Vienna Station Read Online Free PDF Page B

back against the pillows. “I’ve got time.”
    He carefully lays the violin on a cabinet. “Yes, well Earth is as you know it to be. The Stations up here are now the source of wealth and power. They range from Glenn Beck and Osama bin Laden—both isolated but with close ties to groups on Earth—to Espiritu and Mandela—both independent and open to settlement for all who meet their requirements. Then there are the cruise ship stations: Mountain High, Rio, and Vienna, all of whose governing bodies slavishly court tourism. The stations differ greatly in focus and purpose. However, all are alike in that they share the enormous prosperity derived from space-generated wealth. They cooperate in mutual defense and in exploitation of new resources.”
    “What does all this have to do with me being from L.A.?”
    Mozart walks to the bed and sits beside me. “The directors of Vienna Station want a bigger piece of the pie. Perhaps they want the whole pie.”
    I look at him. “What do you mean.”
    “I have information that indicates they intend to destroy the current power and revenue sharing arrangement. Further, they plan to seize actual control of Earth, as well.”
    I nod. “I’m listening.”
    He takes a deep breath. “Their plan will is to kill thousands here in space and millions more on Earth. My brother Felix is the key element in their plan. They will create chaos and blame others for it when they take control.”
    “When?”
    “A few days from now, perhaps a week.”
    I think for several moments. “You want me to help you stop them?”
    “Yes.”
    “How?”
    “Felix?” The woman’s gentle, caring voice sounds in Felix’s ear, awakens him from the lightest sleep. His eyes open. He stares out of his one wrap-around window on the vast complex of machinery he controls. “Felix?” the voice repeats.
    Felix answers, “Here.”
    “Felix, it’s time. Activate the probe.”
    “It’s really time?”
    “Yes. Activate all systems.”
    A smile twitches across Felix’s pale lips. “Roger. Activate all systems.”
    We walk down the forest path toward the stream. Mozart has been silent for most of our return to the habitat. I touch his hand.
    “You haven’t explained exactly what the danger is.”
    He turns. “I wanted to get back here before I offered details.”
    “Why?”
    “Our conversations must remain private.”
    “How can you manage that with all of the station’s surveillance equipment?’
    He smiles. “I’m good with sound.”
    I chuckle. “I’ll concede that.”
    He looks up. “Also with electronics. I have a personal unit. It’s okay while we’re moving. This place is doubly screened.” We reach a bench by the stream. He offers me a seat. We sit. The sound of water bubbling over and around small stones enfolds us. Mozart adds, “And the stream is an additional screen.”
    I look at him. “So go ahead and tell me what the danger is, what you want me to do.”
    Mozart folds his hands in his lap and stares at the moving water. At last, he says, “The Directors intend to cause two disasters. The first is a distraction. You know that clusters of asteroid fragments are propelled toward the moon’s processing plants several times each month?”
    “Yes.”
    “The next cluster will be launched in three days. It will come here.”
    I swallow. “The stations will be destroyed.”
    Mozart shrugs. “Just one or two. I’ve learned that Osama and Mandela are the intended targets for the kinetic event.”
    “That’s monstrous.”
    “Yes, and it need not succeed. There are defensive missiles. They might deflect most of the fragments, though even a near miss would cause havoc among all the stations. That would allow the main attack to take place.”
    “What’s the main attack?”
    “The target is Earth’s food system, the oceanic algal farms. The interruption of even a month’s production would cause starvation on at least three continents.”
    I think about that. “How can that