by WADE, T I
“But, Joanne, politics is politics.”
“Yes, a dirty word in our family, Mr. President. We haven’t had fair and just politics in the USA for decades now, not since I was born, and look at the state of the country, look at the state of the world you have helped form. It’s a mess. The poor have got so poor that now they are no more than slaves, exactly like the poor slaves America had centuries ago. The rich are so rich, like you, that you wouldn’t see the real world even if it struck you in the face. You need to do one favor for me. Allow my new friend Mr. Brusk to have his container ships. Dad, I’m glad to be up here, and hopefully if I ever have the opportunity to return one day, I hope you are long dead and buried, and that there is a new, better America. Then maybe the elite up here might return to Earth. Until then, kiss my butt!” And she strode out of the cafeteria with her father shouting after her.
Ryan didn’t know what to do, and the transmission was already ended as the furious President of the United States pushed the heavy radio off the desk, and it cracked open as it hit the floor hard.
For the next two days, Ryan tried to get a conversation running with the Chinese and the Russians. They were as interested in talking to him as Joanne was talking in to her father, so he apologized to the Israeli and Australian Prime Ministers and ordered Captain Pete to begin their journey to Mars.
They had enjoyed life for the three more weeks in the Gibson Desert. Jonesy and VIN, once Captain Pete had returned, headed out to the Barrier Reef and taught the kids how to scuba dive for the last week. Mars Noble said that it was just like spacewalking, except without the suit. They saw many fish and enjoyed the coral banks. Australia was certainly a beautiful place. The kangaroos abounded when they flew low to see the terrain. Rabbits, one of the two meats grown aboard America One, were everywhere, and there were several interesting desert creatures in the middle of nowhere, like scorpions and snakes. This was certainly not Mars.
As time passed, the astronauts lifted up the topsoil and fish in shifts, in between fishing days in and around the country. Suzi enjoyed the travelling with her family. She had always wanted to visit the land down under, and for a biologist, it was a fascinating experience.
A day before departure, Ryan organized the last supper with friends. Ryan had invited the Prime Minster of Israel for the dinner. The man had happily come, thanking Ryan for staying so long so that he and the other countries could complete so much trading in the time given. Everybody who was a friend in the area was there.
It was Bob Mathews and his girls’ final night with their friends. Doug, the Australian Prime Minister, and a few of his friends were naturally invited, and Ryan was rather impressed to be sitting down in-between two Prime Ministers for dinner.
His Nevada crew had done a great job looking after the crew on the base, and were off on a few days’ vacation thanks to the Australian government. They were leaving in the morning with Bob and his crew.
In the dining room were two of the four titanium cases that had returned from space. Ryan had decided to give two of them away for research. They had the other one, and with the unit on Mars, had more than enough power. The third Cold Fusion unit was to replace the Plutonium-238 reactor underneath the mother ship, or the power system if SB-III returned in two years’ time. Everyone was sure that a lot of power would be needed to fight off the cubes or any new weapons systems on their next visit.
Both Prime Ministers signed a document not to use the technology for war, and both men were glad to have something new to continue developing their countries. Nobody apart from the Mathews crew would know that the two countries now had Cold Fusion, or at least one unit to break down and reverse-engineer.
The Gibson Desert base’s upkeep was paid for the next decade with some of the remaining gold. Ryan hadn’t used half of the ingots he had thought he might need. The Israeli Air Force jet, which had flown in the Prime Minister, was filled with gifts from that country, including a date palm and several other interesting trees and plants for Suzi, and it would head back far heavier than expected.
The dinner was a success and the base quiet the next day as the gifts from both countries, amounting to two shuttle loads, were flown into space extending Ryan’s departure schedule.
Finally, it was time to go, and SB-III left Earth for the last time until that possible visit back to Earth. All the remains of the gold, as well as all the rare earth metals not needed in America One, were stored in the secure hangars.
Many were sad to see the atmosphere of Earth close behind the spacecraft. Ryan, Jonesy with Maggie as his copilot, and VIN in the second cockpit jump seat didn’t say anything as the shuttle, fully loaded with crew in the forward compartment and a ton of hydrogen gas in the rear compartment, headed upward and into the darkness of space.
