by Bob Blanton
“Why?”
“She wants me to lose weight. In fact, I promised her I would and she says if I don’t, she’s going to move here and make me train with her.”
“You don’t need to lose weight,” Catie said.
“Oh yes I do,” Alyssa said. “The women in my family tend to carry extra weight. My mom works hard to stay trim. I didn’t have to worry about it until I turned fifteen. Now whenever I eat, it seems like the weight either goes right onto my hips or my boobs.”
“I’d take your boobs over mine any day,” Chris said. “I’ve been thinking about having mine augmented.”
“You’re crazy,” Catie said. “Why would you do that?”
“Because guys like big boobs.”
“So, screw them.”
“Says the c-cup who’s also a princess,” Chris said.
“If you need bigger boobs to catch a guy, then he’s not much of a man,” Yvette said. She arched her back a bit to highlight her b-cup size breasts.
“You’ve got that sexy French accent working for you.”
“Next weekend, you and I will go out and I will show you how to catch men,” Yvette said.
“Can I come?” Alyssa asked.
“Me too,” Annie added.
“Hey, you’re dating Jason,” Catie exclaimed.
“So, that doesn’t mean I can’t learn a few tricks.”
“What about you, Joanie?” Chris asked.
“I’ve already had my lessons,” Joanie said. “Besides, I’m pretty busy right now trying to get ahead in the simulation class.”
“Oh, you’re taking that this semester.”
“Yes, and there is a lot of reading.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Good morning Dr. McDowell,” Catie said as she and Nikola walked into his lab.
“Good morning, Catie. I assume our asteroid is ready.”
“Yes, they’ve strapped the pieces together.”
“And put the stasis chambers on it?”
“Of course.”
“Who’s in the stasis chambers?” Dr. McDowell asked.
“Seamore,” Catie replied.
“Poor Seamore,” Nikola said.
“He’s alright. They sedated him before they put him in the chamber and we’re pretty sure there won’t be a problem with the transition, but we have to verify it,” Catie said.
“Are the Paraxeans prepared to deal with an upset spider monkey?”
“They’ve promised to take good care of him until we can send him back. The crew of the Enterprise has grown pretty fond of him. He’s become their mascot.”
“Are we ready?” Dr. McDowell asked, impatient with the chit chat.
“We are,” Catie said. “The relativistic velocities of the jump ships on both sides are matched, and we’re ready to start the cascade.”
“My instruments are ready to record, so let’s begin.”
“Starting cascade,” Catie reported as she began opening the wormhole starting in Mangkatar. “Wormhole is established.”
“Readings look good. Power it up,” Dr. McDowell said.
“Powering it up.”
“It looks stable. Are you ready to push your test asteroid through?”
“Yes, pushing it through now,” Catie said.
“Hmm, that’s unexpected,” Dr. McDowell said.
“What!”
“A large power spike. Did the asteroid make it through?”
“Poor Seamore,” Nikola said.
“The asteroid made it through, the instruments on the stasis chambers show normal,” Catie reported. “I’ve told the Paraxeans to hurry up and check it out since we had an unexpected anomaly.”
Dr. McDowell left his station and went to his display boards and started writing equations.
“What caused the power spike?” Nikola asked.
“He won’t hear you,” Catie said. “He’ll tell us when he’s figured it out. I’ve asked the Paraxeans to give us a status update as soon as they get to Seamore.”
“Oh, I hope he’s okay,” Nikola said.
“I do too. Let’s go. They won’t reach him for another hour, and Dr. McDowell won’t be back with us for a day or so.”
“That long?”
“Yes, we have to have someone come in and force-feed him,” Catie said. “His Comm has an alarm on it to tell him to drink water.”
“He’s worse than Leo; at least Leo is smart enough to take breaks.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Two days later Catie found Dr. McDowell enjoying lunch in his lab.
“Dr. McDowell, did you figure out what caused the power spike?”
“Yes.”
“Well?”
“What?”
“What caused the power spike?” Catie asked, perturbed at the twenty questions.
“Oh, we didn’t fully account for the difference in the star’s velocity around the galaxy. Paraxea is lower in the plane than Earth which means you need to add a bit to the radius from the core. That means it is traveling at a lower velocity. We need to compensate for that.”
“It’s never been a problem before.”
“We’ve never moved that much mass before. The wormhole had to push its velocity up to match, hence the power spike.”
“So can we compensate for it?”
“Yes, I’ve already entered the new figures. We can move the real asteroid whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks, I’ll let the Paraxeans know.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The actual delivery of the asteroid was anticlimactic. Everyone reacted more strongly to the return of Seamore to the Enterprise. The Paraxeans simply thanked everyone and started moving the asteroid toward Mangkatar. It would take them five weeks to get it into orbit given the limited ability to accelerate so much mass with the gravity drives mounted on the asteroid.
◆ ◆ ◆
“How was the fishing trip?” Catie asked when she sat down with Miranda and Yvette.
“Pretty funny,” Miranda said. “Most of those guys have done lake fishing, but they didn’t do a very good job of calibrating the difference between catching a five-pound bass and a two-hundred-pound tuna. Maybe it was the beer. Anyway, a couple of them almost fell in.”
