by T I WADE
Air Force One baked in the hot sun on the apron while the president joined Ryan and several of his crew for lunch on the airfield. This would be the last time the president and Ryan would meet for many years.
Three weeks later SB-II was ready for her maiden flight. Jonesy and Allen launched the upgraded shuttle with two of the new lasers aboard, two one-pound cases of plutonium-238, and two spacewalkers who were to fit one of the lasers onto the ISS and the second onto Ivan. SB-II successfully rose into space for its first space flight directly from the airfield.
The other two lasers and their power units—one pound of plutonium each—were already installed in the two shuttles, their aiming devices and equipment already active.
Bonuses were paid out to the scientists returning to their normal lives, each one million dollars richer, and proud of his or her part in Ryan’s operations. Ryan was sure they would be hired by NASA, Space-Ex, Earth-Exit, Planetary Resources, Russia, Europe and the Chinese in droves…if they wanted to work. Ryan had purposely made them wealthy enough not to ever have to work again.
The F-35s, the air force, and FBI security details were gone. So was Bob Mathews, his crew, and the Dead Chicken. He and his flight crew were already fishing in the Caribbean, his wary skipper now always on the lookout for submarines on the fish sonar.
After the final launches, the empty airfield was to be protected by Lieutenant Walls, Sergeant Meyers, a small group of military police, and four retiring air force maintenance men and their families out of Nellis. The airfield was to be kept ready if ever America One returned one day, which the president was sure would happen. Maybe not in his lifetime, but he hoped so.
The hangars, mostly empty, would be left intact. The whole airfield now belonged to Astermine Inc. and would be kept secure, clean, repaired, painted, and maintained by the crew from Nellis Air Force Base.
Ryan still had his secret underground location under Hangar Seven. The stores had been checked and increased by Vitaliy, and his team while they were on the planet. Only the two Gulfstream jets were too big to leave at the airfield and, now that Ryan had been officially presented with the Gulfstream 550, they were to be stored in specially equipped hangars at Nellis Air Force Base.
Jonesy and Allen flew them over to their new homes where a team of mechanics would keep them maintained; nobody would fly them. Ryan and VIN picked up the two pilots in their new red electric sports cars, and after a grand lunch at Mandalay Bay, drove them back.
VIN remembered to say goodbye to his buddy at Creech on the way back, and he had a two-carat polished diamond to give to his new buddy, the cop in the black and white. They had grown to be friends.
VIN also sent another diamond, a much bigger one, to his old friend Joe, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Joe and his policewoman wife had started VIN on this great adventure and VIN hoped that the $50,000 stone would repay any debts Joe incurred from investing his money, whatever was left. In the note to Joe, he gave him permission to use his investments in any way he wished; VIN himself wouldn’t need the money for twenty years or so, and he said he would visit Fayetteville when he was in the area again.
The time was approaching to depart on the journey of all journeys. The limited time left on Earth for the few down there, was used to the optimum. There was just only one thing holding up the whole odyssey.
Chapter 15
Goodbye
Even though the departure date was a day away, the remaining crew on Earth was still waiting for Penny Pitt to give birth. Her desire to have the baby on Earth had closely coincided with the scheduled departure. A week earlier, Doctor Rogers had suggested that she was going to be a few days late. She finally went into labor 40 hours late.
As planned, the airfield was closed down after the final launch, and Lieutenant Walls and Sergeant Meyers stayed on in charge of security. Their families had been relocated to two new, well-constructed, furnished bungalows in the growing gardens, close to the swimming pools. Ryan had offered each of them a lucrative contract. They would never want for anything again, and one was always free to travel while the other stayed to manage the daily maintenance, crew, and military police on duty.
The rest of the scientists who were staying on Earth had all departed. Only the dozen remaining space crew patiently waited. Penny’s baby needed at least a few days to get strong enough to travel. There was still much to do as last-minute requests for items to be added to the cargo were still arriving.
Above Earth, orbiting separately within a mile of the mother ship, the ISS and Ivan were being worked on.
