First Steps (Founding of the Federation)

by Hechtl, Chris

  Wanda clapped. "Not quite the shining knight I had in mind," she smiled as he stuck out his tongue at her. She hefted her racket remote. "Watch it or you will get it bub," she growled.

  Mrs. Han shook her head. "If you don't mind, we have a match here," she said softly. She waved her Wii racquet.

  "Yeah yeah," Mario tossed his wife his goggles. The commander was a bit more chivalrous, he handed his to Mrs. Han with a polite bow.

  "So, no more space sickness?" Mrs. Han asked, sounding curious. Mario looked over to the spinning stars on the other side of the porthole and closed his eyes. Now that they were underway and beyond the terrifying boost phase they had unreeled the tether and spun the craft up to simulate gravity. With some predicable results for any who happened to look out a porthole.

  "Awe crap," he muttered, feeling his stomach lurch. Hurriedly he moved out of the room.

  "You had to remind him," the commander sighed. He looked out the port. “Nice, but he's right, it is a bit upsetting." He pushed a button and the LCD’s within the window darkened.

  "Well, his motion sickness seems to be visually stimulated. Perhaps that is best," Mrs. Han replied and then nodded.

  "Yeah." Wanda looked on after her husband. She wrinkled her nose and hoped he remembered to turn the fan on when he was done.

  Mrs. Han touched her racquet to her. "Ready?" Wanda looked up startled.

  "I'll check on him in a bit Wanda. Get your exercise," the commander replied as he walked out.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mario shakily got to his feet after giving his sacrifice to the porcelain god once more. "Damn this sucks," he sighed rubbing at his temples.

  "You all right in there?" the commander called.

  He hit the flush. "Yeah," Mario coughed and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. "Give me a moment will you." He cleaned and splashed water on his face. He took the towel and wiped up then ran the blower on high.

  "Sorry," he said as he opened the door to see the commander on the other side.

  "Got you again huh?" the commander observed.

  Mario sighed. "I was okay until I looked out the port hole. I guess zero gee and the whole spinning thing doesn't sit well with me." He closed his eyes.

  "Come on. I'm going to lock the portholes down for now at least while we are spinning. Li is also having trouble so it is justified."

  Mario grimaced. "Tess had it but got over it," he grumbled in irritation. He waved to her curled up in a window seat reading her tablet.

  "That's because I'm not stupid enough to look," she replied.

  He chuckled. "Yeah okay. Best defense is not to look. Great," he sighed. "How much longer do we get to play Ferris wheel?" He grumped as he carefully sat down.

  "One hundred fifty six days Mario," the commander responded, stating the obvious. They all knew that. "Chess?" He set his tablet in front of him.

  "I see you have the board all set up," Mario chuckled. The three dimensional set was rather stunning to see. "I am so glad Luigi managed to talk the game industry in to setting us up," he said. He frowned. "You’re on. Let’s see." He tapped the D2 pawn and moved it forward two spaces to D2. "Have at ye! Revenge!"

  The commander chuckled. "He's on the mend."

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "How the hell..." the commander sighed and flicked the king into submission less than twenty minutes later.”How did...” He shook his head.

  Mario chuckled. "Try having a genius brother who just so happens to love chess. I was good until he started beating me. I had to get better just to keep within shouting distance," Mario smiled and cracked his knuckles.

  "Besides, you thought you could take advantage of me because I was sick." He sat back with a grin.

  "You know, it's not too late for me to open the view ports," The commander growled.

  Mario closed his eyes. "God don't even joke about that."

  "Joke about what honey?" He opened his eyes to the beautiful sight of his wife toweling off. She was sweaty and in good spirits.

  "Have fun?" he asked. Mrs. Han nodded then turned and bowed to Wanda.

  "Good work out Doctor," Mrs. Han said. Wanda chuckled as she returned the bow.

  "Doc, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Wanda? We're all family for the next three years after all," she smiled politely.

  Mrs. Han froze, and then nodded. "Please then call me Yung Lin." She tapped her racquet to Wanda's "Same time tomorrow?" she asked.

  "You know it! I want to learn that move you did in the fourth set!" Wanda grinned. Mrs. Han chuckled.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  They piled into the living room and sat down. "Movie night?" Tess asked.

