by Ben Winston
Lara gave that some thought, until finally she asked, “So you believe it’s more the way a person is wired? Like they are born that way?”
It was Ian’s turn to be insightful while he put his next thoughts in order. “I don’t have a psychology degree like Janet Laskar, but from what I’ve seen of the world, the only truly happy people are those that have the freedom to be totally honest with themselves and the world around them. Those that can express themselves the way they truly want to are always happy, and have fewer problems. I feel if more people could be like that, the world would be a much better place.”
“You sound like my old martial arts teacher. He was this wizened old oriental gentleman that seemed to have an answer for just about anything you could ask him. Of course, the answers didn’t always make sense right away, but did give you an answer. I think he might have been one of the wisest men I knew. I sure miss him sometimes,” Lara said as the elevator arrived in the lobby of the office building. Lara looked out one of the large windows into the bright late afternoon sunlight. “I suppose I should go try to find something to do until dinner time.”
“Lara, it’s none of my business, but was there ever anything you wanted to learn to do, or go to school for?” Ian asked.
“I don’t really know. I’ve always just wanted to be a housewife, but there have been things I’ve seen in magazines and on TV shows that I’d like to learn more about. I don’t know if I’d want to go to college over them, but I would like to know more than I do. Why do you ask?”
“One of the benefits of all this futuristic, high-tech, alien technology is a free education in anything you want, to as high a level as you want. It’s fast and comparable, or superior to, most anything offered on this planet. If you find there’s something you would like to study, simply ask for that to be taught to you. You’ll understand better tomorrow morning. Tonight while you sleep, you will be given the whole history, as well as learn most of the Talosian language and cultural structures. As for something to do for the rest of the evening, don’t you have any hobbies?”
“I used to draw, but I don’t have the materials anymore. I guess they either got left behind, or destroyed in the move,” Lara said.
Ian smiled and waved her back into his office. He opened a section of his wall to a machine like the one Beth had in her office.
He motioned her over to stand beside him and he said, “Art supplies, drawing and sketch pads.” He pointed to a small display panel above the inset counter, and drawing pads began to appear. When she selected one, it simply appeared in the small nook below the display.
“Wow, that’s wonderful! What else can I get?” Lara asked.
“What else do you need for drawing?” Ian asked.
As soon as Lara said something, the small display began to show different selections of items until she chose one and it was delivered to the small nook. Once she received something she didn’t want and apologized to Ian. He smiled at her, set the charcoal sticks back in the alcove and said “reclaim objects” The charcoal sticks vanished.
Once she had a good collection of supplies, more than she could carry, Ian laughed as she tried to pick them all up, and asked the replicator for a carry bag for the received items.
Thoroughly delighted, Lara left with her art bag hanging off her shoulder, and a new sun hat on her head. Ian watched her head off in the direction of the picnic area. “Oly, could you set a reminder for Mrs. Belden so she doesn’t forget to join her husband for dinner?”
“Of course, Commander,” said the disembodied voice.
Chapter Seventeen
The next day was a busy one for Ian. He was supposed to meet with Elias to discuss plans to build a research/manufacturing facility for a new type of automobile engine. Many of the current community vehicles were already using the new engine, but the eggheads wanted to get it into production.
What was surprising was that Elias was late. It was almost ten and Ian was about to call him when he stumbled into the office. “I’m really sorry, Ian. I don’t know how you do it; those two almost killed me last night! I was so tired, I slept through the alarm I’d set.”
Ian chuckled. “I take it Andrea was happy to see you?”
“It wasn’t just her! Laura too! I mean they were just as happy to see each other,” Elias said.
“Is Andrea going to call Beth later?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, though she was still sleeping when I left. How’d everything go with Luke Belden?”
“Pretty well actually, you can go down and see him later; I think he’d like a visit. He does seem to be a really nice guy. He just doesn’t seem like the type to develop a drinking problem,” Ian said.
“Normally, I’d agree with you. But after what his family did to him, I’m surprised that was all that was wrong with him,” Elias replied.
“May I ask what that was? I didn’t get to ask him before he started his treatment.” Ian asked.
Elias looked uncomfortable for a minute, then relaxed. “Normally, I’d say it isn’t my story to tell, but I know Luke won’t mind if I tell you. Luke comes from old money. Against his father’s wishes that he join the family business, he insisted he be allowed to make his own way in the world.
“Back when Tara was still in diapers, Luke worked for one of the premier investment companies on Wall Street. He was really good at forecasting and planning investments for his clients. So good, that he’d made hundreds of millions of dollars for their clientele.
“From what I understand, something happened that set up an opportunity for a windfall investment. He told his father about it and got the old man to move their substantial accounts over to Luke’s firm. Following his advice, which to this point had been flawless, almost a billion dollars was invested.
“The deal fell apart, and everyone lost a good portion of their money. Luke was fired by the same company that had been riding his forecasts for over a year, but that wasn’t the worst thing that happened. Luke’s father called him out to the family mansion and formally disowned him after ripping him apart in front of the rest of the family.