Boris and his team of three were in the ISS, fitting the laser, programming the automated aiming system, and setting up the live feeds to Earth through the three new, small GPS satellites high above them in geostationary positions. Igor and his team were in Ivan doing the same, taking turns to spacewalk outside.
Cargo arrived at the airfield daily: several cases of whiskey, cases of caviar for VIN, clothing, and material to make clothing. The dismantled MRI and X-ray machines had already been delivered in parts to America One aboard SB-I on her third launch into orbit. One thousand pounds of popcorn arrived, as well as six new complete cubes made for Ryan by Planetary Resources in Bellevue, Washington. Extra laser parts arrived and, finally, another two pounds of plutonium-238 arrived in a 500-pound protection container which was whisked up by SB-III to the mother ship in one hold and the popcorn and cubes in the other.
Three days after Penelope Michel Pitt was born, the first Astermine child not to be named after a planet, several hundred pounds of denim and other materials arrived, as well as a couple of new sewing machines. Martha Von Zimmer and Petra Bloem, head of the new sewing club, would be happy ladies.
Six days after the birth, the crew got ready to load all three shuttles now on the ground. In four days they would clear Hangar One for the last time, say goodbye, and launch thirty minutes apart.
Jonesy and family, now brown and healthy, were still in the Seychelles. They weren’t going to miss one day of this warm, beautiful living and had returned to their little paradise as soon as they knew there would be a delay. VIN, Suzi and ten-week-old Mars were with them. The group enjoyed a third visit to the islands, thanks to Penny’s late delivery and there was no way they were heading back until they were needed. The Gulfstream was ready for their return in a cool hangar at the airport.
The Hilton was luxurious, the pool big. To stay fit for the launch, each morning the astronauts went for a morning run while Suzi looked after the babies.
VIN was tanned and strong. Working out for hours in the hotel’s fitness room, he had regained strength and body mass. Exercising just wasn’t the same in low space gravity. He had also made sure that Ryan had stocked up the exercise room on the upper level of the mother ship. Instead of steel weights, he had found bigger plastic units that held water and sent those up. He was not going to let his and Suzi’s upper body strength weaken again.
Suzi wasn’t enjoying the hotel as much. VIN’s legs were permanent, but hers still needed to be attached. She had requested this because it was easier for her to float while working in the cubes with the gravity off. In America One, she often didn’t need to attach her legs. In the hotel during the day she was happier in a wheelchair without her steel additions.
The other guests couldn’t understand why she was wheeled around during the day, but walked into dinner without assistance at night.
“I’m certainly going to miss this,” VIN said to Jonesy over a Tequila Sunrise on their second to last evening as they watched the sunset. They were stretched out by their favorite beach bar on sun loungers and watched the orange sun dip towards the horizon.
“Well, we wouldn’t be here without Ryan and that eventful day we decided to drive over to the gates of the airfield,” replied Jonesy.
“I know. You would be still searching for single women at that Vegas Casino I had to drag you out of,” VIN answered, smiling.
Jonesy thought about that for a while and sai
d nothing.
“I reckon we ended up with our asses in a pot of jam, Mr. Jones,” VIN quipped, copying how Ryan spoke to his partner.
“Not a bad life for a useless side gunner like you either, Mr. Noble,” replied a smiling Jonesy, also copying Ryan.
Maggie and Suzi were feeding the babies in their rooms and had left the men alone, knowing that they needed a bit of time to themselves.
“Well, I think my time is still coming, Mr. Chief Astronaut,” replied VIN watching the sun kiss the flat horizon to the west.
“Why’s that?”
“I got this gut feel that when we return from this odyssey, or whatever Ryan wants to call it, the world is not going to be the same place,” VIN added.
“Why’s that?” Jonesy asked.
“I don’t know. Look at what the scientists have achieved. We now have laser guns that can shoot down targets thousands of miles away. We have Tasers that spit out plasma. The world’s diamond supply is going to crack and fall if China isn’t careful. The Chinese are working 24/7 on world dominance, just as the States are. There is a new race to occupy the lower orbits with lasers, communications, and spy satellites. Can you imagine in twenty years, or when we return to Earth, what the space area around Earth is going to look like? All this might not be here when we return. In a few years, it might all have been blown up!” VIN stated pointing at the majestic setting sun.
