The Next Continent (35 page)

Melville broke in. “Mr. Lord, this is not a forum for debating where the interests of the United States lie.”

Lord grudgingly fell silent. Ringstone continued in a firm tone. “Maybe it is time to consider the interests of the United States of America. We need a competitor. With a strong opponent, we show what we're really capable of. I believe Sixth Continent is the best opponent we could ask for. Yet at the same time, we at NASA don't see ourselves in competition with anyone. We act on behalf of humanity, to look far into space, to touch the stars. We don't play political games to achieve our objectives.” So saying, Ringstone gave one of his trademark bows and stepped down.

The sound of applause rose like a wave—from the Americans in the gallery. Ringstone's testimony had struck home. Lord's pale complexion turned a deep shade of scarlet.

“Madame Justice, I wish to address the court.”

“Proceed.”

“I've tried to restrain myself from pointing this out to the court, but I can no longer continue to do so. I wish to draw your attention to the manipulation of this process by the government of Japan. Japan is ultimately responsible for the activities of Sixth Continent. They've even planted their national flag on the base. They refuse to exercise control over Sixth Continent's operations, yet they skillfully conspired to bring a representative of NASA here to testify in support of their position. I find this truly deplorable. I would like the court to affirm that Japan bears full responsibility for Sixth Continent's actions!”

The justices looked uneasy. Lord was reopening an issue that had already more or less been settled. Until now, the Americans had consistently taken the position that the Japanese government was only nominally overseeing Sixth Continent. In effect, Lord was asking the court to take the entire process back to square one.

“Madame Justice, may I speak?” Tae Toenji raised her hand. She had traveled to the Netherlands to be present on this final day of arguments. Since she was funding the project, she was seated with the defense team. Melville nodded.

Tae rose to her feet. “Madame Justice, would it be possible to bring Sixth Continent's home page onto the courtroom monitor?”

“Yes, I believe so,” said Melville and motioned to the clerk of the court. “Would you please?”

The clerk opened a browser on the courtroom monitor. Tae gave him the address, and in a moment Sixth Continent's home page came up. The home page had a real-time webcam feed from the multidozers. Japan's rising sun flag was planted in the regolith, a crossbar on the pole holding it taut. Tae asked the clerk to freeze the image.

“Enhance, please.” The clerk zoomed in on the flag. Tae murmured sadly, “I hate to say this, but I have no choice…All right, you can stop there.”

The image of a red circle on a white ground filled the screen. Everyone in the courtroom craned forward to get a better look. Jutting from the top of the sun disk was a tiny, curved stem.

“This is the flag of Eden, not Japan. It's a red apple on a white field.”

A hush fell. Tae's voice rang through the courtroom.

“All the equipment and facilities of Sixth Continent are the personal property of me and my grandfather, Sennosuke. We are not associated with Japan's government, either in name or in fact. I was unwilling to have the national flag represent my Eden, so before it was taken to the moon, I modified it. That, Madame Justice, is an apple.”

“This…this is sophistry…” Lord stammered.

“Is it, Mr. Lord? How many of your arguments so far, as well as ours, have been anything but rhetoric? Let's drop this pointless war of words. Don't you think the best way to conclude this process—for both of us—would be for the justices to rule on this matter now?” She smiled, the smile that had charmed the world. Lord's mouth was moving, but no words came out.

Melville announced, “This concludes final arguments. The court will recess for thirty minutes. We will then hand down our verdict!”

The room began to buzz. Journalists jumped up and ran outside. In the gallery, Sohya looked over at Caroline.

“I smell an upset win. I have to say, Ringstone's speech was great. I can't believe you convinced him to do it.”

“He's fifty-five, but he says he still wants a chance to go into space,” said Caroline. “With TROPHY technology, we can develop our own scramjet and build a low-G lift vehicle that can take people with arrhythmia like Ringstone into space. That's all I had to tell him. Of course, we won't disclose the TROPHY deal till this whole issue blows over.” She looked over at Tae, who was congratulating the members of the defense team. “Impeccable timing, getting the SETI module up when you did. That girl is really something. I'm impressed.”

“That's a compliment, especially coming from you.”

“But it doesn't mean we're buddies.” Caroline stood up. She looked down at Sohya defiantly. “Ringstone meant what he said. NASA doesn't have rivals. We're pioneers. That's what we've always been and always will be. Today is special, and we're here together. After today, I wish you the best of luck.

You'll need it.”

“Thanks for that. We know you won't slow down just for us,” said Sohya. He stood up and folded his arms across his chest with a smile. Caroline answered with a smile of her own and made no attempt to shake his hand. She spun on her heel and strode briskly out of the courtroom.

THE TELEVISION IN
Ryuichi's office was an old flat-screen monitor from the beginning of the century. When he saw the news flash at the top of the screen—sixth continent vindicated—he sat back on the sofa and clapped.

“Shinji, we won! The verdict was unanimous!”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Shinji was sitting opposite Ryuichi, slurping instant noodles out of a Styrofoam container and tapping away on a laptop. He nodded knowingly. “Aomine told me already. Anyway, I'm the one who ordered their SETI module. I can't believe Tae had the foresight to realize we'd need it.”

“Are you sure she launched that module just to create a legal trapdoor?”

“That must've been part of it. Anyway, I've never pretended to understand what she's thinking. Even Aomine gets jerked around by her. A SETI module on the moon is a cool idea though.”

“You think so?”

“Why not? I mean, it can't fail. No one can prove it's a waste of time as long as there's no deadline.”

Ryuichi snorted with amusement and peered at the laptop. Shinji had been working away at it all morning. “So what's cooking?”

