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Woah. A blast from the past. I wrote this story when I was 11. It barely hit the 5000 word mark. Dragons Lair is currently at 20000 words. I used to be a sci-fi writer but then I switched. Anyway, here is Orion X, my first ever story.

===========================

Chapter 1 - Time Institute of the Millennium Era

"Permission granted"

Those were the words that Mike Thorton wanted to hear.

"Pleasure doing business with you", Mike said with a certain satisfaction. As the head of the Time Institute of the Millennium Era, Mike had to make sure that the Earth Empire agreed to Orion X, the last time machine and the one that would work - he hoped.

Climbing into his chauffeur-driven luxury Bentley Continental, Mike wondered if he should concentrate on other affairs such as the rebuilding of the o-zone layer or the terraformation of Venus.

The year was 3007 and he was on Mars, preparing to go back to Earth. Most people agreed with the prospect that all TIME did was spend money and waste time, but Mike was determined to prove them wrong and this was his last ditch attempt at it. After this TIME would be renamed to the Federal Belts Institute and would focus on Venus and making planets from the asteroid belt. If he failed once more it would mean solar system wide humiliation.

He was lucky he had three of the top brains in time travel - Sam Syler, Pierce Armour and Kevin Roscoe.

He wondered that as the Bentley was preparing to land, the motorway was getting bigger until there was a small thump. The Bentley had landed and it drove off like all roads were built for it exclusively.

Twenty minutes later, the automobile pulled up to the front doors of TIME headquarters and the press and paparazzi swarmed the car, scratching and denting it. The door opened, whacking the CNNBNCNBC crew's camera. Two burly bodyguards came out of the car, sandwiching Thorton in the middle. The trio moved slowly to the front doors, flashes bombarding their eyes.

His office was large, with a state of the art TenFo desk. It had three physical holographic projectors so you could touch the hologram. He was proud of it. The golden plate with his name inscribed on it. Vladimir Koslov, a catchy name ht thought. While he was basking in his office, his clerk called and told him Mike Thorton was on line 1. As usual Vladimir didn't respond because he was making his way to the lift.

As the doors closed, Vladimir picked up the phone and went to line 1. Immediately Mike beamed down and put down the phone for Vladimir. In the seconds that passed the silence was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Mike broke it,

"As you probably know I am building a time machine, the last time machine, and I would like you to fund it."

"And vat vill I get in return of zis?"

"A place on the expedition for you or your employees."

"Ahh, yes. Zat vill be good. I vill go."

"Thank you. It will take some time, given the fact that everything needs to be prepared."

"Good bye Mike."

At that moment in time Mike beamed out and the lift doors opened.

Chapter 2 - Orion X

Pierce Armour and Heather Bateson were a careful married couple. Their metallic blue Lexus 4x4 was bulletproof and each carried a semi-automatic silenced M15. They were both black belts in the martial arts and were ex-army. Most of what they did had a good the reason to be done.

As they came up to lights the end of Fletcher Lane their in-car phone rang. Heather picked it up and instinctively remarked,

"Heather Bateson, 2nd Armoured Division"

"Hi, errr, I'm looking for your husband"

"He's driving. Could I take a message please?"

"Yes. I have two places on the expedition for Orion X."

"Yes -Yes. I and Pierce are available so we will be on our way."

"NO, I only wanted-"

"Bye"

"But I only need-"

Heather put the phone down.

"What was that all about?"

"Well, Thorton wanted two volunteers and I told him we were happy to oblige."

"We're happy to WHAT?!"

"Go on the trip to the future."

"Ok then. Let's go."

The light turned green and they were gone in a cloud of smoke from their tyres.

As Pierce and Heather pulled up to TIME headquarters, Mike went out to greet them. His formal voice rang out in the street.

"Good afternoon Mr Armour and Mrs Bateson."

"Afternoon Mike"

"Follow me."

The reception was cool from the unnatural chill of air conditioning and cold from the look of polished steel. The building was 410 years old and made with real steel, not fake. Most buildings built after 2597 were made with plastic and Aknium. This resulted in a chemical reaction that made an alloy that was as strong as steel, but as light as a stone, and with this new substance, combined with speed and wings, allowed cars to take off.