“Then your side gunner attributes should come into play?” asked Jonesy, collecting two more tall Tequila Sunrises from the waiter’s tray.
“Hey! I might be too old to be the side gunner then,” laughed VIN. “I’ll have to teach Mars my job.”
“I wonder what life on Mars, the planet, not your son, is going to be like,” Jonesy wondered, thinking about their next mission.
“I suppose we will live like underground rats for twenty years, or until a dome is built from that Nano-Silicone stuff, or until Ryan gets sick of living like a mole. Sitting out here like we are today, I think I’ll work under the sun lamps in a bathing suit with Suzi in the cubes and stay tanned.”
“The cube lamps won’t tan you,” Suzi commented. She held the two babies in her lap as Maggie pushed the wheelchair over to join their husbands and watch the sun disappear into the ocean.
“In the future, if I close my eyes I can always believe that we are back here,” replied VIN.
“That’s what the sauna-pool is for,” admonished Suzi. “Just safer without a sunburn.”
“What’s the fun in that, living like sickly-white old people underground in a rat cave?” asked Jonesy.
“Well, here’s an idea,” Maggie suggested, sitting down on a lounger with Saturn. “Since we have to refuel in Bermuda why don’t we land a few hours early? We can pick up some cases of Dark and Stormy, that black rum and ginger beer you guys fell in love with, and at the same time, we can go shopping for a big sun lamp or three, that really tans you.”
“Well, Ryan said that the rear cargo bay of SB-III is still empty, so we might as well fill it,” Suzi agreed. “That gives us 2,000 pounds. We purchased the entire fish shop down the road yesterday, and asked the guy to freeze it. That was 600 pounds of game fish and 300 pounds of squid in the two chest freezers that we can just squeeze through the aircraft door. If the freezers are 100 pounds apiece, plus the batteries we have to purchase to run them on the way home, we should have room for five to six hundred pounds of rum and a sun lamp.”
“Don’t forget, eighteen hundred pounds maximum cargo in the Gulfstream, minus the ten pounds of beach shells and 300 pounds of bloody beach sand you girls are taking up so that the kids can have a sand pit. We only have room for 100 pounds of cargo in the 650,” Jonesy interrupted. “Leave the beach sand. We can take rum and ginger beer instead.”
“Ginger beer is no problem. Buy me 50 pounds of ginger root, take more bottles of rum, and the biology department can supply you and the kids ginger beer instead of that horrible tasting root beer you Americans drink,” replied Suzi.
“We can ask for an extension cord in Bermuda to refreeze the freezers. If we pack them aboard tomorrow and allow them to get really cold in the aircraft, the freezers should stay frozen for nine to ten hours while we fly,” suggested VIN.
“Good idea, partner, that will save us another 100 pounds,” Jonesy added.
Refreshed, and with the Gulfstream feeling like an overloaded vacation car heading home, the group, sadly left their island of luxury and flew to Bermuda to complete their shopping. Even though the 900 pounds of frozen fish wouldn’t last the whole crew more than a few months, at least it would help them overcome homesickness. Each staple food on Earth was already becoming a luxury in their minds.
Bermuda was hot and sticky. An extension cord kept the fish frozen while they found a taxi to take them shopping; rum, and 30 pounds of Mexican-produced fresh ginger root, enough for Suzi to plant and nurture, were purchased in an open market. As a precaution, she called ahead to the airfield in Nevada to ask the food supply company to send over whatever ginger root they had, within twenty-four hours.
The overloaded Gulfstream 650 laboriously left Bermudan air space. Its interior looked more like an air force cargo freighter or a UPS aircraft than a $55 million luxury jet.
It was dark when they finally reached Nevada eight hours later. The runway lights came on as Jonesy came straight in from the east on a weird and rainy evening for the dry airfield. They hadn’t seen rain like this for at least a year, and the snowfall over Christmas two years earlier.
