by T I WADE
Maggie leaned back to check on Saturn. She was awake, eyes wide open. Little Saturn had the best deal: nine inches of Memory Foam underneath her should help her little body compensate for the upcoming pain in the back. She smiled at her brave little baby, tightened her own straps and got ready.
“The rocket is certainly doing better at this altitude than we did on the previous launch out of the Dead Chicken,” said Jonesy. “We are at least a hundred knots faster than at the lower altitude when we ignited those beasts the first time.”
“Come to Mama,” said Allen Saunders. “We are just over the horizon on Orbit One and have you on radar. Ignite your burners, General Jones, and come play where the real men play.”
“We’re coming, General Saunders, just have to wait until we are high enough so we don’t ruin Mr. Igor’s day.”
“Sounds like you are boasting again, General Jones,” added Penny. “So typical. Maggie, sort him out.”
“Other crew, stay off the air please until Kàrmán Line is reached; we are in a dangerous launch phase right now.” Ryan’s voice came from somewhere in the heavens above all of them.
“Passing through 98,000 feet, 840 knots, we’re going hot, Maggie ignite pulsers…”
The shuttle was now invisible from Earth, until the first boom hit them a minute later. It certainly wasn’t as powerful as the previous time, but it rattled the hangars around them more than when it had left the runway earlier. There was a continuous boom for twenty seconds with the sound fading as the team headed back into Hangar One. Radio contact was also gone.
In the shuttle, the pain was tremendous. Maggie struggled to look around to see Saturn; she had nearly disappeared into the memory foam with only her face and the front of her body protruding. She was crying, but Maggie couldn’t hear her. Jonesy felt like his eyes were in the back of his head, but this was certainly a rush. He had very little to do, the computers had taken over at 100,000 feet, he had aligned the shuttle correctly, and the Jones family headed into the dark void of space.
***
Ryan was up listening to the commentary below. He didn’t pray often, but he was praying now, praying that the shuttle would make its first leap into space successfully, the first ever for mankind, without external assistance. Ryan was on the Bridge, had his eyes closed once the pulses took SB-III off radio feed. He was also praying for little Saturn, hoping that the pulses weren’t hurting her too much. He had worried about how she would cope on this launch for days. He certainly didn’t want his child to go through a launch like this, and he wondered if she would suffer and if there would be any long-term problems.
Doctors Rogers and Martin had told him before the launch that a young baby is extremely supple, and actually could withstand more in G-force strain than an older person with possibly more brittle bones; they felt sure that Saturn would fare better than her aging father. All she needed was good support, and they had prescribed the Memory Foam; enough to cushion Saturn, but not enough to suffocate her, while she survived unattended for the fifteen minute duration between pulse-launch and space.
***
Allen and Penny were also watching the shuttle rise up to meet them. They were overhead, already at 100 miles altitude, and it would take at least one full orbit before the two craft could meet up.
They certainly saw an increase in SB-III’s speed over the several minutes they were overhead. It looked like a missile coming up to attack them from Earth. They passed over the African coastline for the second time with the ever-rising SB-III now out of sight, 5,000 miles behind them and 40 miles lower.
Both astronauts were amazed how quickly SB-III, still under pulse power, began catching up. Not only was the shuttle rising faster than SB-II could at such a low orbit on one thruster, but SB-III’s speed rapidly increased to where their computers predicted that the Jones family would overtake them at the same altitude in only twenty minutes.
***
The pain was gone, even though the pulsers still had a minute of operation left. Jonesy had SB-II on the radar screen, and he had already paired his orbit with theirs. The thrusters were much bigger than those in the Astermine craft, and now, again extended, and in non-atmospheric mode, the two side thrusters could slow the shuttle down without having to turn around; Jonesy had practiced this particular maneuver often in the simulator. SB-III had saved about 50 seconds of programed thrust at 70,000 feet, and he wanted to see the craft’s new stopping power. This was the most exciting flying he had ever done, even though he had crawled through the atmosphere at less momentum than an F-16 without afterburner. It was fantastic flying; from ground to space in one go with no help!