The lift doors opened revealing several scientists working on Orion X, with cables trailing everywhere connecting Digi-pads, the latest in portable technology, to Orion. Orion was a pyramid made out of small blue triangles, three triangles opened up to give access to the time traveller. Inside there were four seats facing computers with joysticks. A central column in the middle had a lot of dials, numbers and switches and four platforms for the four computers and joysticks.

Heather and Pierce were lead by Thorton into a room. It was labelled 'Interrogation'

Chapter 3 - Debriefing

Vladimir and Kevin were immersed in deep conversation when the door opened and Mike, Heather and Pierce walked in.

"I assume that you all know why you are here?" Mike's voice echoed around the room.

"Yes" came the response

They all sat around the table and were handed folders. The silence was murder. Mike began,

"This is a simple travelling experience. If this goes according to plan the institution will be moved, not shut down. Now let me give you the layout of the machine."

He walked to a cabinet and flipped through the folders until they clicked. A recessed compartment in the wall opened up to a folder marked

"TOP SECERT - NEED TO KNOW ONLY"

The folder opened up and spilled its contents out onto the table, including blueprint diagrams, test results and power readings.

"You four will go to the future by one minute. Then you will go to the press outside and prove, with two synchronised watches, that you have been to the future. Your watch will be one minute slower then ours. Any questions?"

Pierce was curious,

"What are the chances of the mission going wrong?"

"Less than 2 per cent. Are there any other questions?"

The room stayed silent

"Very well", Mike went, "Suit up."

Chapter 4 - 2007?

This was it. Her suit was clean and pressed. In less than a minute she would go on air.

"Mrs Cutterhawk. You are live in 5...4..."

He mouthed the last few numbers.

"This is Michelle Cutterhawk reporting for CANCA at TIME headquarters. Reports are coming in that the last time machine is being tested. I have been given exclusive access to the observation room so we can watch the test of Orion X from above. In just moments we will meet the crew that will extend their lives by one minute."

The doors of TIME opened to reveal four people, three men and one woman, dressed in blue jumpsuits with the Earth Empire symbol on their chests. To the press they were Vladimir Koslov, Russian Confederate billionaire, Kevin Roscoe, one of KomCo's trillionaires, and two strangers that have never been seen because they didn't exist officially. Michelle was the first to reach them.

"How do you feel right now before you embark on this historic journey?"

Kevin responded,

"We are a bit nervous about what will happen to us. Although we won't be sent back a millennium, there are fail safes to stop that from happening. Yeah I'm feeling nervous but we will be equipped with things that monitor what will happen."

The doors opened and Mike Thorton stepped out.

"May I have your attention please? Thank you. Now as you are aware we have to send these people forward in time."

Guards appeared and Mike Thorton, Mrs Cutterhawk and her crew, and the four volunteers were beamed to different places, Mike and Mrs Cutterhawk and crew in the observation room, the volunteers in Orion's room.

The four man crew were walking up the ramp to Orion, along with an engineer who was chatting excitedly.

"...and make sure that you keep the joystick in line with the target on the screens or you'll not land where you want to. Oh and-"

"Syler. Stop. We know what to do."

The doors opened to reveal a room in a blue haze with a column in the middle.

Kevin gasped

"Wow. I know that the Americas renamed to KomCo because the company bought most of it and they said "Why not?", but this is just- Wow"

"Impressive isn't it? I got the design from an old classic series I programmed it to go anywhere in time."

"Thank you Syler."

"Remember what I told you", Syler said for the 5th time.

Syler ran off to prepare while the four volunteers got themselves strapped in and double checked their equipment.

Mrs Cutterhawk was watching and filming this happen

"And now for a quick overview of what will happen. The machine will disappear from its present spot and reappear in an identical room on the other

side of the observation room. Their watch should be exactly one minute slower than ours."

The lights were on, the switches were set and the doors had closed. In moments they would extend their lives by one minute, to be in every boy's dream, to be masters of time. The countdown had begun

"5...4...3...2...1...Launch."

The emotionless voice of steel which said those words were the last things they heard.

The joysticks were off target and the four battled with them to keep on track. The whole machine was shaking and bolts of electricity were hitting the panels and sparks were everywhere. Suddenly, a bright white light engulfed the room and blinded everyone.

It was 2 minutes later until they regained their sight. Heather opened the door and it revealed a sight they never wanted to see. There was a breeze and the odd car parked. The breeze blew a paper into the machine. Kevin picked it up and read the headline to the crew; "KomCo biggest industry ever"

"Vat is ze date on zat?"