“Did they land the tuna?” Catie asked.
“Oh, yeah. Caesar was expecting the problem. He had cameras set up to catch the fun and was there to haul their asses back to the deck before they went over. I’m not sure if he’s selling the video to them as a memento, or if he’s blackmailing them not to post it on the web.”
“I’ll have to watch it,” Catie said. “Where’s Joanie?”
“She can’t make it. Strategy class simulation,” Yvette said.
“Oh. Did you talk to Lieutenant Farnsworth?”
“I did. I thought I was in big trouble, he dragged me to his office and interrogated me. I told him you had told me to talk to him, but it wasn’t until I said, Catherine McCormack instead of Alex MacGregor that he relaxed.”
Catie and Miranda started laughing. “It wasn’t funny,” Yvette said.
“You would think a master spy would have handled it better,” Miranda said.
“Maybe that’s why he’s recruiting instead of spying,” Catie said. “But what was the upshot?”
“I have an extra class,” Yvette said with a pout. “No good deed goes unpunished at the Academy.”
“What’s the class?”
“Psychology.”
“That shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”
“But you have to write four papers, and then there are extra labs.”
“Poor baby. Maybe you should reconsider doing surface ships,” Catie said.
Yvette flicked some water at Catie. “Non, this does sound like fun.”
“Here come our college freshmen,” Miranda said as she waved to Alyssa and Sophia.
“Where’s Chris?”
“She has a date,” Sophia said.
“Oh, so Yvette’s lesson worked.”
&
nbsp; “Oh, yes,” Alyssa said. “It was so fun.”
“What did you do?”
“The four of us went to Club Mirena and got a table. We sat there chatting and telling stories. Yvette had us totally ignore all the men who came in. A couple sent drinks over, but she had us send them back. Some guys came over to say hello and ask to join us. We told them it was nice to meet them, but we were doing fine by ourselves. Two guys asked Chris for her number. One of them called her the next day and they had lunch.”
“Men always want what they can’t have,” Yvette said. “You can’t go looking for men, you have to make them look for you.”
“Did anyone ask for your number?” Catie asked Alyssa.
“Three guys.”
“And?”
“I have a date on Saturday. Pizza at Giorgio’s.”
“That’s a nice place.”
Alyssa looked around, “Is Liz coming?”
“No, she’s covering for me now, I’m covering for her tonight,” Catie said. “We’re pretty busy right now.”
“Doing what?” Miranda asked.
“Handling some colonists,” Catie said. She didn’t mention that the colonists they were handling were aliens.
“Sophia and Alyssa, now that we’ve talked about boys, how were your classes?” Miranda asked.
“Interesting,” Sophia said. “We’re in the same calculus class and the same journalism class.”
“What does a reporter need with calculus?”
“That’s exactly what I said to my parents. They told me that I should write an article about that after I’ve finished the class.”
That comment elicited chuckles around the table.
“Alyssa, what else are you taking?”
“I’m taking statics and dynamics, which made me ask the same question. I’m a computer science major, but my father said it is good to know how the things you’re programming actually work.”
“Well, maybe you’ll shift to robotics,” Catie said. “Then you’ll know how to program a bot to lift something without breaking its arm or putting a hole in a bulkhead.”
“Very funny, but maybe. Robots would be cool. Why aren’t there robots running around Delphi City?” Alyssa asked
“We have lots of bots,” Catie said. “But we don’t make human form robots. Too expensive and difficult to maintain.”
“Really?”
“Yep. The Paraxeans tried it and found it very uneconomical. We’re trusting them so far. I’ve had economic models run and they agree with them. Why? Are you thinking a robot for a boyfriend would be better?”
Alyssa blushed while the other girls laughed.
“Well he would certainly have plenty of stamina,” Yvette said.
“You have a filthy mind,” Miranda scolded.
“I’m just stating the facts.”
“Alyssa, how are you finding Delphi University?”
“It’s very different than I expected. It’s weird that there aren’t any dorms or sorority houses.”
“You can blame my Uncle Blake for that. He, the prime minister, and the university president talked about that and they decided that having the students stay close to the university was important but opted for putting them into condo buildings in the area instead of designating some buildings as just for students.”
“But how do they make sure there are enough rooms for the students?”
“They designate certain condos for students; they’re spread out over the various buildings close to campus. Any overflow just has to take a condo farther away; it’s not like the university is that far from anyplace in Delphi City.”
“But doesn’t that diminish the college experience?”
“That’s the plan. There are clubhouses on campus for various sororities and other student organizations to use, but they intentionally avoided having dense clusters of student housing.”
“Why?”
“Uncle Blake says that the stupidity factor goes up directly in proportion to the number of individuals between fifteen and twenty-five that occupy a building. They’re trying to avoid that. Studies have shown that sexual assaults, drunken parties, and other problems associated with college students are lower when students are distributed among more mature residents.”
“I’m sure that’s right,” Miranda said. “But then why are the cadets in dorms?”
