Ben Bova - Colony

COLONY

by

BEN BOVA

Published by ReAnimus Press

2012, 1978 by Ben Bova. All rights reserved.

http://ReAnimus.com/authors/benbova

Cover Art by Clay Hagebusch

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

~~~

To Barbara

~~~

Not at a crisis of nervousness do we stand now, not at a time for the vacillations of flabby souls; but at a great turning point in the history of scientific thought, at a crisis such as occurs but once in a thousand years.... Standing at this point, with the vista of future achievement before us, we should be happy that it is our lot to live at this time and to participate in the creation of tomorrow.

V. I. Vernadskii, 1932

I do not wish to seem overdramatic, but I can only conclude from the information that is available to me as Secretary General, that the Members of the United Nations have perhaps ten years left in which to subordinate their ancient quarrels and launch a global partnership to curb the arms race, to improve the human environment, to defuse the population explosion, and to supply the required momentum to development efforts. If such a global partnership is not forged within the next decade, then I very much fear that the problems I have mentioned will have reached such staggering proportions that they will be beyond our capacity to control.

U Thant,

Secretary General of the United Nations, 1969

~~~

BOOK ONE

May, 2028 A.D.

World Population: 7.25 Billion

~~~

The concept, the design, and even the term Island One stem from research led by Professor Gerard O'Neill at the old Princeton University back in the Seventies. He originally envisioned Island One as a space colony up at the Moon's orbit, constructed in empty space out of materials scooped from the Moon's surface. His colony would house ten thousand permanent residents. It was huge by the standards of the 1970s, and people gaped at the idea. But actually his Island One was no more massive than the oceangoing supertankers that used to haul oil around the world, back when there was oil to be hauled.

That was O'Neill's dream, and lots of people scoffed at itbut not the corporations. And right around the turn of the century, when they finally decided to build a colony in space, the corporations made O'Neill's thinking look small.

Cyrus S. Cobb,

Tapes for an unauthorized autobiography

~~~

ONE

Slow down! she called I'm only a city girl.

David Adams stopped and turned back toward her. They were climbing a grassy slope that wasnt very steep. Young slim-boled maples and birches stood every few feet, so that you could grab them and pull yourself along.

But Evelyn was out of breath and starting to feel angry. He's showing off, she thought. The muscular young male in his Garden of Eden.

Laughing, David extended a hand toward her. You said you wanted to see the whole colony.

Yes, Evelyn said, puffing, but I dont want to get a heart attack doing it.

Grasping her wrist firmly, he helped pull her up along the climbing path. It gets easier up ahead. The gravity slackens off. And the view is worth the effort.

She nodded, but said to herself, He knows he's handsome. Good muscular body; firm backside. That's why they picked him to guide me, no doubt. He gets all the female hormones popping.

David reminded her of the Hawaiian beachboys who had invaded Englands holiday resorts lately: the same strong, sleek body; the same wide-boned handsome face with the big bright smile. He was dressed for the outdoors, something Evelyn had never expected: rough shorts, loose-fitting sleeveless shirt open to show his smooth muscular chest, soft-skinned hiking boots. Her own short-skirted business suit looked perfectly proper in an office or a restaurant or anywhere civilized, but out here it was terribly out of place. She had already taken off the vest and stuffed it into her shoulderbag, but still she was overheated and sweating like an animal.

That smile of his is dazzling, though. There was something else about him, too, something... different. Could he be the one? she asked herself. Could I have stumbled onto him already? What a coincidence that he'd be assigned to be my guide. But another voice in her head warned, There's no such thing as a coincidence. Be careful!

Those blue eyes and that golden hair. What a combination. And the slightly olive cast to his skin: a Mediterranean gene. Can they engineer your complexion, too? Still, theres something.... He's got that film-star look to him, Evelyn realized. Too perfect. Not a thing out of place. No blemishes, no scars. Even his teeth are white and straight.

Careful here, David said. He slid an arm around her waist to help her jump over a tiny gurgling brook that cut across their path.

Thanks, Evelyn murmured, disengaging his arm. He knows he's a hunk, she told herself. Don't let that angel face take you in, old girl.

Silently they climbed through thinning stands of oak and spruce, all neatly arranged, evenly spaced. Like his bloody teeth. They should have sent a blooming Girl Scout on this job, not a reporter.

David watched her as they climbed the steadily ascending path. Why did Cobb pick me to show her around? he asked himself. Does he think so little of the work I'm trying to do that he wants me to put it aside and play Boy Scout with a newcomer?

With an effort, he kept the resentment out of his face as he watched her struggle in her open-toed shoes to keep up with him. On impulse, he tongued the communicator switch built into his rearmost molar and whispered to himself, deep down in his throat where no one could hear it except the miniaturized transmitter implanted there: Evelyn Hall, new arrival last week. File, please.

It took four paces along the grassy path before the microscopic receiver implanted behind his ear whispered back: Evelyn L. Hall. Age twenty-six. Born London Complex. Attended state schools in London area. Graduate of Polytechnic University, Plymouth. Degree in journalism. Employed as researcher, later reporter, International News Syndicate. No other employment history. Physical data...

David shut off the computers voice with a click of his tongue. He didnt need her vital statistics. He could see that she was almost as tall as his own five-eleven and had the full, ripe kind of figure that meant she faced a constant battle against overweight. Her thick honey-colored hair curled over her shoulders; it was badly tangled right now. Sea-green eyes that were alive, intelligent, inquisitive. A pretty face. She looked almost like an innocent child except for those probing, restless eyes. Still, it was a sweet face, vulnerable, almost fragile.

I wish theyd told me wed be mountain-climbing, Evelyn grumbled.

David laughed. Come on. This isnt a mountain. We didnt build any mountains into this side of the colony. Now, if you really want to climb...

Never mind! She pushed a matted mass of hair away from her eyes.

Her suit was ruined, she knew. Grass-stained, soaked with perspiration. That bastard Cobb. The mayor of Island One. This was all his idea.