"Erm", he searched for it on the page, "2007. Wait. Huh? Yep, it says 2007."

There was a fizz, then a bang

Chapter 5 - Lost

"I want a full report on what happened and the power readings ASAP. Mrs Cutterhawk, could I have a quiet word with you please?"

"It's no use. The bang was the Influx/Output unit overloading. We need a 15 amp fuse and a Flux Capacitor, which was invented 2 years from now."

"But one prototype which was classified at the time was stolen."

"You mean that we break into KomCo and set them back a century?!" Kevin shrieked. The response came quickly,

"Yes"

"I'm not going to let you."

"You can't stop us."

"Yes I can."

He started punching but the trio picked up a kicking and screaming Kevin.

It was six o'clock in the morning when they met up.

"We've done a little digging to find out things. So what have we found out?"

"Well. Me and Vlad found out that we are in a part of London called Leyton and it is the year 2007."

"Pierce, what did you find out?"

"I found out KomCo doesn't have much security so entering won't be much of a problem."

"While you were gone I managed to move Orion. It's surprisingly light."

"What now?"

"At 9 o'clock we go in."

Mike Thorton was worried. The team had not arrived for 2 hours and everyone was bored and very nervous. The press had left an hour ago and based on the latest news, he had failed. Annoyed, he switched off his ElevenFo desk and started writing a note.

Dong! The last chime had sounded and everyone went to their places. A monitor on the wall indicated that KomCo stocks had risen by 73.35%. This was the big boom that could make North and South America KomCo, but it would be robbed and delay it by 100 years.

Heather and Pierce were posing as a couple to get in. Kevin was a sniper on a nearby roof and Vladimir was directing it all.

"All veady?"

"Team 1 ready"

"Team 2 ready"

"OK. All teams move in."

"Could you remove all metallic items please?"

Keys, PDA and watch went into the basket.

Heather and Pierce passed through the metal detector with no problem. They were handed back their items and continued to the Prototype room.

"How are you doing guys?"

"Fine. Preparing to open the vault."

The PDA was turned on and in its aerial a laser was omitted, piercing the lock, and opening it. The door swung open to reveal motion sensors moving. The keys were chucked in and promptly exploded, covering the sensors with a liquid. They walked in and cut a hole in the glass to get the Flux Capacitor. Two minutes later, the hole was closed, the unit gone, and a couple visiting had left.

Kevin was sweating as they left. The guards that followed them were supposed to be shot by him. The guards came out the door. Kevin's finger closed around the trigger. The gun fired hitting the ground inches from their feet. The chase was on.

Chapter 6 - Fire fight

As soon as the doors closed the couple ran as fast as possible while not damaging the unit. A dog barked and started to chase them, but was cut short by his leash. Sirens sounded the police were hot on their trail. Armed men and attack dogs were screaming.

The watch was off and was morphing into a weapon as the police cracked off a few shots. Lasers were firing and stunning the police causing more police men to trip over them. Heather and Pierce ran through alleyways, desperately trying to lose them in the maze.

Vladimir and Kevin were at the machine hurriedly connecting the prototype to Orion. Kevin dropped a box of cables and the contents were spilled everywhere.

"Be careful viv zat. Zey are vevy fragile. OK?"

"Right", Kevin said as he picked up the cables.

"I need a 2.0 Venus connector pleaze!"

"Here you go."

"Zank you."

More lasers hit police and the riot and armoured vans crashed. Everyone was just out of range when the vans exploded. The noise was shattering as debris flew in every direction setting fire to several bins and washing lines.

They finally lost the police as they all went away. Pierce was confused. What was more important than the thieves? The stolen goods.

"Heather, we have to get to Orion fast!"

As they ran the police slowed down and the tarmac under their feet was melting. Pierce managed to climb on a gutter but Heather wasn't so fortunate. She got stuck knee deep in the tar, worse, the police were speeding up. She shouted at Pierce,

"What's happening?"

"The timelines are trying to sort themselves out and not-so-good for us, we are being affected by the sorting!"

Pierce managed to pull Heather out just before the timelines were finished sorting, everything was at full speed and the police were storming at the two.

They were in trouble because there were a lot of police to evade. Then the inevitable happened - they had overheated the stun microchip.