  "Yeah, Hollywood sent along some real doozies for us to watch. We can't tell anyone though," Wanda grinned.

  "Da. I remember. If I like it will go in blog anyway," Tess smiled. Mrs. Han shook her head.

  "Can we watch Hero?" Mario asked.

  "What the TV show?" the commander asked.

  "No the movie," Mario replied. Mario patted his wife then went over to the computer where the commander was looking over the list. "Here." He typed Hero in.

  The commander looked up at him then to the Hans. "Are you folks okay with it?"

  Li shrugged. "I always loved an action movie."

  Mrs. Han frowned. "What is it about?"

  Mario smiled. "The founding of China." Her eyes went wide. "It's a bit stylized, but it helped widen western understanding a little."

  Tess and Wanda grumbled. "Not another action flick...”

  "I'd like to see something with depth..."

  He smiled. "Watch it and see. Who's got the popcorn?"

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Come on doc kick like you mean it," the therapy nurse instructed.

  Luigi grimaced. "As much fun as it is to be in a pool with a beautiful lady, I really do have other things I need to be doing," he sighed. Now that he was recovering he'd begged and bullied Zubrin into sending him paperwork to keep his mind occupied.

  "No, you spend too much attention to that idiot box as it is, you need this," she said. She held his waist as he kicked. He grunted in irritation.

  "I know Doctors make the worst patients but you’re really pushing it," she teased.

  Luigi grimaced. "I'm not a medical Doctor, I doubt it counts," he tried to reply with a dignified expression but ended up trying not to swallow a face full of water.

  She laughed. "Oh it counts. You're one cantankerous patient. Come on, just pretend it is a goomba or turtle."

  He stopped and eyed her. He watched her blush suddenly. He turned back to kicking. "For your information it is a Koopa. A Koopa Troopa," he said with as much affronted dignity as he could muster. She chuckled as he kicked. "And we jump on them, not kick."

  Her chuckle turned into a laugh as he splashed more vigorously. "I stand corrected,” she replied dryly. “Now kick!" she ordered. He sighed and complied.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Wanda held up a pair of her husband's boxers with her fingernails, touching as little of the fabric as she could and wrinkled her nose. "How does the boy do it? Nine million miles from the nearest greasy Tamale shop and he can still do it," she muttered.

  Mrs. Han sighed. "It is a mystery." She folded the towel in front of her.

  Wanda sprayed the drawers. "So much for the ultrasonic’s, needs a lot more power to take out stains."

  Mario leaned in. "Did someone mention a need for more power?" He pretended to adjust his tool belt as he puffed out his chest. "I'm your man," he hammed.

  "Get out of here you goof. Go play with your tools somewhere else," Wanda waved. He smiled and moved on.

  "It isn't fair, I hold two Doctorates, you have two, and yet we are the ones stuck with doing laundry," Mrs. Han grumped.

  Wanda chuckled. "Trust me, you don't want Mario to clean or cook. The boy can burn water and he usually finds a way to shrink or destroy any piece of clothing he gets his grimy paws on. I swear
he does it on purpose," she muttered darkly. She wrinkled her nose at another set then wadded them up. "My god another?" She shook her head. She heard a noise near the door and tossed the ball.

  The commander caught it and tossed it back laughing. "He's not here," he said. She shook her head.

  "Never let a Mario eat Tex Mex food," Wanda grumped darkly.

  The commander sniffed. "Yeah, I can... smell it," he said, waving a hand in front of his face. She waved a fist at him. He chuckled as he exited hastily. "Thirty more days and we will be on Mars. Then the tables will be turned and we will have our time in the spotlight." Wanda looked over to Mrs. Han. The Asian woman nodded.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Why did you stay behind?" Luigi asked Betsy as he moved his leg.

  "More, flex it," the therapist instructed. He grimaced as he followed the therapist’s directions. He'd been in grueling therapy for months. It had helped to keep his mind off of the unjust universe and the trials. At least until he'd been called to testify. The defense had tried to attack him but fortunately the Prosecution and Judge had cut them off and limited them to the subject.

  "I just wanted to clear a spot for Wanda so they could go together," Betsy replied looking away.

