Adventures In Human Space: The Belt and Beyond

By Sandy Sandfort

The Asteroid Belt is a long, long way from Earth. At the turn of the 22nd Century, the Belt has become home to a few adventurous idealists, malcontents, dreamer, odd-balls and pioneers. Escaping Earth's gravity gave these adventurers the third-dimensional freedom of the Belt's micro-gravities. However it was the escape from Earth's governments that changed everything. Free from Earth's self-proclaimed leaders, the the "Belters" were forced to create ways to live peacefully with one another on their own. Through trial and error, what emerged was a society organize on total personal liberty, guided only by voluntary relations and the Zero Aggression Principle.Come explore these new anarchic worlds. How do the Belt's various forms of anarchy work? Can they work at all? Come and see for yourself in Adventures in Human Space: The Belt and Beyond.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandy Sandfort
• Release date: Feb 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310064579

Sandy Sandfort

I was conceived in Liberty... really, Liberty, Missouri, that is. For better or worse, I spent my formative years in that sleepy suburb of Kansas City. My parents were iconoclasts and took pride in being different from the common herd, an attitude I adopted and maintain to this day. My father's inquisitive and thoughtful nature were enormously influential in my life.Early on, I loved my TV western heroes--Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Cisco and Poncho. Then I discovered Tom Corbett--Space Cadet, Space Patrol, Rocky Jones--Space Ranger, et alia. And at age 7, I was radicalized by Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. So, I turned in my six-guns, strapped on a blaster and cavorted around the neighborhood with my brother in the spacesuits that my mother and father had crafted for us. During my teenage years, I survived on books by such authors as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson and especially Robert A. Heinlein who was also reared in the Kansas City area. It has been science fiction ever since.Went to school, got a BA, then returned to school and got my JD. I worked as a lawyer, discovered I really did not care for the law and went to California to work on a magazine called, FREEDOM TODAY. That is where I did my first serious non-fiction writing. Later that was followed by writing for such publications as MONDO 2000, WIRED, REASON, SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, MALAYSIA TATLER and the LA TIMES.In 2007, I attended the ROBERT A. HEINLEIN CENTENNIAL in Kansas City, where my short story "World Ceres" was one of the winners in the Centennial short story contest. Later, Big Head Press (http://www.bigheadpress.com/) ran a highly rated webcomic adapted from a series of short stories I wrote that were derived from "Ceres." That series of short stories, ADVENTURES IN HUMAN SPACE are available right here on Smashwords. See below. More stories in this series are in the works, as are other fiction and non-fiction stories and books. To get on my email notification list, please send an email to [e-mail] with "List" in the subject line.Sandy Sandfort

Book preview

Adventures In Human Space

The Belt and Beyond

Vol. 1

Sandy Sandfort

Copyright Sandy Sandfort 2014

This entire work is copyright and released under a Creative Commons U.S. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/). Some Rights Reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not resell or give away copies. If you have friends whom you think would enjoy this book, please suggest they download a free preview before they buy. Thank You!

Foreword

You may be reading this book because you are a fan of Escape From Terra, (EFT) a very popular webcomic featured on the Big Head Press website. If you are not familiar with Big Head, check it out.

EFT was adapted from the stories in this book and the other books in the Adventures in Human Space (AHS) series. Each medium—prose and graphic—has its own special ability to tell a story. If you like the stories in this volume, I suggest you see how they look as a graphic interpretation.

The history of AHS/EFT goes back to the summer of 2007, when I attended the Robert A. Heinlein Centennial celebration. One of the Centennial events was a short story writing contest. I didn't win or place, but I did show with my short story, World Ceres. The second story in this book is a slightly different version of that original short story. Big Head Press liked World Ceres and asked me if I could make it into a series. I did and the rest is history. Enjoy!

Sandy Sandfort

Contents

Foreword

Marching Orders

World Ceres

War Of The Worlds

The Icemen Cometh

Mystery Of The Martian Melodies

Big Heads

Babes In Toyland

Fly, Robin Fly

Afterword

About Sandy Sandfort

Other Books by Sandy Sandfort

Marching Orders

Guy Caillard was a small, wiry man with a pencil mustache. Because he was from the French region of the UW, his first name was pronounced ghē, (rhymes with free). He hated it when Anglophones pronounced it ghī, (rhymes with fry). Though he led an otherwise dull and gray life, he permitted himself one secret fantasy. All his life he had nurtured a heroic vision of himself; someone who was recognized and rewarded for his talent and courage. It was largely for this reason that he went to work for the UWRS, the United World Revenue Service. There, he thought, he would force the robber barons to pay their fair share to help Earth's less fortunate.

It hadn't quite worked out that way. The United World had already been very effective in taxing the robber baron into oblivion. So Caillard found himself squeezing the dwindling middle class to fund the UW's many important humanitarian projects. He felt sorry for them, but somebody has to pay for social equality and environmental justice.