"I'm out"

"Me too!"

"Stun's out, now kill"

The weapon hummed as it was set to kill. The pair turned to face to mob of police and poured lasers into them. The first row caught the blast and their chests exploded in an outward burst of crimson as the lasers struck. What was left of the first row served as an obstacle for the second row and they fell, leaving the rows behind tripping in a tangle of legs. Pierce threw an isotope bomb into the mix. Pandemonium erupted as the bleeping increased. Then it the bleeping stopped and it exploded, releasing a liquid that went everywhere.

There were ten seconds of silence then the liquid exploded in a burst of flame, engulfing everything, setting alight rubbish, bins, clothes and the police that were trying to put themselves out but succeeding setting more things ablaze. The inferno was getting bigger and demolishing the houses on either side.

"Vlad, I see smoke."

"So?"

"Who do you think started those - wait they're green flames!"

"Zey are green flames?"

They shouted above the inferno, "Isotope bomb?"

At that moment a mass of black poured out from the alley, on fire. Two figures were first and were firing at the mass while trying to get to the machine.

The two turned and fled as fast as possible while trying to get a compact machine out.

Pierce and Heather's Stunlaz 10 boomed as it spit death. The flaming police armour was no match for 1000 years of weapon evolution. A police man screamed as he went down. They ran out of the alley and turned right. It was a dead end! But there was a blue pyramid made out of triangle panels. Orion! They sprinted while getting the Flux Capacitor out and activating it.

"Close the door!" Pierce screamed.

"OK" Kevin replied.

The three triangles opening up to allow the user inside started to close.

Pierce and Heather managed to get on top of the panels and slide down to the ground. They hit the on switch, plugged the unit in and got ready to go back to their own time.

The targets appeared on the screen and again, the four battled with the joysticks to stay on track.

Mike Thorton was in trouble. The experiment had resulted in the deaths of four people, Heather Bateson, Pierce Armour, Kevin Roscoe and Vladimir Koslov. The memorial had just ended. He would be in the courtroom tomorrow at 2.00pm if he didn't have them alive by then.

Everything was fizzing and sparking. Heather, Pierce, Vladimir and Kevin were ignoring it and continued to fight.

"We won't make it!"

"Yes-we will."

"Yes, the fluctuation will decrease the closer we keep to the targets."

"Thanks."

His suit was spotless and as he entered the courtroom it seemed to take an eternity to get into the defendants seat. At last, he got there and sat down.

"Michael David Thorton, you stand accused of killing 4 people: Heather Elizabeth Bateson, Vladimir Vasili Koslov, Pierce James Armour and Kevin Simon Roscoe. How do you plead?"

"In all fairness, it was not me who tripped the switch and I didn't design or build it. I just supervised the construction of it and managed the money."

"But you prided yourself in being called Head of TIME, the creator of the machines, did you not?"

"Yes I did but -"

"But nothing, you and you only caused the deaths."

The back-and-forth continued for several hours until the jury was asked to leave and give a verdict.

The jury came and sat in the box. The first stood up and said:

"We find Michael David Thorton guilty of -"

Crash!

He was cut short by the time machine landing in the centre of the court room with a hole in the ceiling made when it came through, and since this was a glass building pieces showered everywhere so the jury had to get to cover from falling pieces of glass points as they were razor sharp.

Orion's door opened and 4 people stepped out, the whole, or what was left of the courtroom burst into applause. Mike was confused.

"Where did you go?"

"Forget it, its history."

Chapter 7 - 2 months later

The old building looked out of place in the new street but its name was fitting: International Time Museum. Inside Orion 1-10 stood in all their glory.

The curator found it easy to get all 10 time machines and his office had a good view of Orion X in the foyer and the road outside. Mike Thorton thought this was the best office in the building and as the curator he got it. Thousands of people paid £1.10, the small pounds and cents combination meant he got more of a profit than the more expensive museums in the continent. The radio broke the atmosphere.

"Mr. Thorton, 4 people claim they need to see you but they won't pay, Sir."

"I'm coming."

The marble stair case was large and when stepped on, echoed. Mike looked at the four his face lit up.

"Kev, Pierce, Heather, Vlad what can I do for you? Release them!"

"Hi, Mike. We need money for a project."

"What project?"

"Hyperspace Travel."

"How much will it cost?"