  "Okay, we can take a break," the therapist smiled as she let his leg rest. She rubbed his calf. "You’re starting to cramp again, so we need to go a bit slower and do some stretching. I see you're not doing your exercises on your own," the woman admonished. The therapist sighed. "If you want to get back on your feet you need to do them Luigi. That and drink a lot more fluids." She rubbed at his calf.

  Luigi sighed as Betsy started to get up. He caught her hand. She stopped and turned to him. "Give it up girl, spill," he ordered.

  She blushed. "I just didn't want to go without you," she said softly.

  Luigi's eyebrow rose in startled surprise. His grip tightened. "Right in front of me the whole time and I didn't see it. Some genius I am," he sighed bitterly and shook his head.

  She blushed. "Whoever said men we're smart?" Betsy teased and then chuckled.

  The therapist chuckled. "I'll just give you two a moment," she said. Lucy got up and left.

  Luigi pulled her closer. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?" he asked, voice softening as his thumb stroked her hand. Betsy grimaced and ran her free hand through her hair.

  "I don't know what to say," she said softly.

  "Well, have you staked me out for yourself?" he asked. Her blush went right to her ear tips. "Hmmm, no not yet or even I would have noticed." Luigi pulled her to his side. She reluctantly allowed him. "What's been keeping you? Afraid of rejection?" he asked, trying to meet her eyes but she shyly looked away. She nodded not looking at him. He caught her chin with his right hand and made her look at him. "I can't kiss you in this halo get up, but I'd like to," he said softly.

  She smiled but her eyes glittered. "Me too," she said softly.

  "Well, we can figure something out. We've got time." Luigi replied stroking her cheek.

  "All the time in the world," she agreed. She pressed her hand to his. He smiled.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Whatcha writing? Another letter home?" Mario leaned over her shoulder.

  "Will you get out of here?!" Wanda tried to cover the display. Wonder of wonders they hadn't killed each other in the long trip out. Now that they were edging closer to Mars they were all anxious.

  He chuckled. “You know your messing up the e-mail right?"

  She sat back and sighed. "Look at what you made me do." She grumped as she tapped on the desk.

  He sat on the corner. "Isn't it cool how we get to play with all sorts of neat gadgets? Like this laser keyboard?"

  He waved to it with one hand. "Hey stop that!" she growled. She smacked at his hands. He chuckled and snatched them back.

  "Touchy touchy," he teased grinning. He got up. "Commander says to let you know we have about twenty minutes until we maneuver," he said soberly. He got up and walked to the door.

  "I wonder how much fun we can have with the safety straps?" he asked with a wicked leer.

  She spun and threw her Marvin Martian doll at him. "Will you get out of here?" she said, fully exasperated but now blushing. He chuckled as he ducked out. She colored and dimpled. "Gah, you'd think he was sex starved or something," she sighed as she looked at the hash. "Crap. Easier my left nipple," she growled and then blushed at what she'd just said. She was starting to think that using the Dragon speech thing would have been better. She highlighted the text and deleted it. "Okay, blog entry round two," she sighed.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Tess waved her hands and then shrugged. "Dis is neat how they fix old cars," she said. Mario smiled. Wanda was next to him, snuggled against his side reading an e-book.

  "What are you watching? Is that a fifty seven Chevy?" the commander asked coming in. He was a plane nut not a car buff but he still liked the classics. Something he'd inherited from his dad.

  Mario looked over to him then back to the screen. "Fifty eight. The show is called Wrecks to Riches. They find old beat up cars and restore them."

  Tess shook her head. "Is much more than restore, make a whole new car! Hot rod!" she said excited. Mario chuckled. He looked over to the commander. The commander was in his basketball uniform.

  "How'd the game go?" Mario asked, lifting an eyebrow in inquiry.

  "Yes how did they do?" Wanda asked looking up. "They lose?" she asked taking in his demeanor.

  "By six points," the commander replied, thoroughly disgusted as he sat down heavily. "That sucked. Good game though. How'd you know?"

  Mario smiled. "Well, if your team had won the entire Hab would have been ringing by now," Mario answered wryly.

  The commander smiled. "Yeah. True."

  Tess smiled then turned back to the show. "Why do they still use gas engines, why not electric?" She turned to Mario.