General John Jones felt like an eagle: invincible.
“I think Saturn is fine; she’s crying, probably hungry, and not used to floating. I’m going to hold her, feed her, and put her back down,” Maggie said, bringing her husband out of his invincibility dream.
He watched as she loosened the netting around their daughter’s crib. He supposed that she could feed him before helping him off with his helmet. Like VIN in SB-II, they were the only two fully suited up.
Maggie picked Saturn up, so she stopped floating, but as soon as her big brown eyes focused on the helmeted monster staring in her direction, she howled.
“Maybe you should help me off with my helmet first?” suggested Jonesy. Maggie nodded, returned crying Saturn to the security of her crib, and began working on the helmet.
An hour later, already flying in formation with Allen, orbiting their way up to America One, both Maggie and the baby, strapped into the co-pilot’s chair, were sound asleep. Then Jonesy remembered something. He forgot to tell Igor about his incoming gift from the president. He smiled to himself. Igor would find the right place to store the brand new $55+ million dollar jet.
“Wow! It was a shock for Penny and me see you scream past us. We saw the thrusters turn into a reverse burn, and you slowed so quickly, we nearly screamed by you!” exclaimed Allen who had joined Jonesy in the elevator heading up to the Bridge to be debriefed.
“I have never seen anything in space maneuver so quickly. You retracted those thrusters, reversed thrust for a few seconds, retracted them and suddenly you were going our speed,” added Penny.
“Yes, Maggie and I had experience from the Astermine craft on DX2014. We actually flew them like helicopters,” remarked Jonesy as the door swished open.
They all shook Ryan’s hand and then Captain Pete’s. Ryan did not look too excited to see them, especially Jonesy.
“General Jones, Igor just called me a few seconds ago, to tell me that there is a brand new civilian marked jet on the apron, The name “Jones” in big black letters is on the tail, and a delivery pilot wants your signature on the delivery papers. Know anything about it?”
“Oh, that jet!” stammered Jonesy. “Arrived so quickly! It’s a gift to me and Maggie from the president,” he stated smiling sheepishly as he always did when he thought he was in trouble. “The president called me the other day and asked if I needed anything. Naturally, I said I did. First I told him that we had too many colonels in the Jones family, and he promoted me to general, then he asked if I needed anything else. I told him that we didn’t really need anything up here, but the family could sure use a runabout down on Earth, when we are on leave down there, and things…..”
“So you asked for a brand new Gulfstream 550?” asked Ryan shocked. “As a runaround! What are you going to do with it? Head down to the corner supermarket in Tonopah and go shopping?”
“It’s actually the new Gulfstream 650 extended range, and sure, I could head off into Las Vegas to go shopping, or Amsterdam, or Denver to visit my parents. I just answered the president’s question.”
“A typical Mr. Jones straight-up answer. And I hear you even got General Saunders here to commandeer an Air Force hangar for it?”
“Hey! We can all use the jet! He asked, I told him what I wanted and he agreed. I’m sure it’s pretty cheap compared to saving the entire co
untry’s national debt. And, Maggie, Saturn, and I are doing most of the crappy work.”
“And me,” injected VIN who had come onto the Bridge and was listening.
“Partner, you wanted that electric car, and you have your silver Audi hidden away somewhere. I just wanted a jet; somebody asked me, I told him and that’s that,” he smiled at the others who were now smiling at him.
“Always on the defensive, Mr. Jones,” Ryan laughed. “I don’t blame you, and you have the right to speak to the president. I’m actually looking forward to a long flight with you. Maybe check out Mortimer’s private island, which now belongs to the American government, or somewhere further afield, before we odyssey out of here. I’ve heard they are going to build a new air force base on the island—it’s just big enough. The Turkish government is complaining, but they sold it to Mortimer in the first place. And, you wouldn’t believe who Mortimer’s boss was!”