“Why won’t these governments speak to me?” Ryan asked Captain Pete in the bridge the next morning over coffee. The frozen baklava was still a treat for the crew, and Ryan had told Suzi to bring 200 pounds of it for the members on Mars. He knew that Martha Von Zimmer especially had a sweet tooth for the luxury.
The crew had hundreds of different items for the crewmembers back on Mars. All the shopping lists had been completed by Doug and his team in his country, and there was a ton of supplies from vodka to schnapps, Gummy Bears to Almond Joys and from Toblerone to Hershey’s for the crew millions of miles out in space.
“I assume you have pissed off the leaders and disrespected their testosterone with the destruction of their bases,” smiled Captain Pete. “I don’t think they want to learn new tricks down there, and the best thing is to just wait and hope our new generations find a better world one day.”
“I assume getting an old dog like Mr. Jones off alcohol would be an easier bet,” mused Ryan.
“Well, he actually got sick of fishing,” returned Captain Pete as VIN entered the bridge with Commander Joot.
“Get my partner off the hard stuff? Never!” replied VIN. “You might have had more chance with his old idol Frank Sinatra.” Both Ryan and Captain Pete knew that saving the world had never been in the schedule. According to some, the downhill spiral of Earth had started with the Rat Pack, Hollywood and cigarettes years earlier.
“Climbing through 450 miles altitude with three full orbits to go,” said Captain Pete as Jonesy and the rest of the astronauts entered for the morning briefing. They were quite surprised to see Suzi enter. As usual, she was floating without her legs and had Joanne Dithers and Saturn Jones on each hand. Mars Noble, Lunar Richmond, Penelope Pitt, who had spent dozens of hours with her parents in SB-I, and Pluto Jane Saunders, who had done the same with her parents in SB-II, were behind them. The crew grabbed coffee and delights and waited. This was going to be a different briefing, as the older children weren’t often allowed on the bridge, and certainly not Joanne Dithers.
Ryan looked at his crew. The ones who had been on Earth the most were beach brown, had fantastic tans, were fit, thin and looked as healthy as any group of Homo sapiens and Homo floresiensis could, and the bridge was crammed full.
“Let us all head up to the cafeteria. Now that we are on our way, there is no going back, but first I wanted to show Ms. Dithers the bridge. We are going to need the extra room of the cafeteria for this meeting,” Ryan ordered.
As usual, there was fresh coffee and snacks waiting for everyone up in the cafeteria. The tons of supplies, all the food anybody in space ever wanted, would last for the whole return flight to Mars, as well as for at least a year once they arrived. The whole crew were already looking forward to a regular supply of goodies from Earth every few years.
“Today we begin our first phase of our NextGen program,” began Ryan, once everybody was seated. “Kathy has spoken in length with the youngsters here today, including the new kids and Ms. Dithers. I would like each of the NextGens, apart from Ms. Dithers, to stand up and give their reasons for wanting to be trained in the professions they have selected. I will ask you in order of age, the eldest first. Saturn Jones, please
stand up and tell us your new career position aboard America One.”
Saturn proudly stood up. “I only have one calling for my new profession, and my parents have been training me for three years now. I believe I am capable of copiloting SB-III. I have spent over 180 hours controlling the shuttle in space flight, 610 hours on simulator and completed 40 hours of atmospheric flight on Earth in a Gulfstream 550. Now that we have the atmospheric flight simulator from Nevada aboard ship, I will begin hours on it. My career path is to take over from my dad as Chief Astronaut one day.”
“Thank you, Saturn Jones. Your career path has been accepted. I’m sure you are in the capable hands of both your parents. Mars Noble, please,” offered Ryan.
“I have two career paths I would like to follow and both can be combined into one if need be. My father is Head of Security and I have followed and learned from him since I was five. I have also worked with Captain Pete, spending hundreds of hours on the bridge, thanks to Mr. Richmond, and can copilot America One in long-distance space flight. My completed studies are Course One astrophysics, space directional flight, computer hardware and tuning, astronomy, ion propulsion, hydrogen propulsion, and I will be continuing my education on the return flight with Courses Two and Three astrophysics. I consider my father’s position to be extremely honorable, but I believe I would be a better ship’s captain than Head of Security.” Both Ryan and VIN smiled. VIN knew which career he would prefer Mars to follow.
