by Bob Blanton
“He probably won’t even notice you’re there,” Catie said.
“Admiral Michaels, what’s the status of our fleet?” Marc asked.
“We have a skeleton crew on the four carriers, most of our Paraxeans elected to stay with the carriers until things settle down. We’ve got a sixty-forty split, Delphineans to Paraxeans. We’ve placed the enemy Paraxeans into stasis until we have a plan. The battleship was pushed inward toward Jupiter’s orbit, and we’ll have to go get it once it gets close enough to use the gravity drives,” Admiral Michaels said.
“We’re leaving all the Hyraxes and most of the Foxes on the carriers. The Sakira has a full complement of thirty-nine Foxes and two Lynxes, so we’re well-positioned here around Earth,” he continued.
“Thank you; what about our pilots?” Marc asked.
“We’ll be leaving sixty pilots with the carriers; we’ll set up a rotation schedule for them and the crews. The rest of them will be here on Delphi City or on the space station; it will take another two weeks to get everybody back.”
“We need to come up with a plan that allows us to keep a ready force available in case we have other visitors,” Samantha said.
“And a training plan,” Admiral Michaels said. “We need to keep refreshing the crews’ training and continue to update the pilots’ training; most of them just got the crash course. We need to decide on the correct force size to maintain. We might want to have something like a reserve force agreement with the other nations so we can quickly raise whatever we need should something else come up.”
“I agree,” Marc said. “Admiral Michaels, Blake, and Liz work on a plan. You’ve got two months. Sam, can we start floating the idea to your counterparts?”
“I think it will be best to have Margaret start that at the U.N., then I can follow up once we get a read.”
“Agreed,” Marc said. “We need to be planning for the next encounter.”
“Speaking of planning for future problems, we did not have enough people available to do boarding actions,” Blake said. “In this case, it wasn’t necessary, but we need to build up our ability to board and take over an enemy ship.”
“Kal, can you take that on?” Marc asked.
“Right up my alley. I’ll contact some people I know who have done a few boarding actions,” Kal said. “We’ll put together a training program and build up a force. I think two hundred would be a good target.”
“Sounds like a start; work it out with Blake,” Marc said. “By the way, Sam, Governor Paratar, and I contacted Paraxea yesterday.”
“What did they say?” Admiral Michaels asked.
Marc nodded to Samantha, indicating she should answer.
“They apologized for the intrusion; said they had no idea. They offered to take the colonists back, but Governor Paratar didn’t seem too interested in an eighty-year journey back to Paraxea,” Samantha said.
“So, we still have that problem on our plate,” Admiral Michaels said.
“Yes, but maybe Catie’s guy has a solution to that,” Marc said. “If we can really travel that fast to other star systems, we might be able to find a home for them.”
“Wait, I see some issues,” Catie said. “One, he’s not my guy; two, we don’t know that you can send a person through safely; three, we don’t have a clue if you could send something as big as that asteroid through; and four, they would still need a lot of help to get established.”
“Very good points, and I’m sure that you and your guy will be able to give us answers to the key ones in a few weeks,” Marc said. He laughed when Catie threw up her hands in frustration.
“If we find we can send people through, what would we use for a vehicle?” Blake asked. “The Sakira?”
“Seems too big, especially since we want to keep this all a secret,” Marc said. “But first we’ll use the probes to see if we can find a system of interest. Once we find a suitable system, then we would need to send a manned mission.”
“Or a womaned mission,” Catie said with a grin.
“I stand corrected, a peopled mission,” Marc said. “It will likely be months or years before we find a suitable system, and we still don’t know how long it will take to perfect the technology. So, moving on, how do we stand on our space station construction?”
“The crews have been busy,” Liz said. “While we were gone, they completed the second hub and have started extruding the first ring for it. They’ve also completed fifty percent of the build-out of the third ring of section one, so we’re ready for some significant population to move up there.”
“That will be helpful when we start bringing the Paraxeans here,” Marc said. “Now for some of our more immediate plans. We need a finance minister.”
“I’ve made an offer to Dr. James Hausmann,” Samantha said. “He was the finance minister of the EU a few years ago, and his politics align with our goals. He’s currently suffering some severe health issues that Dr. Metra says she can take care of. I’m pretty sure he’ll accept.”
“Good, next, as we all know, the introduction of the fusion reactors has had a big impact on the value of oil. I would like to propose that we offer Algeria a fusion reactor and the right to produce polysteel.”
“Why Algeria?” Blake asked.
“They’re relatively stable, I think we can push them toward a more democratic system with the right incentives, and they have a huge desert that I want them to plant forests on,” Marc said.
“How would that work?” Liz asked. “It’s a desert.”
“With a fusion power plant, they can desalinate water from the Mediterranean and pump it inland. We have a genetically modified version of the cypress tree that will grow larger and faster than the native tree. If Algeria is aggressive in their efforts, they will be able to pull hundreds of millions of tons of carbon out of the atmosphere,” Marc explained.
“And once they stabilize the soil around them, they’ll have grazing land available between the trees,” Dr. Nikola said. “That will pull in even more carbon.”