“The old bastard even told Luke that a lot of his problem was that he had married too far below his station. Luke, who’d had Lara and baby Tara with him, punched the old fucker in the mouth and left with his family.
“Luke’s family held the mortgage on their house and promptly foreclosed. Lara’s family took them in and helped them get back on their feet. The company Luke had worked for had black-balled him so he couldn’t get work in his field anymore. That’s when Luke started drinking.
“I hired him shortly after that, and he’s been with me ever since. I made sure that he wasn’t beating up on Lara and Tara, and for the most part he controlled it. You know the rest; I came to you when he started showing up to work still drunk,” Elias finished.
Ian shook his head in disbelief. “I will never understand how anyone can put greed before their family. Luke’s a great person; he didn’t deserve what his father did to him.”
“No one deserves that from their father. I think we’re doing what we can for him though. Most people would have just let him sink,” Elias said.
“Well, he’ll be better in a few days, and should be impatient to get back to work...” Ian said as his phone rang, he answered it. “Hello?”
“Pardon me, Sir, but this is Tommy down at the gate. I have a Ms. Pritchard out here, and she’s demanding entry.”
“I’ve never heard of her. Tell her to leave before we have her arrested for trespassing. If she wants a meeting, she can make an appointment. Sorry to dump this on you Tommy, if you need any help, let us know.”
“Will do, Sir,” Tommy said and hung up.
“What was that about?” Elias asked.
“Somebody named Pritchard demanding to be allowed in. She sure as hell doesn’t have an appointment, and she sounds like she’s a bitch anyway,” Ian replied.
Elias chuckled. “Abigail Pritchard. She’s one of the local radicals that
believes the government will grant anyone the right to anything they want out here in the desert. She feels it’s her responsibility to blow the whistle on any company careless enough to allow her on the property. If you dig a hole to take a dump, she will want to see the permits and environmental impact statements that allow you to do it. Then bitch that you wiped with bleached paper.”
“Wonderful, do you think she’ll try to bypass the guard shack to get on the property?” Ian asked.
“Definitely. She’ll just wait a few days because she thinks that’s being sneaky.” Elias replied.
Ian made a note on his pad to look into some form of security for the community. Seeing the note, Elias smiled. “You know Ian, I’ve been thinking; you’re going to need marines along with more pilots to crew the ship.
“I remember Janet Laskar once telling me that they’d recruited a man from the Navy. I have no idea what they’re called, but he used to be the one responsible for landing and launching aircraft on a carrier. If I remember correctly, he’s now the flight operations chief down below. He might know some good candidates for the security detail, as well as pilots.”
“That’s a damn good idea, Elias. I didn’t even think of that. I’ll give him a call.” Ian made another note. “Now, let’s take a look at these building plans.”
“Ian? Do you have a minute?” Carla Nelson asked as she stuck her head in the door.
“Sure Carla, what’s up?”
“I just thought you might like to know that our application to form a municipality has been approved. We are now officially a town.” She said grinning.
“Really? That’s fabulous! When did this happen?” Ian asked.
“Well, when I was filing all the stuff we’d need to do what we wanted out here, applying for this was the answer to a few of the problems that came up, so we filed for it. It was kinda of a spur of the moment thing, so we didn’t have time to call a meeting. May I be the first to welcome you to Talos, New Mexico.”
“That’s a fitting name. What’s next?”
Carla grinned. “We need to hold elections for the office of Mayor, Treasurer and all that. We have ninety days to hold the elections and submit a town board. I have a good idea who’s going to get the Mayor’s job.”
“As long as it’s not me, I’ll be happy. I have enough to worry about, and with luck, I’ll be moving up to the ship soon,” Ian said.
“Spoil sport!” Carla laughed as she pulled her head from his office.
A discrete chirp told Ian there was an incoming message. He touched a key on his terminal and the message was displayed;
“Sir, the new ‘video games’ for the upside arcade are ready. Olympus would also like to ask that these simulators replace the ones on the ship. He said these are much better.”
- Ensign Saunders
Ian grinned, those should actually be fun to fly. He needed to find a Major John Harris anyway, so he decided to go down and see the new system himself. Briefly he wondered how come he hadn’t already met the man, since he was supposed to be a senior staff member.
When Ian arrived at Flight Operations, it was a hive of activity. People were scurrying about like there was an emergency, and red lights were flashing. Ian moved over next to a wall to stay out of the way and watch.
The Flight Operations control center was in the midst of a simulated drill. From what little Ian knew of this area, the people seemed to be doing well.
“Okay folks! That’s enough. That’s better; we’re improving. Flanning, that was a very good response time on getting the damage control teams moving, however, If we could have kept the bird from stacking out in the first place we wouldn’t have needed them. How come that bird crashed? Anyone?” A large African-American man in the center of the room asked.
No one seemed to come up with an answer for him, and people were looking around at the others hoping to find it. One of the young people saw Ian standing by the door. “Attention on Deck!” She said as she came to attention. Everyone in the room snapped to attention and Ian grinned. “As you were. Please continue, Chief.”