“Mr. Noble, do you have any objection to young Mars becoming Captain Pete’s protégé?”
“No, of course not. I actually have a different person interested in security,” VIN replied, smiling proudly at his son.
“Mars Noble, like Saturn Jones, you are given full bridge privileges, and you will report to Captain Pete daily for continuing education. I would also like you to spend time with your father in laser operations. He has a different way of controlling the laser aboard ship than Captain Pete, and both men can teach you something. Lunar Richmond, please.” Ryan already knew what she was going to say, but it needed to be made official with the crew.
“After lengthy discussions with both my parents, I would like to direct my career to be a protégé of Igor’s.” The crew was silent, as there had been much speculation that Lunar was going to want Mars’s future career. A sigh of relief went through many. “I believe that Igor has the most important position aboard ship. He liaises between ground and space control. He has control on the bridge when Captain Pete or VIN are off duty. He controls Ground Control when on Earth or Mars. He has the answer to everybody’s questions. My mentor Igor has already instructed me in physics, chemistry, astronomy, space directional flight, spaceship control, computer tuning, and hydrogen propulsion for seven years now, often down in the chemistry lab. I believe between my school work and my extra studies with Igor, many of you have thought I was a ghost aboard ship. My younger sister Pluto Katherine is following in my footsteps and has been part of our meetings for three years now.”
For many this was news. Apart for Ryan being in control of everything aboard ship, only Igor seemed to be everywhere and yet not in command of any one department.
“So you are to be our new Astermine Chief Information and Liaison Officer. Crew, many of you know Igor as Igor. Igor has been my right-hand man since I was in my twenties. Very few decisions have been made without Igor. He has run all our ground bases, and kept them liaised with space operations. He has always been my chief information and liaison officer and I’m happy to have my daughter Lunar be his protégé. Penelope Pitt, please.”
“Like my best friend Saturn, I have extensive hours flying SB-I. Since we arrived back in orbit around Earth, I have completed 120 hours of orbital flight in SB-I. On our flight here, I fought with Saturn to get time in the simulator. To date, I have 560 hours of simulator time. I have spent 15 hours with Mr. Noble on the bridge working on the directional computers for laser firing. I believe I can hit any target on Earth from 5,000 miles, and now would like to spend time in the atmospheric flight simulator. Unfortunately, my second career aboard America One will be shuttle or mining ship astronaut, but I would like to be future Head of Security. I have achieved a black belt in three martial arts, spent hundreds of hours with Mars and Mr. Noble walking the ship, and studied shuttle flight ion propulsion, hydrogen propulsion, and laser defense and attack modes. I have studied the shields around us with Commander Joot and Igor, and even taught Elder Roo the art of Judo.”
Ryan smiled. For a girl who didn’t hug the limelight, Penelope Pitt was certainly a firecracker. “I believe you deserve the career path you have laid out for yourself, Ms. Pitt. I know that your mother Maggie and my wife have taken an interest in your advancement and are proud to learn that you have used nearly every person currently aboard this ship to siphon information. I know Mr. Noble will be proud to hand you his position one day. Pluto Jane Saunders, please.”
“I know I don’t talk much, but my career path is Shuttle Astronaut and Astrobiologist. As with my two friends, Saturn and Penelope, I have had extensive education from my parents aboard SB-II. I have 209 hours of shuttle flight time, 510 hours of simulator time, and unknown to many, have completed several launches and reentries on Earth these last two months. Since my parents flew more missions down to Earth than the other shuttles, I had the opportunity of more practical experience. I will be happy to command SB-II and the mining craft one day. But I would also like to continue my studies and work with Suzi in astrobiology, and I believe both careers can be completed hand in hand.”
Jonesy, Maggie and the Pitts were quite surprised that Allen and Jamie had allowed their daughter to do complete flights, and looked at Ryan.
This seemed news to Ryan, who looked at Allen for an answer.
