Robert stood at the base of the world's tallest structure and did his best not to throw up. His eyes followed the blue, micron thin ribbon skyward until his neck couldn't bend any further back. The ribbon disappeared into the sky with no end in sight. Since landing he had learned that this recently constructed space elevator had yet to be revealed to the world. There were three others around the globe, but none as massive as this.

The first three had been built five years ago and were widely publicized. Everyone knew about them. They had been shipping satellites, space station modules, even small spacecraft into space with never an incident and at extremely low costs. The success of the space elevators had single handedly saved the globe's space programs.

But the one thing the elevators couldn't transport was people. Equipment designed for space could be brought into space without survivability concerns. People were a different matter. For years, the Institute for Scientific Research (ISR) had sought to create an elevator that could safely transport human beings into space, to a small space station at the end, where they could dock with spacecraft built in space with parts the other elevators transported.

Robert swallowed with a gulp. They had apparently succeeded.

The behemoth of human engineering he now stood on rose out of the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The original elevators had a three foot wide ribbon that was just a few microns thick and sixty-two thousand miles long. Robert had learned that this ribbon was identical to the other in construction except for being six feet wide. The extra width gave this elevator the ability to lift 110 tons. The added lifting capability allowed the ISR to construct a module capable of sustaining human life, quite comfortably, during transport to and from space. It was complete with plush chairs, grand windows, refreshment bar and all the necessary facilities for keeping a crew of astronauts relatively comfortable while they were transported into space.