“Thank you, Sir.” He said as he turned back to his team. “Folks, this isn’t an ocean going flat-top we are training on. This simulation is for an advanced space carrier. It’s equipped with tractor beams... Now, why did that bird crash?”
One young ensign seemed to catch on. “Sir, because the automatic crash systems didn’t come online!”
“Correct, they didn’t come online because a power hit to the ship caused the system to short, forcing it into stand-by mode,” Major Harris explained.
“The ship crashed because I didn’t do a system check at the beginning of my shift,” a third ensign said sadly.
“Exactly. Folks, I don’t say this to hurt your feelings or scare you; but those pilots’ lives are in our hands whenever they launch or land. Any mistakes on our part will most likely cost one of those people their life.
“I don’t care how far behind you’re running, or how late you are. I will chew you out for reporting late, but I will never chew you out for delaying a launch or recovery while you check your systems,” Harris said, making eye contact with most of those present. “If it’s an emergency situation, the person leaving the station will stay until it’s safe to be relieved. You can assist them, but mostly try to just stay out of the way until the switch can be made. Understand?”
“Yes Sir!” They all said in unison.
“Good, take five and we’ll do it all again. Dismissed.” The big man turned to Ian and saluted. “Good to meet you, Sir. John Harris; Flight Operations.”
“Relax Major, this is a hell of a team you’re training up here,” Ian said.
“We’re all new to this, Sir. There’s a lot of adjustment needed.”
“Major, I’m curious, as Flight Operations Chief, you should be attending meetings with the rest of my senior officers. Why haven’t you?” Ian asked.
“I haven’t officially taken the position, Sir. I’m not ready yet. From what I understand, I don’t have the correct DNA or some such to use the teaching gizmos, so I’m doing this the old fashioned way,” Harris said.
“Wow, and you’re already this good? I’m impressed. You’re already training kids for flight operations aboard ship,” Ian said.
“I’ve found that the best way to learn is to teach. The little incident you just witnessed is a good example. I should have caught the red light on that system, but I missed it too. I spend my evenings reading all the regs and procedures, but during the day, we are in here trying to put what we’ve learned into a simulated situation. I think we’re all learning pretty fast,” the big man said. “We’re not ready for prime-time yet, but we’re getting there.”
Ian nodded in approval. “Are you getting someone trained to take over down here?”
“Yes sir. Major Alder will have the run of the place once we go up to the ship. We’ve split the time each of us work in here. He’ll be taking over after lunch. Right now, his team’s a lot better than we are; mostly because of my slow learning curve. But we should be ready soon.”
“Excellent! Could you come up to my office when you’re finished here? I have a few questions for you. Right now, I want to get over to the training area and get a look at those new simulators,” Ian said.
John grinned. “I think you’ll like them, Sir. I’m not a pilot, but looking at those almost makes me want to learn how to fly.”
Ian returned the grin. “Great! Let’s just hope the kids upstairs agree with you! See you after lunch.”
Ian left as John’s team started coming back in.
He walked over to the training area and found Ensign Saunders tinkering with one of the new simulators.
“How’s it going, Ensign?” Ian said, startling the young man.
“Jesus Chis... Sir! I’m sorry; I didn’t see you come in!” He said as he hastily got to his feet, came to attention and saluted.
“At ease, Ensign. I got your message about the simulators and wanted to
see them for myself. How soon do you think you can get them installed top-side?” Ian asked.
“If we got them up there now, I could probably have them set up by tomorrow morning. The system is really neat; we can stuff the whole thing into a double-wide trailer and all we need to do is plug it in, everything else is integrated into the system,” the young Ensign said excitedly.
“Wow, that’s better than we hoped for. You have my approval to proceed; let me know when you get them set-up; I’d like to take it out for a spin,” Ian said grinning.
“It would help to have a pilot do the final test on it after I get the unit assembly complete. Would you like to do that, Sir?” Saunders asked.
“I’d be honored, Ensign. Just give me a call when you get it ready, and I’ll make time for you. Good work.”
Ian returned to his office in a good mood. Things seemed to be going well, and soon he and his family would be able to move aboard ship.
When he got back, he found Elias and Janet Laskar waiting for him. “What can I do for you two today?”
“I thought I would let you know that the computers for the new education system have been ordered, and should be getting here within the month. The rest of the network has already been set up, and I briefed our teachers on how it’ll work. They’re almost as excited as the kids are,” Janet reported.
“Great, but I thought Laura was taking care of that?” Ian asked.
“She is, but I’ve been helping her in my spare time. Elias wanted to ask you about something and asked if I could come along, so Laura just asked me to let you know how things were proceeding,” Janet said, looking pointedly at Elias.
“My guys tell me we’re ready to start laying the water and sewer mains then pave the streets. If you’ll remember, I said we aren’t equipped to do that?” Elias said. “I know of a couple of really good companies that might take the contract; we’ve worked with them before. In my opinion, they might be good additions to the community as well.”