“Because they’re under discipline,” Catie said. “At least that’s what Uncle Blake says. The rules are stricter than at the U.S. Academies, and also easier to monitor and enforce.”
“That is true,” Yvette said. “I haven’t seen any stupid parties or things like that. Nothing like at the Academy back in France.”
“I guess the stupidity factor is a part of the college experience I can do without,” Alyssa said.
“Me too,” Sophia added. “Besides, we do get the roommate experience. And I like having a neighbor that I can trust. Someone who will remember to water the plants when I’m gone.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey, Uncle Blake,” Catie called out as she met Blake at the docking ring of Delphi Station.
“Hey, nice of you to come welcome me.”
“I came to welcome Charlie,” Catie said. “He and his friends are the guests. Come on, move, they’re probably getting tired of the microgravity.”
They’d used an Oryx to bring the eight Onisiwoens to Delphi station. It was a hover Oryx, so it had been able to maintain gravity the whole time. But now that it was docked at the docking ring, they were under microgravity.
“They’re trained astronauts, they can handle it,” Blake said.
“That doesn’t mean they like it; now come on, move it.”
Blake led the way into the docking ring, and up to the hub. It only took them ten minutes to reach the elevator that would take them to the gravity section.
“Hi, Charlie, you guys doing okay?”
“We’re doing fine. Doesn’t seem like that long ago since we were in microgravity. We were almost a year into that mission without gravity.”
“I guess you’d be used to it. It’s easy to forget how things are when you can’t put a fusion reactor in your spaceship. I guess we’re spoiled.”
“I’d say so,” Charlie said as he looked around the elevator.
The elevator car held eight people, the other two Onisiwoens waited with Blake’s aide while Blake, Catie, and the first six headed down.
“Gravity coming up as ordered,” Blake said as he hit the button to start the elevator moving. The feeling of gravity was immediate but gentle. By the time they reached the end of the ride, it was up to .2 Gs.
“This is nice,” Charlie said.
“Where are we putting them?” Blake asked as he let the elevator head back up for the next load.
“We’ve cleared a space in ring three. We were reserving it for retail space, but they can stay there until we take them back to Onisiwo.”
“And when will that be?” Charlie asked.
“We’re still waiting until we have probes along the way so we can make it in one jump,” Catie said. “Plus we need a starship.”
“Your father plans to send you in the Roebuck,” Blake said.
“That’s what I guessed. So it shouldn’t be long.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Constable Aisha’s Comm announced her at the door to the condo. She waited patiently for the resident to answer the door. It was two minutes before someone finally came to the door.
“Can I help you?” the man asked.
“Yes, I’m Constable Aisha. Are you Cer Tasker?”
“I’m Mr. Tasker.”
“Well, Mr. Tasker, I’m here because yesterday you put a trash bag into the recycle chute that was not separated. As you should know from your lease agreement, all trash must be separated to facilitate recycling.”
“It wasn’t me.”
“I’m sorry sir, but it was you.”
“How dare you?! How could you possibly know?”
“The sys
tem records each person who uses the trash and recycle chutes. It also takes an x-ray of the bag and labels it so we can track it. At 1920 you were recorded disposing of a bag with both paper and food products in it. The bag was intercepted, inspected, and separated.”
“Okay, so maybe I did. I don’t remember.”
“Sir, this is your first violation, so you are only being fined the seventy dollars it cost to separate the trash and for me to come issue this warning?”
“I have to pay for you to come hassle me?!”
“Your neglect led to the expense.”
“Whatever, just put it on my monthly dues.”
“We will. However, I must warn you that the next fine is twenty Auroras.”
“That’s over five hundred dollars!”
“Yes it is. It is important to separate your trash. We do not use a landfill, so everything has to be recycled.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“This is a floating city and Delphi is very environmentally conscious. Surely you were made aware of the various restrictions associated with living in Delphi.”
“You’ve warned me. Now can I get back to my breakfast?”
“Yes sir. Have a nice day,” Constable Aisha said as Mr. Tasker closed the door in her face.
Chapter 11
Board Meeting – Sept 5th
“Let’s bring this meeting to order. I see that everyone is in Delphi City except for Admiral Michaels, Sam, and myself. Fred, how is our new airline doing?”
“It’s doing great. We’re adding one plane every three weeks as they finish their certification. Ticket sales are solid, people love the service and the short flights.”
“Los Angeles to Paris in just under three hours, who wouldn’t like that?” Liz asked.
“Is it making enough to pay for the planes yet?” Marc asked.
“Yes, the last three planes were paid for by the company, so our cash flow is starting to recover,” Fred replied.
“Anything else with the airline?”
“We’ve hired a marketing director. Marcie helped us find one from British Air. She will start next month.”
“What about a president?”
“I’m going to promote one of my people,” Fred said. “I just sent you the résumé. If you approve, I’ll make the announcement tomorrow.”
“Good; batteries and fuel cells?”
“We’re doing great. Next year, all cars sold around the world will be all-electric or fuel cell – electric hybrids. Several countries are talking about forced retirement for old cars.”