"6 or 7"

"6 or 7? That's dirt chea-"

"Million"

"I'll have to squeeze on the budget but since you saved my skin, you can have it."

"Vlad, does the Confederation of New Russia still have that old airstrip and laboratory?"

"Vy do you ask?"

"Nothing, Just that we need both and about 50 builders, 10 Technicians, several engineers and 50 guards."

"I will get zem and it for you."

"Thanks Kev, can you get one of those brand new stealth fighters and a Nissan Pandora please?"

2 days later

It was a frosty morning and on the runway it was cool and clear morning and there was a high visibility. The 4 met in the middle with a variety of items. A B551 Stealth Interceptor, Nissan Pandorra XV and 14 renovated lorries. Each truck had a different theme to the inside. One was a bar and café, another a lab, a sleeping quarters, tool store, power generator truck and other essentials.

Kev asked, "Now what do we do?"

Pierce replied almost immediately, "We go and dismantle the Pandorra, take all the panelling off of the B551 and get all the guards armed with the weapons truck. We need this done quickly. Let's go!"

Soon the hanger and runway was bustling with activity. Little cars piled with items required scooted around the place and there were panels from the Interceptor all over the runway. The Nissan was in its separate components and scientists were taking pieces, examining them, putting them in boxes depending on their usefulness. The guards were patrolling the area although it would be unlikely they would encounter any life in this remote part of New Russia.

"Pierce, Vat did you vant zat car for?"

"Well, that engine is pretty light and powerful and the body can be melted and used for panelling on the jet."

"Ahh. I zee. Zank you Pierce."

"You're welcome"

Vladimir Koslov quickly jumped on a cart and drove towards the hanger and got a few men to help move stuff.

It wasn't until past night fall when the project was completed to stage 2. The next stage was to put all the pieces on the Interceptor and it would travel through sub space and time.

Kevin interrupted Pierce's track of thought:

"We have done the required amount. We're ahead of schedule."

"Good!"

It was morning and the sun was rising over the hills to the east. Pierce and Heather were discussing what to do over the day while lying in bed.

"Well, I think we should take a walk and see if we can find a town and get some supplies for the people."

"Naaa. I have to supervise the construction of the time - I mean hyper machine."

"Did you say time machine?"

"No. I didn't."

"Yes you did." She thought for a moment, "You want to go back in time. Why?"

"Look right after the robbery happened there was a sighting of a jet. The Interceptor matches the description exactly and it took out the 32nd floor completely. KomCo fell on itself and crushed the 31 floors below. The nuclear reactor exploded and shot the building into space on the trajectory to Mars. This has to be done and you can't stop me."

At that point Pierce stunned Heather and went out of the caravan to test fly the jet.

Chapter 8 - 32nd floor

Chris Green was bored. His cubicle on the 32nd floor was stuffed full and they didn't let him have a bigger cubicle on the 43nd floor. It was 9 o'clock on Monday morning and as he walked back from the coffee machine with his thermos full and cup he chose the long route past the windows on his floor. He stopped at the windows and sipped his coffee, wondering if his interview at Microsoft this afternoon will go smoothly. He noticed a jet fly past and start to turn. The jet was now heading towards the window. Chris scrambled for shelter. He ran towards the support beam. It was 20 metres away. The jet was racing to the window. 10 metres. The jet had a lock. Chris touched the beam, and the pilot fires. A missile containing death went through the window and landed at the main support. 30 seconds went past. Chris crawled out from his hiding spot. His co-workers came out of the elevator and went to work in their cubicles. An alarm on the missile went off and it started ticking. No one dares move as it seemed impossible to avoid its gaze. Chris still holding his cup burnt his hand and dropped it. As soon as the cup hit the floor the missile exploded. Chris, who was standing a few metres away was vaporised instantly. The wave exploded out of all four sides, showering glass over the pedestrians below. The people ran away from the KomCo building as fast as possible as it fell. Chris's friend Bill Marks heard the explosion below and just had enough time to grab hold of a doorframe before the ceiling became the floor as it fell 31 storeys. The ride was bone crushing. All the glass shattered as it hit the nuclear power generator in the bunker below the building which exploded sending the lightweight building into space. Pandemonium erupted as it sped away.

3007

Pierce walked out of the caravan and asked how the jet was doing.

"How is the interceptor going?"

"Stage 3 was completed 5 minutes ago."

