by Bob Blanton
“Yes, and such proper women too,” he replied.
Chapter 15
Space Station Tour
“Hello, Marc,” Mrs. Zelbar said as she greeted him at the door to her husband’s lab.
“Hello, Nikola, you wanted to see me?” Marc asked as he entered the lab. Dr. Zelbar was sitting at his workbench look at something under the microscope. “Is everything going okay with the superconductor work?”
“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Mrs. Zelbar said. “We think you have to make it in microgravity.”
“Yes,” Dr. Zelbar said. “Tell me, when are you going to take us up to see that space station of yours?”
“Space station?” Marc asked, looking a bit shocked.
“Yes!”
“Now, Leo,” Mrs. Zelbar said.
“You don’t expect us to believe you have us working on something that requires microgravity to manufacture, and you don’t have a space station,” Dr. Zelbar said. “The transparent polysteel was hard enough to believe.”
“I, um,” Marc stuttered.
“We won’t tell anybody,” Dr. Zelbar said, “but if you really want this stuff to work, you need to get us a lab up there.”
Marc sighed and gave in to the inevitable. “As you surmise, we are building a space station,” he said. “But it isn’t actually ready for someone to live there yet.”
“Then at least let us set up experiments,” Dr. Zelbar said. “We can make a lot faster progress if you quit hiding things from us.”
“We have to maintain operational security,” Marc said. “We already have problems with various governments trying to infiltrate us.”
“Well, we’re not the government,” Dr. Zelbar said. “When can we go up?”
“I’ll ask my daughter Catie to set up a trip. Here’s her contact info. She’ll come by later today to coordinate with you.”
“About time!”
“Now, Leo, be nice,” Mrs. Zelbar said. “Will we be able to take some experiments up with us?”
“I would think so,” Marc said. “Coordinate with Catie. I’ve got a flight to catch, so I’ll be going.”
Marc left the lab as both Dr. Zelbars started an in-depth conversation about experiments they wanted to run.
◆ ◆ ◆
Catie contacted the Zelbars and Mrs. Michaels about going up and running some experiments. At first, she had planned to take them up in a Lynx, but after the list of experiments that they wanted to run, she had decided she’d better use an Oryx. She grabbed one that was going through its ground inspection. She had them move the Oryx and its inspection to Delphi City and asked the three scientists to meet her there.
“Okay, this is our Oryx,” Catie said. “You can use all the space any way you would like, just don’t block the airlock in the front of the hold. That leads to our small passenger space and the cockpit.”
“My, this is huge,” Mrs. Zelbar said. “You’re letting us have it all to ourselves?”
“Yes,” Catie said. “This one is out of the rotation for inspection. That takes four days, so that’s how long you have to set up. Then we’ll put it back into its rotation, and it’ll lift a load of iron when we go up.”
“Where will the iron be?” Dr. Zelbar asked.
“It’s in the hold area under the floor,” Catie said. “Normally it’s in a few pallets here in the middle, so we don’t have to pump it, but we’re making an exception this time. It’s so heavy that it only uses up a little space before we hit the lift capacity.”
“How much of a weight allowance do we have?” Mrs. Michaels asked.
“Use what you need,” Catie said, “we’ll adjust the load to compensate. But, don’t use too much water, it’s kind of heavy.”
“Don’t worry, Dear, I’ll just set up small trays,” Mrs. Michaels assured Catie.
Dr. Zelbar was already measuring the space for the experiments.
“How long do we have to run the experiments?” Mrs. Zelbar asked.
“As long as you need, but the magic number is five hours. That’s how long it takes for a round trip. If you can manage it in five, then we only lose one load,” Catie explained.
“What other facilities do we have here?” Dr. Zelbar asked.
“There is a bathroom and a shower in the forward compartment,” Catie said. “You can lay the couches down to take a nap if you wish.”
“Power?” Dr. Zelbar asked, not really caring about the other facilities.
