by Bob Blanton
“Yes, there would have to be something with a big enough jumpdrive to open a wormhole for their starship, or we would have to open one for them. If there were jump ships in their system, then they could go anywhere and not have to worry about what kind of jump point was on the other end and they would be able to tell exactly where the wormhole was.”
“And if we didn’t want them to know about the jump ships?”
“They already know about the jump ships.”
“Not really, they know we have a jumpdrive. They really don’t know exactly how we plan to use it to move the asteroid. And on Paraxea, they only know that the Dutchman has a jumpdrive.”
“So why keep it a secret?”
“I’m not the only camel in the galaxy,” Blake said.
“But you’re probably the cutest.”
“Handsomest, not cutest. Now, the Dutchman would need a probe to be in the Paraxean system to open a wormhole from Earth or Artemis.”
“Right.”
“How long would it take to open the wormhole if the probe jumped in from Paraxea Proxima?”
“Since you only have to establish the connection, it probably could do it right away. It would need six to eight hours of recharge to jump back. But why would we do that?”
“So the probe wouldn’t be available for observation or stealing.”
“But then you wouldn’t know about the system before you jumped. You’d have to send a small probe through to validate that your path was clear.”
“Yeah, but we could leave a small satellite in the system to tell us that, and we’d probably want one there to keep track of what was going on anyway.”
“That would mean another quantum relay,” Catie said.
“Sure, but just one extra at each jump terminus.” Blake mused for a minute stroking his chin. “How far out can you open a wormhole to another system?”
“I assume you mean how far away from the star,” Catie said. “Sixty AUs is about the minimum from a star the size of Sol and you have to be at least fifty-five AUs out to even be able to open one. The distance is proportional to the mass of the star.”
“What if you just want to initiate a wormhole from that end, but are going to power it from the other?”
“That depends; you can open a wormhole while you’re out in deep space, you just can’t power it enough to jump very far. But if you were powering from the other end, you could jump from anywhere.”
“So as long as you’re powering the wormhole from one end, you could make a jump from anywhere?” Blake asked.
“From any system close by, or through any cascade of wormholes.”
“Okay, let’s start with probes being able to jump themselves,” Blake said. “I’ll think about the jump ships, but for now I assume we won’t be allowing other starships to use the wormholes.”
“Okay. Does that mean I can get back to work?”
Blake mussed Catie’s hair. “What do you mean, we’ve been working.”
“It felt more like an interrogation,” Catie said.
“Collaboration,” Blake said as he stood up. “Do you want to have dinner with Jackie and me?”
“Where?”
“You assume we’re not cooking?”
“I’ve tasted your cooking and Jackie has better taste, and I know she doesn’t like to cook.”
“Giorgio’s.”
“Then sure.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Yvette!” Miranda called out to get Yvette’s attention. “Over here.”
Yvette immediately turned and headed to the table where Miranda was sitting with a man she didn’t recognize. A very nice-looking man. She was meeting Miranda and friends at Daphne’s, a Greek restaurant in Delphi City.
Miranda made the introductions, “Yvette LeClair, Freddy Montgomery, Freddy, Yvette.”
Freddy raised up and took Yvette’s hand. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Enchanté,” Yvette purred.
“Down, girl, he’s gay,” Miranda said.
“Pooh, what a waste.”
“I can assure you that there are many men who do not agree with you,” Freddy said.
“But it is for me. I’m just back from my Academy cruise. You cannot date while on the ship, and where do we make port? Nice! Where my mother meets the ship and commands all of my time. Six weeks without a man, and Miranda invites me to lunch with a gay one. Merde.”
Freddy laughed. “I can see why you would be disappointed. But can we still be friends?”
“But of course. Are you in flight school with Miranda?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must have very good taste in men and have many to choose from with all those fighter pilots.”
“Down Girl,” Miranda said.
Yvette opened a menu, “She is no fun.”
“I know. All work and no play,” Freddy said.
Liz spotted the trio as soon as she entered the restaurant. She was almost to the table when Miranda spotted her and waved. Liz waved back as she made her way over.
“Hi, Miranda,” Liz said.
“Hello, Liz; you know Yvette, and this is Freddy.”
“Freddy, Yvette,” Liz said as she nodded to them and sat down.
“Hello, Liz,” Freddy said in a very inviting tone. “I hear wonderful things about you from Miranda.”
Liz smiled. “You have? That’s nice of her. I hope some of them are true,” she added.
“They were so nice, they must be true.”
“Sure.”
Miranda looked at Liz, “I thought Alex would be with you,” she said.
“We had meetings on different sides of the city,” Liz said. “She should be here soon.”
“Good. I promised Freddy that I’d introduce him to Alex,” Miranda said.
Liz looked at Miranda with curiosity.
“He’s looking for a job. He’s planning on joining the reserves after graduation and plans to find a civilian job while he does his service.”
“You do know that you have to serve on active duty for two years before you join the reserves?” Liz asked.
“Yes, but they will let you work that around a job schedule. Two ten-hour days on the weekend and then four hours each evening during the week,” Freddy said. “So I should be able to do that and hold down a job.”