Allen smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes you have just got to allow the best pilot to fly. Pluto Jane is the best, completely natural pilot in our family.”
Jamie nodded her agreement to that.
What could Ryan say?
“Well, it seems that Ms. Saunders here is already completing flights. I believe her career is Shuttle Astronaut, and we need all the biologists we can get. Saturn Jones, it looks like you might have some competition for Chief Astronaut?”
Saturn looked at Pluto Jane and smiled the Jonesy smile. “Not on my watch, sweetheart,” she said, smiling at her friend. There was much laughter in the crew. Saturn was about as sweet as her father, a rattlesnake with a bad hangover.
“Ms. Dithers, you are 25 years old, older than these NextGens, and you are now part of our crew. What career path would you like to follow? And, ladies and gentleman, our friend Hans is still single if you know of any of the multitude of girls aboard or on Mars who wants a husband. It seems Joanne and Hans are not meant to be.” Again there was much laughter. Everyone knew that poor Hans wasn’t up to the match of Ms. Dithers. He had tried hard, a real gentleman, but it seemed that Joanne Dithers did not like men in general. Nobody knew if that was just because of her father or whether that was a fact, but it was left there for now.
“I have spoken extensively to Dr. Nancy. I have also spoken often with Vitaliy, Head of Engine Technology. It surprises me that these children, Saturn, Mars, Lunar and the two girls I haven’t met, often are so forward in their educations. I believe that they are so educated in areas I never had the chance to study on Earth. Two of my loves are astrophysics and propulsion, but many of you don’t know that I began my university career wanting to do medicine. If I am allowed two channels of study, I would like to study under Dr. Nancy Martin and Dr. Martin Rogers, who I haven’t met yet, in the fields of astrogenetics. I would also enjoy to continue in my main field of astrophysics. I had a long conversation with Chief Astronaut Jones yesterday, and he described how he can actually feel if an engine is working well. I believe I can learn that trait in both propulsion and human behavior. I know that sounds weird, but I believe new directions of learning out here in space will come to us continuously in our futures. My
field will be a new field, and I look forward to working with Commander Joot, Elder Roo, and your brains back on Mars, especially one of my university mentors, Dr. Petra Bloom.” She sat down.
“Well, that seems food for thought,” responded Ryan, thinking about what the girl had tried to say. He couldn’t see a connection between thinking and engines, but he did agree that out-of-the-box thinking was mandatory aboard ship. “Mental impulses to control thrusters; I believe I got what you said. Ms. Dithers, you are lucky that we have so much time up here. I will keep tabs on your advancement. Kathy, we have several of the NextGen who are not with us in this meeting. Can you let us know what the new children are interested in?”
“Yes, I have had meetings with all the new children aboard, and I began my meetings with our original children before we left Mars. We all know that young Jacob Rogers will study medicine under his parents. Most of our NextGens will study under their parents. Many of the new children are wanting to study with Suzi. Suzi and I were worried for a while about not having enough astrobiology students, but it seems that the majority of our new children, ten of them including Paul Walls, the new doctor’s son, want to work with Suzi and Mr. Rose. Most of the NextGens back on Mars are studying astrobiology as part of their curriculum, but a few budding experts like Suzi and Mr. Rose are certainly needed. As far as the second-born children are concerned, I will be having their first meetings on the way home. It seems both future Chief Astronaut Saturn Jones and Future Captain Mars Noble have competition from their peers and the younger ranks. There are several others interested in the same two positions, or even deputy positions.”
“Thank you, Kathy,” responded Ryan to his wife. He had the best person possible looking after the NextGens. “So it seems my position and that of Mr. Jones, Mr. Noble, Captain Pete and Igor are all accounted for. It sounds like several will be putting Suzi and Mr. Rose out of a job. I think that the two-year bus route might come in handy, getting us old folks off the ship and into retirement homes back on Earth. I’m just glad we didn’t start our children’s educations while in the womb, but maybe Ms. Dithers and Dr. Nancy might have something to say about that one day. Igor, Vitaliy and his crew, and I have a project we want to complete before we reach Mars. We are going to design and manufacture the first robot here in space.”