So there he sat, fifth tier from the front, third-cubical from the right. Though the UWRS offices were air conditioned, the temperature was set at legally mandated minimum of 26°C. Below that and the Green Patrol gave you a citation that carried a 250 Continental fine.

Of course, in the winter, the maximum anyone could set their thermostat was 14°C, but at least you could wear extra warm clothes in the winter. In the summer, there was a limit to how much clothing you could take off.

It wasn't just the heat, though. In the last round of collective bargaining with the UWRS, the UWRS workers' union, had won the the right to have entertainment in the workplace. Guy tried to listen to a baroque music station in his cubicle, but it was drowned out by the TV from the next cube. His cube neighbor insisted on playing CNN at top volume. Guy could not escape it.

Today, the big news was the proposed new helmet law in California. Guy had to listen to the same report, over and over...

Sector Representative, Paul Norman, wants to expand the three-year old California helmet law. Norman was a vocal sponsors of the law that requires safety helmets to be worn in home showers and bath tubs. In a speech before the California Sector Assembly this morning, Representative Norman said:

While California's current helmet law will probably save thousands of lives, it just does not go far enough. Everyday, home managers and hobbyists slip and fall in their kitchens, home workshops and garages. Without a helmet, they run the risk of serious head injuries and even death. The best protection is the mandatory use of safety helmets. Today, I will ask my colleagues in the Sector Legislature to close this dangerous loophole in the law.

When asked if it might be better to require helmets throughout the house, Norman said, I'd prefer to restrict government intrusion into peoples' lives as much as possible. The government should only take reasonable measures to protect citizens in especially dangerous activities.

When this reporter mentioned the study that showed no statistical reduction in bathing accidents, Norman, clearly angered, replied:

"I have my office looking into possible bias on the part of the government researchers who came to that unlikely conclusion. Allegations have been made that the plumbing industry may have influenced them.

Even if true, the obvious conclusion is that scofflaws are simply not obeying the law. If this flouting of the law continues, we'll have to take a hard look police home video surveillance. It's voluntary now, but if it can be shown that bathers are breaking the law, it may have to be made mandatory.

If I don't get some peace and quiet, Guy thought, I am going to go postal!

Just then, fellow agent, Bob Thomas, leaned over Guy's cubicle partition.

Hey Guy, he pronounced it ghī, how's it hangin'?

It's ghē, you idiot! Guy raged inwardly. Aloud, It's hanging fine, Bob.

Great, Guy. Anyway, the Chief wants to see you in his office, pronto.

Guy thanked Bob and headed toward the boss' office. Now what?

Along the way, he bumped into Ed, the office's sport super-fan. He Guy, he also pronounced it ghī, How 'bout those Dodgers?

I don't follow football, Guy replied, earning him a perplexed look from Ed.When Caillard stepped into the boss' lavish and suspiciously cool office, his boss didn't waste any words, I have a special assignment for you Guy, again, ghī. Guy just sighed inwardly. Ever been off-world?

Just to the UWRS Conference Center on the Moon, He couldn't help thinking, 'Conference Center,' yeah, right. More like 'Party Center' for United World Revenue Service big shots and high-collection agents like me.

Well guess what? We're going to send you out to Ceres... We want to extend our control over the belt; they're all rich from selling us nickel-iron and carbon at over-inflated prices. We need to bring them into line.

Guy was nearly speechless, Well, I uh...

The boss saw Guy's surprise and confusion. "Don't worry Guy. There'll be a big bonus, plus you'll make UWRS history. You are going to bring an entire world under our control. You'll be a hero.

'Hero,' I like that.

You're entitled to an assistant. Are there any of the new hires you want?

Oh please, please, please! Guy prayed. Then to the boss, Well Fiorella Stellina seems... uh competent.

Okay, Guy, Fiorella it is, the boss smiled knowingly. He could see right through Guy. Hey, he thought, it's just one of the perks high producers and managers get. R.H.I.P Rank Hath It's Privileges.

Guy thanked his boss profusely and returned to his cubicle, unconsciously humming the tune to 'Strangers in the Night.'

* * *

Fiorella, I think I'm going to be sick, Guy chocked out. Taking a ten-day flight to the Belt aboard a burner wasn't the idyllic cruise he had imagined.

Fiorella steadied Guy and comforted him, Relax, Guy, at least she pronounced it correctly, this is nothing. We're half way there. It's just your inner ear responding to the burner's rotation as we flip ends. Be glad they did it under power instead of cutting off the engines. Zero gee would be a lot worse on your stomach.

Guy nodded and vomited on his shoes.

- ß -

World Ceres

Guy Caillard's years at the UWRS, the United World Revenue Service, had finally been rewarded. As he and his beautiful assistant, Fiorella Stellina, disembarked into the Ceres Spaceport terminal he felt an almost sexual rush of anticipation, which, he had to admit, was intensified by having sexy blonde Fiorella, next to him. He could not resist gloating. Fiorella, do you realize that we are going to make an entire world pay its fair share to care for Earth's needy masses?

