Near Future 1: Awakening
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Authors: Randal Sloan
AWAKENING
A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller
Book 1
by
Randal Sloan
Copyright 2015
Randal Sloan
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks to those that provided support for the development of this book, including Catherine Borden Sloan, Dean Borden, Christina McCoy Wilson and Sandra McCoy. Your comments and suggestions were greatly appreciated and helped make this a much better book.
Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc.
www.gobookcoverdesign.com
Chapter Three - Rehab and New Acquaintances
Chapter Four - Plans and Theories
Chapter Seven - The Organization Strikes Again
Chapter Ten - Plans that Go Awry
Chapter Thirteen - Third World Trouble
Chapter Fifteen - Attempts, The Weasel and a Rescue of Sorts
Chapter Sixteen - Safe but at What Price
Chapter Seventeen - Small Steps
Aspirations: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller Book 2 (August 2016)
Prologue
Sometime in the near future, the space race has been won by private enterprise. A company formed by two brothers, Theodore and Samuel Randolph, was by far the largest of these, and had become dominant, so dominant that their capitalization exceeds the economic worth of many countries.
The company was named Space Tech, Inc. and they had been able to do as a private enterprise what none of the earth governments had managed. They had developed viable, financially stable space based technologies. First, they had developed a truly reusable launch system that, although still expensive, was magnitudes cheaper than any other system in use at the time. Then, they had built and brought online a space station dedicated to commercial ventures, producing high tech products that could only be manufactured in space. They had managed to do this at a time when the market for these materials had just become mature, and their products were in high demand.
However, the whole key to eventual total domination by Space Tech had been due to their decision to capture a number of small asteroids and comets, pushing them into a stable orbit around the earth moon Lagrange points. Space Tech had then set up mining operations to bring in the raw materials necessary to their manufacturing process. It had taken considerable investment, but it was now paying huge dividends.
Still, Space Tech had their share of problems. By far the worst of them was the Organization, a group of terrorists and pirates, who appeared to be in direct opposition to Space Tech. The Organization at one time was a loosely organized group that no one took seriously. Unfortunately, it appeared that the Organization had gained a sponsor that was giving them major funding and weapons, because the conflict between the Organization and Space Tech had moved to a much higher level.
The situation with the Organization was becoming more and more serious, and it had begun to affect the brothers and their families personally. Unknown to everyone, this conflict was going to have a major effect on the entire world, so much so that the world would be vastly different depending on how it could be resolved. Whether that result was good or bad, was yet to be determined.
CHAPTER ONE
Beginnings
In the latest charity event of the Randolph Foundation, Space Tech has reserved a concert hall in New York for a special event. They have obtained a world famous orchestra to play for the event, and as usual are donating all proceeds to a local charity. Rumors are that they have a special announcement to come at the event.
#
Julie Randolph sat nervously in a partitioned-off section in the lobby of a very high class New York hotel. She knew that this very evening she would be alone in the spotlight in a prestigious concert hall. She would be playing a violin solo as the guest of honor, her father's special treat for her birthday. His company was sponsoring the concert, which was being held as a benefit for one of the local charities. She was very excited about the opportunity, but she had to admit she was also very nervous. Looking at the mirrored wall panel across the way, she hardly recognized herself. She saw a very pretty young woman wearing a beautiful, elaborate dress. Her brilliantly blond hair was held up by an antique hair comb, a family heirloom loaned to her by her mother. The combination made her look much older than her tender sixteen years.
Julie thought back to earlier when she was getting ready with her mother's assistant Andrea's help. When Julie had picked up the hair comb to look at it, she had felt something astonishing. It gave off a feeling of much age, and it was as if she could feel the presence of those family members who had worn it all those years past. She felt a sense of comfort and protection when holding it. However, she also felt something else, a strong sense of danger, which almost made her drop it. She laughed and pretended it was just nerves when Andrea grabbed it from her hand, but the sense of danger had stayed with her. She had tried to forget it, and had distracted herself by checking and retuning her violin until time to leave.
That moment earlier had come back to her now as she sat looking at the extensive security around her family. Her father hadn't told her what was going on, but she knew he was worried about something. She had been hearing about the threats against them, but until now she had not seen it personally. Now the threat became a little more real to her. A large and dangerous-looking man had escorted her when she left her room and the lobby was crawling with others just like him. All of this added to her nervousness.