“As long as it doesn’t require too much overtime or travel,” Liz said.
“Overtime I can handle; travel would be tough.”
“What’s your degree in?” Liz asked.
“I have a master’s in marketing,” Freddy said.
“Nice. Well, Alex might know of something. She’s usually tuned in to the job situation here in Delphi City.”
“Here she comes.” Yvette stood up and waved Catie toward their table.
“Hello, Alex,” Miranda said. “I mentioned I was bringing Freddy to see you. Freddy, Alex MacGregor.”
Freddy half stood and extended his hand to Catie. “Delighted to meet you,” he purred.
“Hi,” Catie said as she slid into the booth next to Liz. “Hi, Yvette, how was your cruise?”
“Lonely.”
“You mean boring?” Catie asked.
“Yes, that too.”
“Are you rethinking which branch you want to go into?”
“I don’t like long cruises, but all the job classifications that would keep me in port are boring.”
“Why do you want to be in port?” Liz asked.
“Yvette has trouble with all that discipline you have to maintain when on a ship or space station,” Miranda explained.
“Oh, you should apply to be in the intelligence service,” Catie said. “They’re always playing mind games. You’d like that.”
“The intelligence service? I’ve never heard of it.”
Catie laughed. “That’s because it’s a secret service.”
“Hmm.”
“Does that mean you’d be interested?”
“Possibly.”
“Mention it
to Lieutenant Farnsworth,” Catie said.
“You mean that boring guy who teaches the history of armed conflict?” Yvette asked.
“Yep. He fades into the woodwork, doesn’t he?”
“You’re kidding us?” Miranda asked.
“No. But don’t go spreading it around. He’s just looking for candidates, not spying on the students.”
“Maybe I should talk to him,” Freddy said.
“Freddy, you do not fade into the woodwork,” Miranda said.
Liz leaned over to Catie, “Alex, do you think Freddy would fit in with Marcie? She was saying she needed someone like him on the staff,” she said.
“I guess. Are you sure he’s what she’s looking for?”
“Pretty sure. He’s got a master’s in marketing.”
“But?”
“But what?” Freddy asked. “You do realize I’m sitting right here?”
“Sorry, it’s a bit awkward,” Catie said.
“It can’t be as awkward as sitting here like a side of beef while you two talk about me.”
“Well, Marcie is looking for someone who’s tuned into the gay scene,” Catie said.
“I’m definitely tuned into the gay scene,” Freddy said. Then he turned to Liz, “Hey, how did you know I was gay? Did Miranda signal you?”
“Nope,” Liz said.
“Then how? Do I have a stamp on my forehead saying gay?”
“No, but, you’re attractive and Yvette is ignoring you. You’re sitting too close to Miranda unless you’re her boyfriend, and since she didn’t elbow you when you flirted with me, I assumed you must be gay.”
“And how did Alex know I was gay?”
“I didn’t,” Catie said.
“Our Alex doesn’t notice when guys flirt,” Yvette said. “She has her head in the clouds thinking about more important things.”
Catie gulped and looked offended, giving Yvette a glare.
“It’s true,” Yvette defended herself.
“Here, let me send you Marcie’s contact information. I’ve sent her a message telling her to expect your call,” Catie said.
“You have?” Freddy asked.
“Our Alex has implants so she can type on her Comm by just thinking, they call them a tailboard,” Miranda said. “It made it hard to keep up with her at the Academy.”
“Please tell me more?” Freddy asked.
“About the implants?” Miranda asked.
“Yes.”
“You can get them at the clinic,” Catie said. “But you need to be able to get back to the clinic for follow up appointments for the next few weeks. Then you have to be able to dedicate time to practice with them. Also they’re a military secret!” Catie glared a Miranda.”
“He’s in the military.”
“I’ve had mine done recently,” Liz said. “You should wait until you’re finished with flight school. But Yvette, you could get yours done now.”
“I have an appointment tomorrow,” Yvette said.
“Miranda, are you still on the Foxes?” Catie asked.
“Yes. I love those jets. And thanks for the heads-up about the simulator. It’s been great. I do one to two hours of training on it every day on my own time.”
“Good.”
“Freddy, which plane are you training on?” Catie asked.
“The Oryx.”
“Hmm, are there that many military flights for the Oryx?” Liz asked.
“They’re doing more. Mainly for fast crew rotations. They use the Oryx to ferry personnel between Delphi City and Guatemala, and to rotate crews for the surface fleet and Delphi Station.”
“Ah, that should make it easy for you to work a civilian job at the same time,” Liz said.
“If you’re training on the Oryx, how do you and Miranda know each other?” Catie asked.
“Oh, they’re making me learn to fly the Fox before they let me learn to fly the Oryx,” Freddy said.
“Why’s that?”
“Because when one of those crazy Fox pilots pulls a 20G turn and their brains pop out of their ears, they want to be able to recover the Fox, scrape them off the canopy, and put an Oryx pilot in their place. Someone who knows better than to pull a 20G turn,” Freddy said.