Shinji turned the computer around so Ryuichi could see the screen. He finished the noodles in one titanic slurp. “Faifan fen,” he said with his mouth full.

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” said Ryuichi.

“Fokay…Ah, it's a proposal to modify the Titan X.”

“Titan? That's one of theirs. It's based on an old ICBM design. Why modify it?”

“Since they're getting the plans for TROPHY, they might not need the last few Titans they have on order. I ran the concept past Ringstone before he left for the Netherlands. He sounded interested.”

“What's the concept?” said Ryuichi.

“As configured, Titan X can put forty tons into low earth orbit. With a few modifications, it looks like we could use the third stage as a space tug. All we'd need to do is swap in a power plant with a longer service life. If we can include a few of these in the barter deal for TROPHY, it'd make things a lot easier going forward.”

“Wow, that definitely sounds like a plan.” Shinji had Ryuichi's full attention now.

“Yes, it's perfect. The tug will only be used between Earth and the moon, and it'll really expand the range of things we can do in space. Whatever the payload, all we have to do to get it to the moon is just take it outside Earth's atmosphere. We can park things in LEO and stop worrying about the best launch window. All pros, no cons.”

“All pros, no cons…” Ryuichi said in a faraway voice. Shinji looked up. Ryuichi had spread both arms across the back of the sofa. He was staring at the ceiling.

“Everything these days feels like a dream.”

“How so?” Shinji was mystified.

“Launching rockets to the moon like it was routine. I went up myself. To top it off, I've got NASA eating out of my hand. Remember that time you and I first met, in that beer place in Kanda? I never, ever thought we'd come this far.”

“Me neither.”

“I'm almost worried. It's like things are going too well.”

“That doesn't sound like the Yaenami I know,” chuckled Shinji. Ryuichi leaned across the table and looked at the waiflike face of his resident genius.

“It's all your doing. You deserve a bonus. What do you want?”

“I don't know. Okay, I'd like to go up too. LEO is fine.”

“Is that all? In another fifteen years it'll only cost you a month's salary.”

“A trip into orbit is more than enough. I want to see a TROPHY rocket coming up toward me. If I wait fifteen years, we'll probably be using a totally new engine.”

“I get it.” Ryuichi nodded. “You want to watch your carefully raised child fly from every angle.”

“From low orbit I'll be able to see everything from liftoff to second-stage separation.”

“Great, I'll make sure it happens.” Ryuichi reached across the table and clapped Shinji on both shoulders. “Speaking of new engines to take us to the moon, shouldn't you be working on that? I'm counting on you!”

“I'd actually rather design something to take us to another planet.”

“What a genius!” Ryuichi clapped his shoulders again and again.

“Hey, give me a break!” Shinji laughed.

CHAPTER 6

RISK MANAGEMENT AND DAMAGE CONTROL

[1]

THE LEAVES ENVELOPING
the soaring office tower glowed crimson in the sunset over the Yoro Mountains. It was beautiful enough to take one's breath away.

Autumn, 2030. Eden Leisure Entertainment's headquarters was sheathed in Japanese maples flourishing on projecting ledges. On the twenty-third floor, their scarlet leaves framed a window and a man who stood gazing impassively from it.

The man's hair was parted neatly above his gold-rimmed glasses. Behind the glow reflected in their lenses, his eyes had a gentle softness. His features were clear-cut; age had only begun to touch his slightly hollowed cheeks. He stood on the green carpet of his enormous office like a tree nourished by the sun, feet planted shoulder width apart, spine straight, hands behind his back. A small badge with a logo of a red fruit in a treetop adorned his beige suit lapel.

ELE president Kiichiro Toenji was fifty-five years old. He was not admiring the sunset. He had turned his back on a visitor. The visitor's voice, coming from a sofa facing his desk, was pulsing with irritation.

“Why can't you be more flexible? One company sailing under two flags will only confuse our customers.”

“Corporations have multiple brands all the time. Sixth Continent doesn't have to borrow Tokai Eden's design concepts,” said Kiichiro, without moving a muscle.

“Then at least put a Sixth Continent banner at the top of our home page. Ninety-five percent of our visitors use the web to check the park schedule. You know that. Treating Sixth Continent like any other subsidiary just makes the rift between you and Tae that much more obvious.”

“I'm surprised to hear you say that, Mr. Chairman. I think Sixth Continent's already made the rift obvious with their stance toward ELE. But that doesn't change the fact that Tae's moon base is not a core business. It's just part of our portfolio, like Eden Tourist or Vision of Eden Video. Our publishing division will probably show more profit in the long run. But this is academic. We agreed that she could draw on corporate resources, such as our publicity department, as long as Sixth Continent succeeded or failed on its own.”

“Kiichiro, are you refusing to help your own flesh and blood?”

At the old man's sigh, Kiichiro's blank expression became, if anything, even more inscrutable. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose with a manicured fingertip. “I've faithfully followed the course you set.”

“In what way?”

“‘A paradise on Earth, a dream, a brief escape from reality—for everyone.' When you founded Paradise Tours, that was your company's motto. And in time, Paradise Tours grew into this enormous enterprise. Since I took over this office fifteen years ago, I've never forgotten that motto. Not for a single day.”

“They're just words,” said Sennosuke. “You don't know what they mean!”

“Don't I? I am a purveyor of dreams. It's you who has forgotten the meaning of those words. Sixth Continent will never be accessible to the public. It's not a place you can just decide to visit. It's a palace above the clouds for the superrich. If space travel is always going to be expensive, then the entire venture was ill conceived from the start.”