Her newfound friend apparently received a command in his earpiece, because he turned to her and authoritatively said, "Let's go," leading her out to a large SUV that sat in the middle of a caravan of security vehicles. In all the rush, she didn't have a chance to speak with either of her parents. Besides that, her dad was talking animately on a Virtual Reality (VR) connection and her mother was much quieter than normal tonight, almost withdrawn.
As they left the hotel, she heard helicopters flying overhead. All of it raised her stress even higher. However, they moved quickly, with the escorts clearing the way, and in a relatively short time they arrived at the concert hall without incident. The security protecting those at the concert hall was very, very extensive and Julie began to feel a little safer. Probably they were just being overly cautious, and the rest of it likely had been her own imagination.
#
Across town, another group was getting ready. They were not dressing in fancy clothes, but black fatigues and black face paint. They were not double checking musical instruments, but instead they were checking their weapons one more time. They were not in a high class hotel, but in an old abandoned warehouse. Most were single-minded in their preparations, their actions dictated by fervor for their cause.
The leader of the group was standing off to the side of the rest of them, a frown on his face. He was there for a more personal reason. Although he talked the same talk to keep the others dedicated to the cause, he was actually driven by a completely different purpose. True he hated Space Tech for what they represented. But, he had been promised a lot of money if they pulled off the attack. That and fear were his drivers. Right now that money was in considerable doubt, and he suspected if they failed in their attack, the people he worked for would not be at all happy. He was talking on a supposedly untraceable portable VR system and what he had just heard was not good news. He was so mad he was spitting as he talked. "What do you mean, they have not received the message from our inside man? Everything is dependent on them splitting up their security with our misdirection."
"Our man there has promised he will get it done. He insists that it was not his fault; he claims his instructions were not clear. Personally, I think he just lost his nerve."
"Fix it now or the whole thing is going to be a bust, and our friends are not going to be happy. I, for one, do not want them to be unhappy.
" He paused a minute, thinking furiously. "
We know where he lives. Send a man there to encourage him. Do whatever it takes to get that message sent."
"I'll take care of it myself, boss. It will go out within the next hour."
"You do that. I know where you live too!" he told him, stabbing the disconnect on the VR and throwing it across the room. Luckily it was also extremely durable. He went back to his pacing, his scowl enough to keep the rest of them away from him. Not even the sight of the portable missile launcher his "friends" had smuggled in to him made him feel better.
#
Upon their arrival, Julie and her mother went to the dressing area, while the Randolph brothers, Sam and Ted, mingled with all the people there for their special event. It was all part of the game that they had to play. Everyone had questions about what Space Tech had planned, but neither of the brothers would tell them anything of substance. "Sorry, I'll tell you more in a few minutes," Sam told them if they pushed for an answer.
The brothers kept mingling until the signs lit up indicating it was almost time for the event to begin, and everyone started moving toward the concert hall. Sam turned to his brother, "I believe we have kept them in suspense long enough, don't you brother?" Ted nodded and the two walked to the stage area together. Ted took his place at the side of the stage, while Sam stepped into the spotlight and tapped his wrist pad, connecting him to the concert hall's main VR control system.
"Welcome everyone! We appreciate all of you coming to our little event. I believe I saw many of you a few days ago at the Space Tech stockholders meeting. There we told you about some of the things Space Tech has happening. Our mining program is enabling us to produce our many high tech materials that have been helping to improve life for everyone. Our fusion plant has run for over a year without a single glitch. Our research is continuing along many lines that we believe will lead to even more new discoveries." He paused a minute, looking out over the audience.
"Tonight, however, I am here to talk about another subject that is dear to my heart. We are all competing for new graduates in the technical fields and there just aren't enough of them to do all the work we need. And we often have to give them additional training just to get them up to the level where they can do the work."
Pausing again for dramatic effect, he smiled broadly and went on, "Tonight, the Randolph Foundation of Space Tech has a special announcement. We have been working with some of the brightest in the technical education field. With their help, we have developed a new program in conjunction with one of our major national universities that will specialize in science and space technology. Not only will we be providing a majority of the funding for the program but we are also providing a large scholarship fund that will be available to the best and brightest students. I give you the Space Academy!" He tapped his VR controls to display a gigantic Virtual Reality view of the school campus that everyone in the concert hall could see. He had to stop when the crowd gave a little gasp of excitement and then broke out in applause.