“Freddy doesn’t like dog fights,” Miranda said.
Catie laughed. “Oh, that’s my favorite part.”
“You can keep it,” Freddy said.
“What are you and Liz up to for the next few weeks?” Miranda asked Catie and Liz.
“We’ll be around,” Catie said. “I’m working on a project for MacKenzies so I’ll be on Delphi Station quite a bit, but I can come down on the weekends.”
“Do you want to go to the new jazz club with us?”
“The one at the Four Seasons?”
“Yes.”
“Am I invited?” Liz asked.
“Sure, the more the merrier. Freddy will be there with us.”
“I’m her protection,” Freddy said.
“Her protection?” Catie asked.
“I chase off any guy that gives her too much unwanted attention.”
“How do you do that?” Liz asked.
“I just say and do to them whatever they’re saying and doing to Miranda. It gets very awkward,” Freddy said with a laugh.
“He’s a kick. Why don’t we go Friday?” Miranda suggested.
“We’re on Delphi Station for a few days. Could we do Saturday?” Liz asked.
“Saturday it is.”
“We’ll be there,” Catie said. “Hey, did any of you go to the town hall meeting?”
“I didn’t get back from my cruise until the day after,” Yvette said.
“We were doing flight ops,” Miranda said. “Was it interesting?”
“The questions at the end were pretty entertaining,” Catie said. “You should watch that part of the video. Someone accused Chief Nawal of being a murderer.”
“Did she slap him down?”
“It was a her, and the Chief just explained to the woman that she could be connected to several murders and went through the list.”
“Oh, nice. So six degrees?” Miranda asked.
““Yep, the chief only had to give three or four examples before the woman got mad and left.”
“That must have been hilarious,” Yvette said. “Do you want to take a golf lesson with us?”
“I love golf,” Freddy said. “I’d be happy to take a lesson with you guys.”
“I was asking Alex; I don’t think it’s the kind of lesson you’d be interested in,” Yvette said.
“Maybe it is. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t asked you out,” Miranda said.
“No!”
“Maybe!”
“No!”
“Take Freddy and find out,” Miranda said.
“What?” Freddy asked.
“She’s been trying to get the golf pro to ask her out,” Miranda said. “Two lessons and no bite.”
“Oh, he sounds like my kind of guy,” Freddy said.
“You mean the golf pro over at the Four Seasons?” Liz asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh, he’s gay.”
“How do you know?”
“A friend told me that was one of the reasons the club hired him. No angry husbands,” Liz said.
Catie started laughing, quickly joined by Miranda while Yvette pouted and looked hurt.
“What a waste of time!” Yvette said.
“Well at least you got some help with your game,” Freddy said.
“Yvette has a six handicap,” Miranda got out between laughs.
◆ ◆ ◆
Bling! Bling! “Out of the way!”
Marc turned to see two bicycles barreling down on him as he was walking across the road. He hopped back to allow them to pass. The second bike stopped.
“Hello, Governor,” Katya said.
“Why, hello, Katya. How’s business?”
“Booming. It sure is a good thing we got exclusive rights to these trailers. T
he big boys are real jealous.”
“That’s good to hear. Aren’t you in a hurry like her?” Marc asked, pointing to the first bike that was still barreling down the road.
“Naw, she’s got the beer. They won’t be in as big a hurry for the steaks and stuff, it’s for a picnic.”
“You’re delivering to a picnic, why the rush then?”
“It’s one of those spur-of-the-moment picnics. They got off early because of some problem with the equipment so they decided to have a barbeque. Called us to get the stuff to them.”
“I see. Well, I should let you go.”
“No, wait. I was wanting to talk to you. We’ve got a new idea and wanted to see if you could help us again.”
“What is this new idea?”
“Drones.”
“Drones?”
“Yeah, back home . . . I mean back in our old home, they were starting to use drones to deliver packages. We thought we should see if we could get a jump on that here. Can you check and see if we could get some?”
“Hmm, I’ll look into it. But I’m not sure about having you girls flying drones around the town.”
“Hey, Princess Catie was flying a Lynx when she was only twelve!”
“You do have a point. I’ll look into what might be available and get back to you.”
“When?”
“Why don’t you set up an appointment with Melinda for next week.”
“Sure thing. See you then,” Katya said as she started to pedal away.
“The joys of being the governor,” Marc sighed.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Catie, do you have some time today?” Marc Commed his daughter.
“I’m free now. It’s 2200 here.”
“Oh, right. I should have checked.”
“No problem. What’s up?”
“I’ve got a request for delivery drones. I wondered what you guys have in the way of designs.”
“Oh, speaking of drones, you should get some of our two-person hilos. We’ve started to sell them to the Delphi City police for their fast response teams.”
“Two-person hilos?”
“Yeah. It’s just a frame with a polyglass bubble. Two people can sit on it and fly it anywhere in the city. It runs on batteries and can go about ten miles. They’re using them to get someone on the scene fast. Then they follow up with bigger vehicles and more people later.”
“Interesting. I assume by your comment that ZMS is starting to sell them.”