"Good. Well then, shall we test it?"

"Yes. Oh, I nearly forgot, the 7.2 USB is in."

"Shall we?"

"We shall."

The technician and Pierce walked to the newly patented Sky Hawk and got into the cockpit.

"The controls are pretty simple. The joystick controls the direction and the lever controls the speed. The slot is over here near the speedo."

"Does the speedo measure in Kilometre per hour or miles per hour?"

"Both, it's digital so it can work in anything. I'll boot the computer and you can set it."

"The design is a bit odd though."

"Yes, but it is aerodynamic."

"Still odd."

The Sky Hawk was a Class B interstellar Fighter/Bomber. It had a switchblade design which meant that it was very small. Its sleek body meant it can go through a hole 10 m in diameter. In space terms that was very small.

The computer with the emotionless, non human voice welcomed the user to ProPage 3007, the latest in software. Pierce chose English and went on to the setup. 10 minutes passed and the female voice announced:

"Thank you. You have completed the setup."

"Please select an option."

There were four:

001 - Start engine

002 - Test

003 - Autopilot

004 - Manual Control

Pierce selected test. Almost immediately wings shot out of the body and the weapons loaded. Pierce, who was lying down, was shoved upright. The missile was now a switch blade and matched the description. Pierce plugged in the Flux Relay and the computer recognised it and initialised the dampening field. The Sky Hawk was going 20mph and as he approached the runway Heather woke up.

Heather ran as fast as she could to reach the Hawk, but it was too late. Pierce hit the boosters and it took off at a tremendous speed. The computer asked him what to do:

001 - Activate Unit

002 - Remove Unit

003 - Autopilot

004 - Manual Eject

Pierce chose option 1. The date was put in and it was racing through time and it was very bumpy. His brain was trying to go out through his nose - or that's what it felt like. Eventually it was the end of the Vortex and he came out way north of London. He turned and sped to KomCo in North London.

It took just one minute to travel 190 miles in the Sky Hawk. Buildings and cars flashed past and the 107 storey building came into sight.

When it was built air traffic had to be moved to stop a collision with the 73rd floor. Construction was so quick the employees moved in when construction on the floor began. By the time they were settled in the floor was finished. The building took a year to do. It was a state of the art system now the robbery happened. Armed guards had permission to do random checks on visitors and personnel.

Pierce had a lock and fired sending the missile into the building. He pulled the jet up and caused a proximity alert locking down the building. All door ways locked and sealed when it exploded sending the floors above down causing another explosion sending it to space and since this was the first Aknium building it rocketed into space in a trajectory for Mars. The shape allowed a soft landing and the bio-lab was on floor 76 so they could grow food in a matter of days.

Pierce activated the unit and sped home to 3007.

Chapter 9 - Consequences

"Vat do you zink you vere doing?!?"

"How could you destroy the company I own?"

"How could you hit me? We're married for Pete's sake!"

Slap!

"What was that for?"

"You lied to us and the world. You know the punishments for treason."

"Yes. But this was important and it was the start of colonisation of Mars."

"Well alright. But we will tell the Empire what we did, so they know the truth. I've arranged a conference with the press at 4."

"Good. I will be there."

"I have to work on my speech."

Mrs Cutterhawk was in the conference centre and it was 3.59."

"5..4..3..2..1"

"Hello, I'm at the New Russia Conference building in New Moscow for an interview with Pierce Armour."

Pierce walked to the podium and the reporters settled.

"It is time to clear up the past to set the future. The British KomCo building was destroyed by me. I sent a missile to floor 32 and sent the floors above into space. The Monumental Gardens has a ruin of what was thought to be a spaceship. It is in fact the building. The remaining 71 floors landed on the super nuclear generator and was shot into space. I had to do this otherwise Mars would not have been populated. Thank you."

Pierce walked off stage, ignoring the cameras and whacking the CNNBNCNBC's secondary camera with his weapon.

Soon the Empire knew the truth. The Sky Hawk was destroyed and a law was passed to stop time travel. At last, all was well, for now.

2107

The newfound Earth Empire had 3 things to celebrate, the 100th anniversary of the colonisation of Mars, the 10th anniversary of the Earth Empire and the 25th anniversary of the Americas renaming to KomCo. The KomCo National Park, London, which stands where the building used to, was full of people as the celebrations.