Meanwhile on Earth...
######
“... we cannot say what happened with the Aurora Mission, but rumors among the Fen suggest there has been an accident or an attack on the construction site. According to our sources, the moon Pan has been damaged badly by the attack, the fate of the astronauts is still unknown.”
Duree switched off his radio and sighed. The international and local news had been going crazy for hours, but reliable news reports were still unavailable. Something has happened on the moon and it had not be nice. He just wanted to turn on a different radio station as his private phone began to ring.
“Duree” he said, only to hear a very familiar voice.
“Good afternoon Mr. Duree” Allan Bossert, the ESA Director General replied. “I hope you had a pleasant day.”
“Mr. Bossert” Duree said, “I am not sure why you are even calling me. Don’t you have a crisis to manage?”
“Yes, of course, the crisis on Pan. I am very busy with it at the moment” Bossert continued, “but I thought it would be a good thing to remind you about our Press conference tomorrow morning. Would be a pity if you miss it.”
Duree laughed loudly. “Mr. Bossert, I don’t know if you consider this some kind of joke or not. I do not see any reason why I should suddenly change my schedule and go to a Press conference with YOU!”
“Oh, thats very easy Mr Duree, you owe me.”
It took Duree a moment to be able to talk again. “Mr. Bossert, the day when I owe YOU is the day when Hell will freeze over!”
“You think so Mr. Duree? Maybe you should look for your winter clothing, because I am the one who could have flushed down your career and all your little political favors down the drain. I hope you still remember.”
“Mr. Bossert... you cannot think that anyone will believe you, can you?”
“Oh, I think that will really depend on the kind of evidence I might have, don’t you think so, Mr. Duree? If the most important European project done in the last decade goes down the drain, why should I protect you?”
Duree suddenly felt a shiver going down his spine. Bossert had surely not recorded the meeting with him. Or maybe he had?
“What do you want?” Duree shot back, suddenly feeling a little bit ill.
“Oh, nothing outstanding. As you already know, everyone is nervous about the Aurora Mission at the moment and I think we need to calm them down a bit.” Bossert answered. “We will give the press a good show how committed ESA and the industry are to the project. If we manage the press, I will take care of the EU Commission.”
Durees thoughts were racing at the speed of a bullet while he tried to think through the idea. If they would get the press on their side and Bossert managed to keep the Commission quiet, maybe Aurora still had a chance.
“I have already some hard facts on what happened on Pan” Bossert continued, “and it is looking not that bad for the mission. We will have to improvise, but I think we can do it.”
Duree had always been a man of quick decisions. “Expect me at ESA in three hours, I want to see your facts before I meet the reporters” he said and ended the phone call.
‘To the hell with ESA and the Fen, this is also about my fortune’ he thought and called his secretary.
“Cancel all meetings the next two day, I have to personally handle something important!”
---
ESA’s press room was full of journalists, not a single seat was empty. Camera Flashlights were illuminating the ESA Director General Bossert and the French tycoon Duree as they entered the room.
“Thank you for coming to this Press Conference” Bossert began after both of them had sat down. “I am sure all of you heard the rumors about what happened on Pan, we are here to tell you what we know about it and how we see the future of Aurora.”
A few journalists raised their hands, but Bossert shook his head.
“There will be time for questions later, let me first summarize the situation on Pan.
Yesterday morning at 10am Middle European Time the construction site on Pan was attacked by an unknown force. They tried to hit the place a military grade kinetic weapon from many million kilometers away. Luckily for the astronauts and ESA the only projectile was detected by the Fen seconds before impact. It was deflected partly.”
“You mean the catgirls?” one of the journalists shouted and Bossert nodded.
“Yes. That are the Fen I was talking about.
Parts of the projectile still hit its target, doing a lot of damage and injured many of the astronauts. All of them were rescued and brought to the space station within minutes after the attack. The damage to the equipment was widespread but failed to penetrate the ice of the moon to reach the parts of the new station that were already burrowed.”
“When will the astronauts come home?” a voice from the back of the room demanded to know.
Bossert looked over to Mr. Duree, who rolled his eyes.
“This was a terror attack, pure and simple” Duree said. “it might have been the first time terrorists hit a space asset of the European Union, but that is not the point. Europa’s industry has spent a lot of time and resources in this project and we will not demand anyone will come home just because of a setback. We do not give in to terrorists.”
“Exactly,” Bossert agreed, “and more important than the setback is a simple fact. The terrorists had a state of the art weapon with an incredible range. They achieved a nearly total surprise.
They still FAILED.
Whoever they are, whatever they want, they will learn to accept this. They had their chance with a surprise attack, they will not get another one.
ESA has been in contact with Europol about this incident and according to my sources they and the Japanese National Police Agency will send a pair of investigators to Saturn. They will work together with the Fen police to find this terrorists and bring them to justice.”
“We also have a supply of spare materials that were meant for Aurora before the plan of the station was finalized” Mr. Duree added, “They are in the process of being shipped to Nouveau Paris at the moment. With these materials our specialists at Pan should be able to finish their mission.”
“Okay, now might be the time for a few questions” Bossert said with a smile and dozens of arms shot up to get the first one.