“Iran?” suggested VIN.
“Correct. We believe the big guy in Iran underwrote the last president’s election. Suggestions are that over $110 billion was spent; private contributions to big syndicates during the election alone. Of course, this won’t get out to the media.”
“Who told you all this?” Allen asked.
“The president himself, when I was in Washington,” Ryan replied. “He got his information from Everson, who grilled Mortimer’s flight crew. They told him about a house in Iran with its own private airfield just outside the country’s capital. He often flew the blue Gulfstream into there and actually saw our dearly deceased ex-president shaking the hand of you know who, over there. So, General Jones, your Gulfstream is small news on a messed up and dirty planet and makes me want to go into space even more.”
“Do you think China has any involvement in this debacle?” Allen asked.
“The president and I are sure that they are involved; they had a long-term plan to destroy the power of the U.S. over time,” replied Ryan. “I think that Mortimer’s stupidity in releasing those nukes too late blew up their program as much as the damage it did to the rest of the world. It sort of put the kabosh on everything.”
“Funny how the Chinese launched five space ships so quickly, and with laser guns copied from our own U.S. Air Force,” Jonesy added.
“Astute observation, Jonesy. Only Mortimer could have delivered those air force secrets into the hands of our two major enemies,” Allen suggested. Ryan nodded at that comment.
“OK, guys, debriefing time. Tomorrow, or shall I say twelve hours from the end of today’s briefing, we will begin our briefing for our flights back to Earth and for the first flight to the moon.”
While Jonesy was in the Bridge, Maggie and Saturn were in the hospital. When the rotation was restarted after the two craft docked, she carried a sleeping Saturn out of the shuttle. Suzi and Mars met her. Using magnetic shoes to get to the elevator, the two women went up to the midlevel to get both babies checked out.
Both doctors cooed over with the babies. Saturn wasn’t happy about being prodded while trying to sleep; she had much of her father in her.
“I think she came through the launch well,” Doctor Rogers told Maggie. “There is nothing I can see, but we can’t see everything without an MRI. I was told that we might have a MRI coming up, and suggested to Ryan that a full body scanning machine was certainly needed. I’m hoping he will purchase a Philips Achieva, the best machine there is. It only costs a million five, and is worth its weight in gold for us up here.”
“I also put in a word about an MRI, and also for a new infra-red x-ray machine,” added Nancy Martin.
“Won’t the weight be tremendous for launch?” Maggie asked.
“Yes, Igor told me that both machines together weigh just under four tons. I gave him measurements and both could fit into the cargo hold of SB-II before she’s dismantled for her new thrusters. It will be the last time we can get anything that large up here, so we are certainly pushing Ryan, Maggie,” continued Doctor Rogers.
“Maggie, I want to check you over for bruising, spine pain or any other abnormalities, and then please send your husband up here,” Nancy said, getting back to business.
“If these types of launches are going to be normal, then I think we should keep all results and perform full checkups after each launch,” suggested Doctor Rogers. “What is the new turnaround time for SB-III’s next launch?”
“Three days, with perfect weather conditions. We refuel and leave America One in twenty-four hours to bring the crew back up.” The doctors requested that the Jones family and crew aboard SB-III report to the medical station immediately after the next launch.
So much that had happened during their month-long stay on Earth, the Joneses had to become reacquainted with the confined space of America One. The elevators were tiny, as were the corridors, and Maggie felt like a lab mouse as she walked back to their apartment. And she would soon have to get used to Astermine Two again, and that was much smaller!
Twenty-four hours later Jonesy undocked SB-III, and they returned to Earth. Reentry was much the same as previous ones; the empty shuttle was lighter and the new side thrusters were not used in atmospheric conditions. Looking down at the hot shimmering desert, Jonesy looked forward to seeing his new toy, but first there would be a debriefing followed by beers by the pool.
Debriefing was short, with more discussion focused on the next launch than the reentry. An hour after entering Hangar One, the Jones family walked over to a newly erected hangar where Hangar Ten had once stood.