  "I have no idea," he sighed and spread his hands.

  "These shows are paid for by parts suppliers. They don't want them to make a car they can't supply parts for,” the commander grumped.

  "Capitalism. Yes," Li replied with a knowing tone. They looked over to see Li and Yung in the doorway.

  "Show over?" Yung Lin asked.

  "Almost. You can have it in a minute or two," Mario responded and went back to watching. They watched as the team put the finishing touches to the car.

  "Nice. Auction?" the commander asked.

  "Yup, whole point of the show. Fix it up then sell it. Capitalism like Li said," Mario shrugged.

  "Whatever works, I just want to see a cool car." He looked over to his wife then to Tess.

  Tess was watching the auction bouncing. "More, no thirty thousand dollars go higher. Come on you can do it."

  The commander chuckled. "Looks like you converted the Ruskie."

  Mario chuckled. "That was easy; she's a gear head at heart."

  "Yes!" She thrust her fists in the air then high fived Mario who laughed. "Nice!" Even Yung Lin laughed at her exuberance.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Hey, I just thought of something, doesn't NASA usually send a chimp first?" He looked over to the commander who shrugged hiding a grin.

  "What makes you think they didn't?" the commander teased.

  Mario looked up confused to see the commander pointing to him. "Oh ha ha," he growled. Wanda was giggling but trying to hide it. "Oh yuck it up dear, just remember, you married me remember?" That got Tess and the commander going as Wanda sobered and glared.

  Wanda sighed. "You would bring that up," she muttered. He chuckled.

  Mario picked up a towel, shook it out then knotted it around his neck as a cape. "Where no man or monkey has gone before!" He struck a heroic pose. The AC popped on making the improvised cape flutter out behind him. That had her and the others in stitches.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Hey gang, guess what we got in the mail today?" Luigi smiled at the camera. "Drum roll please..." Ben
ny obliged by tapping out a roll on the edge of the desk. "Walla!" Julia set a box down in front of Luigi. "You're very own action figures!" she said eagerly. Mario chuckled. He'd already played with the idea with the Reprap sometime ago.

  "If it hams a line I swear I am going to go postal," Wanda muttered.

  His grin widened. "Oh I dunno. As long as it is in character I don't mind."

  She glowered at him. "Just because you have to ham up your name sake doesn't mean the rest of us like to," she growled. He chuckled.

  "Here's the commander." Luigi pulled at the packaging. "Okay typical, twenty layers of packaging." The commander chuckled. Finally Luigi got the figure out. "There, none the worse for wear." He examined it. "Hmmm looks good. NASA uniforms no less. I heard they are coming out with a couple more, one in a space suit and a skin suit." He set posed the figure then set it down in front of him. "And look it even talks!" He pressed a button on the back and the figure let out a tiny "On to Mars!" phrase.

  The commander groaned hanging his head chuckling. "Oh god if the family gets this I am never going to hear the end of it."

  Mario chuckled smacking him on the shoulder. "Face it, you’re an icon." The commander looked up and shook his head.

  "Here are the Hans." Luigi lifted them into view. Mrs. Han was dressed in a lab coat, Li in a skin suit. "Wanda and Tess..." He held up another pair. "And finally Mario." He set the figure down in front of him in the center of the others.

  "Do I really look that fat?" Mario asked, sounding dismayed. He was patting his belly. Wanda giggled; hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle it.

  "Check this out." Luigi grinned as he pushed the button on the back.

  "It's a Mario! On to Mars!" the figure said. Luigi laughed with the others. Mario sighed.

  The commander laughed slapping his knee. "Perfect! Sounds just like you!" He pointed his finger.

  "Oh shut up," Mario mock growled. Wanda was giggling, eyes watering hand over her mouth. "Everyone's a comedian." he sighed, instinctively hamming it. She busted out laughing.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Okay kids, we are traveling at a pretty fast speed. Does anyone know how fast?" The commander asked the TV camera. Now that they were only a few weeks out the public was picking up interest so they were doing more and more television spots. "Why don't you check and I will give you a moment. But while we wait, Miss Audrey Clayhill, I believe you asked me about how come we have gravity right?" Mario smiled crossing his arms and watching from behind the camera.