“I’d say as much as you can use. The Oryx main engines charge capacitors,” Catie lied, avoiding telling them that the Oryx had a fusion reactor that charged the capacitors and that the capacitors ran the engines on this new Oryx that was designed to reach the asteroids. “They store the charge at ten thousand volts. We have inverters that will change that to whatever voltage you want.”
“Excellent,” Dr. Zelbar said. “It will sit here, and we can access whenever we want?”
“Yes,” Catie said. “The inspections run twenty-four hours a day. We like to keep these things flying.”
Mrs. Zelbar smiled at Catie. “I guess we won’t be getting much sleep,” she said with a little laugh.
“One last thing,” Catie said. “We will keep everything pressurized during the time we are up there, but we would prefer for you to wear a shipsuit and have a helmet close by in case something happens. They’re very light, and you can wear something over them if you want.” Catie had worn her shipsuit so she could demonstrate, so she spun around to let them get a good look.
“Oh my, if I get one of those, I’ll have to let Sophia get one,” Mrs. Michaels said.
“A lot of kids are wearing them,” Catie said. “I know Sophia wants one. Also, if anyone wants to go outside and do a spacewalk, you have to have a shipsuit and an exosuit. The chandler here in the hangar can get you outfitted. Catie reached up and twisted the dial on her suit. The suits have this little charging device on them that makes them looser so you can take them on and off.” Catie showed everyone how much looser the suit was.
“Can’t we just wear them like that?” Mrs. Michaels asked.
“I don’t know,” Catie said. “I’m not sure how long the charge will last, and you don’t want it to run out, so you can’t take the suit off.”
“Cer Catie, the charges will last for two hours and can be exchanged with spares,” ADI informed Catie.
“I’ve been informed that you have two hours before the charge runs out, and we can have spare disks to put on the suit,” Catie said.
“That’s nice,” Mrs. Michaels said. “Then at least I can keep it loose until I get here and have it loose when I go home.”
Mrs. Zelbar nodded in agreement. Dr. Zelbar just waved his hand, he obviously didn’t care.
“And, so you’re not surprised,” Catie said, “you can’t have anything on when they measure you for the suit. There’s a nice private booth that you go inside. You just have to hold your arms out like this, and a laser does the measurement. Totally private.”
“We’re happy to wear the shipsuits,” Mrs. Zelbar said. “They look comfortable. Leo, do you want to go outside?”
“No! We’ll be floating around in here,” Dr. Zelbar said. “I don’t’ need to go play around in vacuum.”
“I don’t think I’ll want to go outside either,” Mrs. Michaels said.
“Would your husband want to come?” Catie asked Mrs. Michaels. “He’s seen pictures, but he might want to actually go up.”
“I’ll ask him and let you know,” Mrs. Michaels said, relishing the idea of being the one who got to ask.
“One last thing,” Catie said. “I have two friends I’d like to bring along. They’re almost eleven, and they’ve been up several times before. But they’re missing it. Would you mind if I brought them?”
“Oh, you must mean the twins,” Mrs. Michaels said.
“Yes,” Catie acknowledged.
“Why would we care?” Mrs. Zelbar asked.
“They can be q
uite inquisitive,” Catie said. “You might find it annoying or disruptive. I can try to keep them out of your hair, but it’s a limited space.”
“I won’t have any problem ignoring them,” Dr. Zelbar said.
“I think it might be fun to have a couple of inquisitive kids around,” Mrs. Zelbar said. “It will be like teaching college again.”
“And they can be helpful,” Catie said. “They are very adept in microgravity, so they can move things for you or get you things.”
“Bring them,” Mrs. Michaels said as she and Mrs. Zelbar nodded in agreement.
“One last thing, this is Marty Greene. He’s one of the crew chiefs for the Oryxes, and he’ll help you set up whatever you need in here,” Catie said as Marty entered the Oryx in answer to Catie’s page. “Marty, this is Dr. Nikola Zelbar, Dr. Leo Zelbar, and Mrs. Pam Michaels; everyone, this is Marty.”