The crew immediately went to see Penelope Michel Pitt for the first time, and Jonesy couldn’t help but notice the difference with them all standing around the medical room, congratulating the happy couple. He remembered their first meeting over two years ago, when Penny had just joined the team. Including Ryan and Kathy who had just left on the most recent flight, they were all single and all people on a mission. Now they looked like a scene in a day care center: married couples chatting baby-talk with kids everywhere. Even Jonesy was beginning to mellow into fatherhood.
Doctor Rogers came in. His family was still up in America One with Martha the nurse on duty. He and Doctor Martin were waiting for their return flight; it was time to leave.
“Forty-eight hours, Penny,” said the doctor, “and I think little Penelope will be strong enough to go to space. We have the new foam crib ready in SB-I for Penelope.”
“Why don’t you guys go to the pool with Michael?” suggested Maggie. She knew when the time was right was to get rid of the men. “Give the poor man one of your new Dark and Stormy rums, and let us women do what we do best, gossip!”
Jonesy was called to the radio, the only piece of equipment left in Hangar One, a few hours later. It was Ryan in America One.
“I hope you haven’t filled SB-III’s rear cargo bay,” Ryan said over the radio 400 miles above Nevada.
“Unfortunately, we have. We have 300 pounds available cargo weight left,” Jonesy replied, telling him what they had purchased in the Indian Ocean as well as in Bermuda.
“Oh, crap!” replied Ryan. “All that stuff is valuable, especially the frozen fish.” The radio went quiet for a minute while the boss’s brain worked. “SB-III is ready to go, right?”
“Fueled up and ready to launch. The rain’s gone, the sky is its usual wall-to-wall blue,” Jonesy replied.
“It rained?” Ryan asked surprised. “OK, I have two unscheduled mini-plutonium reactors arriving this afternoon as well as two extra pounds of 238. When we got the extra two pounds of plutonium from NASA two weeks ago, I ordered the two extra nuclear batteries. Each battery can be carried around by a couple of space walkers in extremely low gravity conditions. I’ve just managed to wrangle the last two pounds of their first eight-pound production out of the government. These reactors are the same as you have in the front cargo hold in each shuttle, except they are oval-shaped with carrying handles and weigh 400 pounds each. You will have to figure a way to take as much stuff as possible.”
&n
bsp; After the call ended Jonesy went back to the pool to think. “Allen, could you squeeze in another 100 pounds of cargo. Michael, what about you? I know you guys are loaded to the gunnels. Ryan has found another half a ton of radioactive equipment he wants up there. We are going to have to move the crew compartment from SB-III to one of yours. I reckon you could fit at least another hundred pounds of weight in there.”
For an hour they played around with cargo configurations. The crew cabin could take another 200 pounds of cargo, Michael could squeeze in another 100 pounds into the flight cockpit, and that left 200 pounds for Jonesy; he wasn’t going to leave anything behind, unless it was VIN’s crappy frozen squid!
Twenty minutes after dawn, Michael and Penny and their new baby launched in a slightly overloaded vehicle. He had done this launch three times and was familiar with the new system. All the astronauts had forgotten what the Dead Chicken was ever needed for.
Thirty minutes later Allen and a seven months pregnant Jamie headed up with the crew on board, leaving one last shuttle being towed out to the new launch pad, away from the hangars.
The astronauts said their last farewells to the two security men helping them launch and exactly 33 minutes after SB-II, the last of Ryan’s shuttles left Earth for a long time to come. When they would finally return, nothing would be the same.
Chapter 16
The Odyssey Begins
The next few days the crew in America One was packing away the last of the cargo while the mechanics and scientists completed the two space stations.
Several days after the final launch from Earth, the space stations were tested and successful and, two days past schedule, America One blasted out of orbit at 29,000 miles an hour. Ryan was in a darn hurry. He wanted to escape from Earth before he was asked to do someone else a favor. Their destination was Mars. SB-II and SB-III were still moving the two space stations into their permanent orbiting sequences around Earth; they would easily catch up to the mother ship when their task was completed.