Free Battle Cruiser by B. V. Larson

the filament.
    I rode the sky-lift upward, standing on one of these half-disks. On the other side of the umbilical I often saw other matching platforms zooming downward.
    The view was breathtaking as always, but I had no interest in it today. All I could think about were the events of last night, and the lovely face of Chloe Astra.
    “This thing is slow,” complained Rumbold at my side. “I wish it would go faster.”
    “We’d all die if it did,” I said absently.
    “How’s that?”
    “Friction. The cars are traveling at remarkable speeds, and they generate heat doing so. If the system generated any more heat, the central cable would melt. Have you noticed that we move faster with every kilometer we go upward?”
    “No, not really. It seems like we’re going slower to me.”
    “That’s an illusion. The Earth is farther away, so our speed appears to be dropping when it’s actually increasing.”
    “Huh,” he grunted. “If you say so, sir. I suppose it’s better than being crammed into one of those bullets they fire up into orbit now and then.”
    Rumbold was talking about a cargo delivery system that sent containers into orbit at violent velocities.
    “The acceleration on those systems would scramble our guts,” I pointed out, “but as I was saying, we’re actually traveling faster the farther we go up. While we’re not in direct sunlight, the umbilical cars go faster still. As we leave the atmosphere the heat is dissipated by the subzero temperatures.”
    Rumbold fell silent. Together, we stared down at Earth. We could see the curvature of the planet now. He looked at me and frowned, as if struck by a sudden thought.
    “Did you learn anything useful at House Astra?” he asked.
    “Just that Chloe Astra is real and unharmed.”
    “Do you think she had anything to do with the attempt on your father’s life?”
    “No, I’m fairly certain she didn’t.”
    “What proof did she offer?”
    I glanced over at him, and then looked back down at the clouds. A small thunderstorm shed silver rain out over the Atlantic as we watched.
    “She’s not the type for subterfuge and assassination. If you’d met her, you’d understand.”
    He released a rumbling laugh. “She charmed you! The ice prince has been smitten!”
    “I don’t like that name, Rumbold. I’m just one more officer of the Guard up here. But I admit I’ve been affected by Lady Astra’s charm. I’m quite certain someone purposefully built a replica of her person and sent it to kill my father—but without her knowledge.”
    “Who then?”
    “She recently came of age. As the newly declared heir to her house, her DNA must be mapped.”
    “Oh, right. So that in the case of an extreme event, she could be regrown and assume her place at the head of the house…” Rumbold studied me thoughtfully. “I get it. You think that’s when they did it. Officials copied her DNA to secure her genetics—and someone stole the file.”
    “That’s my suspicion.”
    “How will you pursue the matter?”
    “It will be difficult,” I admitted. “Captain Singh is anxious to go out patrolling again.”
    Rumbold boggled at me. “That’s not so bad! Advancement for a young officer like yourself requires time logged in space.”
    “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a desperate rank-climber.”
    He grunted. “Then you should spend your time convincing your family to vote more funding for the Guard. We can’t fly our ships on spit, sir.”
    I heaved a sigh. “I’m afraid my family is on the wrong side of the fence on that point, Rumbold. They’d be happy to see the last ship in the fleet dismantled and dropped into the sea to make a reef.”
    “Could that be why someone tried to kill your dad?”
    Frowning, I turned back to him. “What?”
    “He’s on the wrong side of many votes, from the point of view of a spacer. I hate to bring bad news, but I’d say plenty of guardsmen would have liked to see him die last night.”
    Shaking my head, I