Nods and handshakes were exchanged all around. “His counterpart, Jackie Huffman, works the night shift, and she will take care of you while he sleeps,” Catie explained. “Call me if you need anything.”
“We will,” Mrs. Zelbar said.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Do you guys want to go with me Thursday when I take the Oryx up?” Catie asked.
“Yes!” the twins said.
“Do you need new shipsuits?”
“We’ve grown two inches,” the twins said.
“That would be a yes, then.”
“Yes!”
“Now, you two have to be nice. I’m taking Mrs. Michaels and the Zelbars up so that they can run experiments,” Catie said. “They’re going to be very busy, and you have to stay out of their way.”
“We can help.”
“I’m sure you can, but you have to wait for them to ask.”
“Okay,” the twins said. “Will you let us go outside?”
“Of course,” Catie said.
“Can we go see the asteroids?”
“No, not this time. It takes a whole day to get there,” Catie said. “We won’t have enough time. Maybe next time.”
“Boo!”
“You need to remember to keep our secrets,” Catie said. “You can’t talk about Mars or the asteroids. If they ask you when you were in space, just say in the summer.”
“Okay,” the twins said.
“Now finish your homework, and then Nattie will take you to get new shipsuits.”
◆ ◆ ◆
While Catie was waiting for the Zelbars and Mrs. Michaels to install their experiments in the Oryx, she settled into doing a layout for the Vancouver Integrated Technologies offices and labs in Delphi City. She had to do the actual work instead of handing it off to ADI so that she could get credit for a college drafting class and a business planning class she was taking.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hello, Admiral Michaels,” Catie greeted the admiral as he and Mrs. Michaels entered the Oryx. “I thought you would want to come along.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” the admiral said.
“Hi, Mrs. . . .” Catie said. Mrs. Michaels held up her finger at Catie, and Catie finished with, “Pam. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am,” Mrs. Michaels said.
“What did Sophia think of the shipsuit?” Catie asked with a grin. She noticed that Mrs. Michaels was wearing hers with the charging disc engaged, so the suit was loose.
“She cannot wait until the market opens tomorrow so she can buy one,” Mrs. Michaels said.
Catie laughed at that. “And here are the Zelbars,” she said. “Hello, Nikola, Dr. Zelbar.”
“Hello, Catie,” Mrs. Zelbar said. She was also wearing her suit loose. Both her husband and the admiral were wearing theirs tight.
Catie closed both doors of the airlock once they were all inside.
“Oh, were we the last ones?” Mrs. Zelbar asked.
“Yes, the twins were here to go through all the preflight checks,” Catie said. “They’re in the cockpit doing them again.”
“The young are so enthusiastic,” Mrs. Michaels said. “Is it time for us to get strapped in?”
“Yes,” Catie said. “We’ll start taxiing as soon as you are.”
“Is there room in the cockpit for me?” Admiral Michaels asked.
“There will be as soon as I kick the twins out,” Catie said.
“I wouldn’t want to take their spot,” the admiral said.
“You’re not. There’s only room for one more person, and they never split up if they don’t have to,” Catie explained. “Come on through once they come back.”
Catie went through the cockpit airlock. Two minutes later, the twins came out chattering to each other. “Hi,” they said as they slid into their seats.
Admiral Michaels cycled through the airlock into the cockpit. “You keep the airlock active even when you’re on the ground?” he asked.
“Just this one. It has an override for equal pressure, but I don’t like to use it,” Catie said. “Just cautious.”
“Just smart is what I’d say,” Admiral Michaels said.
“Sit in the navigator seat,” Catie said. “We are starting to taxi now,” Catie announced over the ship intercom. “You know Liz. You two can switch seats once we’re in orbit if you want.”
“Yes, I do,” the admiral said as he strapped in.
Catie spun the Oryx around. “Tower, Oryx Ten, requesting permission for runway one.”
The tower granted permission, and Catie taxied onto the runway. She taxied down to the end, then spun the Oryx around again and prepared to take off.
“Tower, Oryx Ten, requesting permission for takeoff,” Catie called to the tower.