The mood was broken, though, when he hit his head on the ceiling. He really didn't know much about Ceres, other than than it was a dwarf planet. He had vacationed at the UW-only resorts on the Moon—the UW takes care of its own—but he wasn't prepared for Ceres' gravity, which was less than 3% of Earth's. Instead of his Earth mass of 68 kilos or even the 11+ kilos he weighed on the Moon, on Ceres he weighed less than 2 kilos. His reverie had distracted him, just as he had forcefully stepped down onto the terminal's floor. The resulting rebound carried him to the ceiling which he discovered to his relief, was heavily padded. At least I'm not the first.

Caillard grabbed a vertical bar he found on the side of the gangway. He gave Fiorella a quick glance; he so did not want to look foolish in her eyes. Then with as much dignity as he could muster he guided himself back down to the floor. He scanned the small, utilitarian, but clean terminal area. Most of the traffic arriving and departing Ceres was local—in the sense that Mars and the vast, asteroid belt were local. Visitors from Earth were rare. Official visitors were even rarer. In fact, Guy Caillard and Fiorella Stellina, of the UWRS, were the first.

Caillard noticed an 11 or 12-year old girl apparently waiting for him to recover his equilibrium. She was some sort of mix. She had wavy reddish hair, freckles, but Asiatic eyes. She was wearing a baseball cap that said, Ceres Spaceport Agent. She approached Caillard and Fiorella after he settled back to the floor.

May I help you, sir and madam?

Could you please direct us to the spaceport's Information service?

My name is Babbette Guzmán and I am an Agent for the Ceres Spaceport, she replied. How may I help you? In his confusion, Caillard failed to notice she hadn't actually answered his question.

But you're just a... just a... a... he made another covert glance at Fiorella, ... a pre-majority woman. Caillard had almost said kid, but had stopped himself in time. On Earth, calling someone a kid will get you a PC citation for derogatory ageism. Anyway, shouldn't you be in school?

Well sir, this is the Belt. We do what we can, when we can do it. I want to be an ice miner like my mom and dad, but I'm not strong enough to handle a full-sized ice hammer yet. But being a Spaceport Agent is something I can do now. Most of my education is handled by my mom, but I also take classes at church and from tutors.

Guy leaned towards Fiorella. He couldn't help noticing how good she smelled. He put his mouth near her delicate, lightly freckled ear and whispered, Home schooling, religious indoctrination; the UW has a lot of work to do out here. To Babbette he said, Yes, Agent Guzmán, but why aren't you in a government school?

Babbette looked bewildered. Governments have schools?

This was going nowhere. How about directing us to a hotel? We need to get some sleep and clean up before we make arrangements to meet with representatives of your government.

Babbette took in a breath as though to say something, thought better of it and closed her mouth. After a slight pause, she offered, Well, there is an excellent boarding house near the Spaceport. Please follow me. I will take you there. Without waiting, she pivoted on her heel and walked towards what looked like a golf cart. Caillard noted that it wasn't really walking. Babbette leaned forward and pushed off lightly with her left foot, glided a short distance and then landed and pushed off again with her right foot. It only took three floating strides to cover the six meters to the cart. To stop, she leaned back and let her rubber-soled shoes bring her to a gentle, controlled stop and upright position. She looked back at Caillard and Fiorella, tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

Caillard tried to imitate her forward lean and gave it his best effort, but he went too high and couldn't kill his forward momentum. So he had to endure the ignominy of having a twelve-year old girl, brace herself against the cart and stop him with a palm to his solar plexus. Fiorella did far better and was able to stop without assistance.

Without another word, they climbed into the little vehicle and Babbette drove them away from the Spacecraft and through the round pressurized tubes that served as the streets and avenues of Ceres City.

Caillard was a bit unnerved by having a kid (at least he could think the word) driving in traffic. How could the government give a child a drivers license? he whispered to Fiorella. When they sped up to merge with faster traffic, he stopped his musing, held on tight and tried not to look too terrified in front of Fiorella.

It soon became apparent that, pre-teen or not, Babbette knew what she was doing, Caillard relaxed slightly and forced himself to look around. He was surprised that golf carts and other powered vehicles were in the minority. Most people on the streets traveled under their own power. Most were on bicycles, a good number were wearing skates and there were even a few very high-tech pogo sticks. When he looked around at the business they passed, he was in for another shock. To Fiorella he gasped, 'Custom Tailoring for Well Armed Ladies and Gentlemen,' 'Uncle Don's Casino and Bar'? That can't be right, guns and gambling are illegal throughout the United World... aren't they? Fiorella said nothing; her face was unreadable.

Before Caillard could pursue that thought further, Babbette stopped the cart and he and Fiorella got out. Caillard handed Babbette a one Continental note. She started to say