Inside was the most beautiful aircraft Jonesy had ever seen, and it was his. For an hour he and Maggie surveyed the exterior, toured the interior, and paged through the flight manual, to see if there were any operational differences from flying the 550. Apart from changes in takeoff and landing distances, the only real change was that the interior was wider, the engines more powerful, and the instrumentation in the flight cockpit had fewer gauges. It even had a heads-up display of all the needed information.
The bed in the rear was comfortable, and there was even a crib installed for Saturn. Now the Jones family had to fly to the moon to repay the loan.
The next morning Jonesy actually filed an official flight plan into Las Vegas for a shopping trip. The couple owned little in the way of ground clothes, as Maggie called them; it was time to shop for themselves, and to look for clothes for Saturn for the next decade, or until she was big enough to wear flight suits as a grown six-foot tall teenager.
Igor was as excited about the new toy as Jonesy was, and happily accompanied them for the twenty minute flight into Las Vegas. At the last minute, Jonesy changed their flight plan, picking Denver International instead. It was two hours away and made their maiden flight a little longer.
The aircraft flew like a dream. It had lifted off without effort, even with full tanks, and Igor sat in luxury, keeping Saturn busy while the pilots enjoyed their new “runaround”.
Three days later, after flights into Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas for lunch, and Santa Fe, New Mexico for dinner, it was time to get back to business.
All of the crew who had worked on the new project—the tiny cubes—entered the replaced crew compartment through the rear cockpit flight door.
The total weight of the cabin plus crew was one ton. All of the purchases from the shopping trips were placed in the rear cargo bay in twenty mostly empty, silver canisters needed for the mining trip. Ryan didn’t want more than a ton of cargo on this launch; most of his top engineers and scientists were aboard. He hadn’t figured on Maggie purchasing four hundred pounds of luxury food items on their travels: chocolate and candy from Denver, a case each of whiskey and champagne for Ryan from Las Vegas, coffee from a famous coffee roaster in Salt Lake City, and even a hundred pounds of canned rattlesnake from Santa Fe.
The weather conditions at dawn were relatively cool and dry, and even with the extra cargo weight, the shuttle easily left Earth.
At 100,000 feet when the pulsers engaged, Jonesy was sure that
the ride became a real pain in the butt—and back—for everybody in the “First Class” section. But, those twelve seats had been cushioned with an extra three inches of memory foam. In addition, any discomfort to the passengers was alleviated by self-serve drinks and snacks and the latest movies playing one after the other in the crew cabin.
With the extra weight aboard, it had taken three minutes longer to reach the Kàrmán Line; Jonesy had anticipated it would take an additional two to three minutes with a full two-ton cargo.
They reached America One twelve hours after launch. This was the fastest flight to America One to date, taking only three orbits to get to an altitude of 400 miles. SB-III was pretty empty of hydrogen when she docked to the non-rotating mother ship.
Twenty-four hours after docking, the two Astermine mining craft were being packed with the luxuries Maggie had brought from earth. They weren’t leaving for a month with only food pouches. Each craft had its allotted thirty empty canisters.
Ryan was sure that that America One would only be a week behind them. Kathy wanted to have their baby while they were in orbit around the moon.
As Astermine Two moved away from the large ship, Jonesy could see the spacewalking mechanics installing the new, third engine; he was given a thumbs up from the spacewalkers as he slowly approached to see their advancement. Both Astermine craft, VIN, Suzi and Mars in Astermine One, and the Jones family in Astermine Two, disengaged from the mother ship when America One’s orbit was closest to the moon.
Allen and Penny were already back on Earth, and the mother ship would begin to climb to a higher altitude in preparation for her own 300,000 mile journey.
Maggie got little Saturn comfortable in the rear compartment, still decked out in pink. Neither astronaut wore a space suit, just a flight suit, as Maggie had turned the inner temperature to 72 degrees to keep the baby warm.