“Oryx Ten, you are clear for takeoff. You have a thirty-minute window with clear skies.”
“What does that mean?” Admiral Michaels asked.
“That the next Oryx to take off from the airport is thirty minutes behind us,” Catie said. “We all take off on pretty much the same vector, so it’s nice to know how big a gap you have.”
“I see.”
“Prepare for takeoff,” Catie announced over the ship intercom. “Tower, Oryx Ten, taking off.” Catie brought the engines up to full speed and released the brakes. The Oryx shot down the runway, building speed. Catie used up most of the runway before she lifted the nose up and took off.
“Nice takeoff,” Liz said.
“Thanks. It’s nice to have that extra four hundred meters,” Catie said.
“You mean you used to take off on a shorter runway?” the admiral asked.
“Oh yes,” Catie said. “It was more exciting, but pilots kept wasting fuel, so Uncle Blake hurried to add another quad and give it the extra length.”
“More exciting,” the admiral muttered. “How long does it take to reach orbit?”
“It will take us about thirty minutes to reach orbit, then we have to adjust our speed to catch up to the station,” Catie explained. “We try to avoid going too close to the ISS.”
“You do know they’re probably watching you via satellite,” the admiral said.
“Oh, we know, they have one parked right over the airport,” Liz said. “We thought about just grabbing it,” she added with a laugh.
“Oh, you wouldn’t want to do that,” Admiral Michaels said.
“Why, do you think they have a self-destruct?” Liz asked, still laughing.
“No, but the president might,” Admiral Michaels said.
“I bet he would,” Liz said. “It’s just funny to think about.”
“You have a strange sense of humor,” the admiral said.
“She sure does,” Catie said. “Liz, you’re supposed to be taking readings for me.”
“I am,” Liz said. “I’ve been texting them to your HUD.”
“Oh, I see them now,” Catie said. “Thank you.”
“Do you see the jet tracking us at two o’clock?” Liz asked.
“Yes,” Catie said. “We’ll leave him behind in about three minutes. They’ve figured out our takeoff pattern and keep sending a
jet to track us every once in a while.”
“What do you think they’re trying to figure out?” Admiral Michaels asked.
“I think it’s our top speed in atmosphere,” Catie said. “But we hit the stratosphere before we ever top out, so they’re wasting their time. Wave goodbye.”
“Back to your speed, how can you reach orbit that fast?” the admiral asked.
“Typically, it takes longer,” Catie said. “But this Oryx has special engines, so we’re burning extra fuel to get there faster. That way we can maximize the time for the experiments, plus, part of the checkup we do on them is a max burn acceleration.”
“Hmm,” the admiral mused. He knew they weren’t telling him everything, but he could understand their reticence.
“Liz, are you okay to switch with the admiral?” Catie asked twenty minutes later. “We’re now officially in orbit.”
“Sure,” Liz said. “You ready to switch, Admiral?”
“Yes, thank you,” the admiral said. “This is an amazing view. Oh, we’re at zero gravity,” the admiral said with surprise.
“You didn’t notice the transition?” Catie asked. “We cut the acceleration real slow so that it doesn’t affect people too much, but I’ve never had anyone not notice. But you should notice a little gravity since we’re still climbing up in our orbit.”
“I guess I was distracted,” the admiral said. “Can you check on my wife?”
“Just talk to her on your HUD,” Catie said. “But Natalia told me that everyone in back handled the transition well.”
The admiral finished changing seats with Liz, then he had a short conversation with his wife. It was made short by the fact that his wife and the Zelbars were already heading into the cargo bay to get their experiments running.
“Okay, so are we in the same orbit as your Space Station?” the admiral asked.
“We’re a little lower,” Catie said. “We’re still catching up, so we’re going faster and rising in our orbit. We’ll match orbits as we get close.”
“But it doesn’t affect their experiments?” he asked.
“They just care about zero gravity,” Catie said. “Gives them an extra hour of test time.”
“How long are we up here for?” the admiral asked. “Pam wouldn’t tell me.”