######
“... we cannot say what happened with the Aurora Mission, but rumors among the Fen suggest there has been an accident or an attack on the construction site. According to our sources, the moon Pan has been damaged badly by the attack, the fate of the astronauts is still unknown.”
Duree switched off his radio and sighed. The international and local news had been going crazy for hours, but reliable news reports were still unavailable. Something has happened on the moon and it had not be nice. He just wanted to turn on a different radio station as his private phone began to ring.
“Duree” he said, only to hear a very familiar voice.
“Good afternoon Mr. Duree” Allan Bossert, the ESA Director General replied. “I hope you had a pleasant day.”
“Mr. Bossert” Duree said, “I am not sure why you are even calling me. Don’t you have a crisis to manage?”
“Yes, of course, the crisis on Pan. I am very busy with it at the moment” Bossert continued, “but I thought it would be a good thing to remind you about our Press conference tomorrow morning. Would be a pity if you miss it.”
Duree laughed loudly. “Mr. Bossert, I don’t know if you consider this some kind of joke or not. I do not see any reason why I should suddenly change my schedule and go to a Press conference with YOU!”
“Oh, thats very easy Mr Duree, you owe me.”
It took Duree a moment to be able to talk again. “Mr. Bossert, the day when I owe YOU is the day when Hell will freeze over!”
“You think so Mr. Duree? Maybe you should look for your winter clothing, because I am the one who could have flushed down your career and all your little political favors down the drain. I hope you still remember.”
“Mr. Bossert... you cannot think that anyone will believe you, can you?”
“Oh, I think that will really depend on the kind of evidence I might have, don’t you think so, Mr. Duree? If the most important European project done in the last decade goes down the drain, why should I protect you?”
Duree suddenly felt a shiver going down his spine. Bossert had surely not recorded the meeting with him. Or maybe he had?
“What do you want?” Duree shot back, suddenly feeling a little bit ill.
“Oh, nothing outstanding. As you already know, everyone is nervous about the Aurora Mission at the moment and I think we need to calm them down a bit.” Bossert answered. “We will give the press a good show how committed ESA and the industry are to the project. If we manage the press, I will take care of the EU Commission.”
Durees thoughts were racing at the speed of a bullet while he tried to think through the idea. If they would get the press on their side and Bossert managed to keep the Commission quiet, maybe Aurora still had a chance.
“I have already some hard facts on what happened on Pan” Bossert continued, “and it is looking not that bad for the mission. We will have to improvise, but I think we can do it.”
Duree had always been a man of quick decisions. “Expect me at ESA in three hours, I want to see your facts before I meet the reporters” he said and ended the phone call.
‘To the hell with ESA and the Fen, this is also about my fortune’ he thought and called his secretary.
“Cancel all meetings the next two day, I have to personally handle something important!”
---
ESA’s press room was full of journalists, not a single seat was empty. Camera Flashlights were illuminating the ESA Director General Bossert and the French tycoon Duree as they entered the room.
“Thank you for coming to this Press Conference” Bossert began after both of them had sat down. “I am sure all of you heard the rumors about what happened on Pan, we are here to tell you what we know about it and how we see the future of Aurora.”
A few journalists raised their hands, but Bossert shook his head.
“There will be time for questions later, let me first summarize the situation on Pan.
Yesterday morning at 10am Middle European Time the construction site on Pan was attacked by an unknown force. They tried to hit the place a military grade kinetic weapon from many million kilometers away. Luckily for the astronauts and ESA the only projectile was detected by the Fen seconds before impact. It was deflected partly.”
“You mean the catgirls?” one of the journalists shouted and Bossert nodded.
“Yes. That are the Fen I was talking about.
Parts of the projectile still hit its target, doing a lot of damage and injured many of the astronauts. All of them were rescued and brought to the space station within minutes after the attack. The damage to the equipment was widespread but failed to penetrate the ice of the moon to reach the parts of the new station that were already burrowed.”
“When will the astronauts come home?” a voice from the back of the room demanded to know.
Bossert looked over to Mr. Duree, who rolled his eyes.
“This was a terror attack, pure and simple” Duree said. “it might have been the first time terrorists hit a space asset of the European Union, but that is not the point. Europa’s industry has spent a lot of time and resources in this project and we will not demand anyone will come home just because of a setback. We do not give in to terrorists.”
“Exactly,” Bossert agreed, “and more important than the setback is a simple fact. The terrorists had a state of the art weapon with an incredible range. They achieved a nearly total surprise.
They still FAILED.
Whoever they are, whatever they want, they will learn to accept this. They had their chance with a surprise attack, they will not get another one.
ESA has been in contact with Europol about this incident and according to my sources they and the Japanese National Police Agency will send a pair of investigators to Saturn. They will work together with the Fen police to find this terrorists and bring them to justice.”
“We also have a supply of spare materials that were meant for Aurora before the plan of the station was finalized” Mr. Duree added, “They are in the process of being shipped to Nouveau Paris at the moment. With these materials our specialists at Pan should be able to finish their mission.”
“Okay, now might be the time for a few questions” Bossert said with a smile and dozens of arms shot up to get the first one.