The Beacon: Hard Science Fiction by Brandon Morris (red white and royal blue hardcover TXT) 📕

smelled awful in the kitchen. At the moment, he could only hope that Franziska didn’t come home just yet, or he’d screw it up again right away.

He slowly ate the muesli and milk, into which he had cut pieces of apple, sipping black coffee with it. For him, this was the safest way to prepare for his morning ‘business.’ He didn’t want to feel the sudden urge at school. The school toilets were clean, but the idea of one of his colleagues relieving himself right next to him, separated only by a thin wooden wall, made him shudder.

It worked faster than expected. Peter checked that the cellphone was in his pants pocket and sat down on the toilet in the first-floor bathroom. It was a small room with a tiny window, but all around were brick walls inches thick. He felt much more comfortable there. He always got up 15 minutes earlier than necessary to allow himself these quiet minutes.

Now, of all times, the smartphone vibrated. Peter unlocked it. The answer from SigmaLaunch was there. Miguel invited him to a chat, and Peter accepted the invitation.

“Good morning, Peter,” Miguel wrote in English. “In your time zone, it should be early morning right now?”

“Good morning, Miguel. Yes, it’s morning.”

It was strange to exchange pleasantries with the chatbot. After all, it was just a piece of software.

“Should we switch to VR mode?” asked Miguel. “Then we can have a face-to-face conversation.”

That he could do without. “No, thank you, this is really not a good time for me.”

“Suit yourself. You sent us an email. What can I do for you?”

“We need to bring forward the launch of the CubeSat. Is that possible?”

“It’s difficult. We can speed up the manufacturing of the hardware, but Blue Origin won’t launch earlier because of us. That’s the downside of ridesharing. The CubeSats are only guests of the actual payload.”

“But surely there are other providers who can give my satellite a ride?”

“I would have to check on that. It would be more expensive then, though. Only the launches on the New Glenn are on special offer at the moment. Regular prices are well above that.”

“How much more?”

“Fifty thousand euros plus, just to give you a ballpark number. I don’t know exactly yet. I would first have to negotiate that with the company in question. On top of that, we may not yet be regular customers with the competition, so we may get even higher prices.”

“Then maybe I should look for another business partner?”

“I’d be careful about that, Peter. Contracts have to be fulfilled. I don’t think you have a chance elsewhere, either. We’ve researched you, of course. You’re a physics teacher, and you don’t own a company. Actually, I should have charged you the full amount up front.”

“It’s all right. I didn’t mean it that way. But we need to have the beacon in orbit in three weeks at the latest.”

“The beacon?”

“That’s what I call my probe. It’s a radio beacon, like in seafaring, that warns incoming ships.”

“Of course it’s none of my business, but that doesn’t make sense in spaceflight. Who exactly are you trying to warn? All human-crewed spacecraft are controlled from their respective mission control.”

“You’re right. It’s none of your business.”

“I don’t care, either,” Miguel said. “As long as everything is done legally, and we’ll make sure it is, you can put your beacon in orbit.”

“But it will only help if it broadcasts no later than April 4. No, starting by April 3.”

He’d already made the recordings the day before yesterday.

“I am ninety-five percent sure that we will get a flight opportunity in time. However, it could be significantly more expensive than planned so far. You can cover the additional costs? Up to what amount?”

Phew. If he offered too much now, they would probably try to use the buffer. If he offered too little, nothing would come of the launch.

“Let’s say 100,000 euros. Surely that’s as big as any surcharge should be.”

“Good. Thank you, Peter. I think we can work with that. I’ll get back to you tomorrow at the latest with a concrete proposal. Please be prepared to transfer the additional fee promptly.”

“Of course.”

Peter locked the phone screen. His urgent ‘business’ had vanished. One of the sacrifices required to save the world.

March 17, 2026 – Passau

It was almost dark, and still no one had come forward. Apparently it was not that easy to find a ‘seat’ for his CubeSat. At least the broker made good on his promise immediately after signing the contract and transferred the money to their joint account. Hopefully, Franziska noticed that and no longer suspected him of trying to loot her.

Peter was going through the list for tonight. It had been cloudy yesterday, but mostly clear skies were forecast for today. He must finally get the search region ready. Maybe it would turn out that his haste was all for nothing. Should he write to Holinger again? He could still get out of the contract, not without a substantial penalty, but the entire sum was not yet due, either. He could hold off on transferring the 100,000 euros for at least a few more days.

No. He decided. He switched to online banking and initiated the transaction.

As if the recipient had noticed, a message reached him at almost the same moment. Miguel invited him to another chat. What would he have to say?

Peter opened the window.

“Sorry it took longer than expected,” Miguel reported. “There were some difficulties. I thought I had a ride for you last night. It would have been a Soyuz rocket, from Vostochny. But that fell through because of export regulations. We are not allowed to export the JPL sector antenna to Russia. That’s pointless because the technology is public knowledge, but rules are rules. But now I have a new opportunity for you. It has only one small catch.”

Oh, a catch. What did that mean?

“Don’t worry. It’s really just a minor hitch. The company we’re talking about is from Germany. Maybe