6 hours of life support at a time.” Carl asked as many chuckled. it was Galactic standard to stop to help anyone in distress, but many there smiled and said he had always been the kind and trusting type up until now.
“Just trust them to do it, thats what you do isn’t it?” one man said as Carl nodded it was true, and even his Grandmother saw that this would strain his own beliefs a bit, and she smiled as he took a hit to the forehead for looks, and he was placed right where they coudln’t possibly miss him.
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