“So, the Algerians get a way to turn their oil into something more valuable, polysteel, and they get fusion power and land reclamation in exchange for what?” Blake asked.
“Sequestering the carbon and moving to a more democratic society,” Marc said. “Hopefully, they can set an example for the rest of the Arab world.”
“What about Morocco?” Catie asked.
“They’re too small to have the same impact, but we will be providing them with a few fusion power plants as well. Their car industry is growing fast. That brings up another topic,” Marc said. “I think we need to start selling batteries to the other car manufacturers. We can start slowly so that Fuerza Motors doesn’t suffer, but we need to get rid of all the gasoline-powered vehicles as quickly as we can,” Marc said. “And by the way, Johannsson’s cycles now have a sixty-percent market share.”
Catie smiled; it had been her idea to start with motor scooters and cycles, and she was the designer of the first few models they had started building. Well, she and ADI.
“Samantha, do you have someone in mind to negotiate with the Algerians?” Marc asked.
“I think we can have Margaret start the discussion. I’ll work with her to come up with someone to take over,” Samantha said.
“I’ll talk with Herr Johannsson about how to handle releasing batteries to the other manufacturers,” Fred said. “Any special terms you’d like to have applied?”
“No,” Marc said. “I think we’ll focus on minimizing gasoline power; we have other levers to achieve our other objectives. Everyone, have a good-day,” Marc said.
Chapter 7
Women United
“Dr. Metra, would you please meet me in my office,” Marc messaged the doctor.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Dr. Metra replied.
Marc continued to read the new updates in his specs while he waited for her.
“Captain, what can I do for you?” Dr. Metra asked.
�
�I was reading this news article about a dramatic drop in the birth rate in several underdeveloped countries that has been accelerating over the last two years. I couldn’t help but wonder if you might know anything about it.”
“Oh, then it’s working,” Dr. Metra said, sounding very pleased with herself.
“Could you explain what is working?”
“Introducing the birth control nanites, of course.”
“I don’t remember authorizing something like that,” Marc said.
“You didn’t,” Dr. Metra said. “I took it upon myself as a woman and a doctor to address a serious issue on your world.”
“How are you doing it without risking exposing the nanites to scientists and doctors?”
“Well, first of all, most of those women never see a doctor. Second, the nanites are on a small bandage, distributed by the women I’ve enlisted to help. Once the bandage is exposed, the nanites have only ten minutes to enter the bloodstream before they fuse themselves.”
“Okay, that sounds reasonable, but how are these women going to have children when they want them?” Marc asked.
“That’s the beauty of it,” Dr. Metra said. “The nanites eliminate their menstrual cycle, just like the ones we use here in the city do. If the woman wants to get pregnant, she only has to drink a particularly bitter tea every four hours for one day. The nanites will then induce ovulation as long as she doesn’t have an abnormally high level of stress hormones, isn’t malnourished, and doesn’t have a serious illness.”
“Don’t you think people will notice?” Marc asked.
“Obviously they are,” Dr. Metra said. “But it’s only being given to women who ask for it, or to their children. They have the details explained to them, and there is always an older woman in the village who actually manages the situation. If they forget, they can go to her to get help.”
“Won’t the men get upset?” Marc asked.
“Undoubtedly,” Dr. Metra said. “But they need to learn to treat their women as equals, not as broodmares and slaves. I’ve read studies that were done here on Earth that show that the local economy improves once women have control over their reproductive rights. So, in the long run, everyone will benefit and adapt to the new reality.”
“Okay,” Marc said with a sigh. “Are there any other projects that I should know about?”
“No, just this one.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“We could use free flights on the Lynxes so it’s faster for the women in my network to replenish their supply of bandages, and so they can reach more countries.”
“I’ll give you a budget of ten million per month,” Marc said. “If you need more, let me know. How have you been managing it until now?”
“I’ve been using the money you pay me,” Dr. Metra said. “I don’t need much, so this was a good use for it.”
“Let me know what you’ve spent so far, and I’ll reimburse you. You can find another good use for it. Also, what are you doing about printer time to make the nanites?”
“Catie and I have an arrangement,” Dr. Metra said.
“So, she’s involved?”
“She doesn’t know exactly what I’m doing with the nanites, just that I need them for a good cause,” Dr. Metra said.
“Okay, let me know if you need more printer time. I’ll let Catie know it’s okay. You should explain to her and Sam what’s going on.”
“I will, and thank you, Captain.”
“You know, I almost convinced myself to introduce them into the water supply,” Marc said, “but I couldn’t get past the choice thing. Seems you’ve come up with a better way.”
“I hope so.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Ms. Beyene, it has come to our attention that you are illegally handing out birth control,” the police sergeant said as he entered the office of the aid worker. The office was just a hut with a dirt floor and some furniture.
“I have not,” Ms. Beyene said. “Look around; we only have a few medicines to take care of cuts and bruises, plus some penicillin to try and deal with infections. Anything more serious and we have to ask for help from the city.”
“I don’t believe you! We’ve only had twenty births in the village in the last two years. I’ve received complaints from the council about the problem.”
“What problem? We have too many children in this village already; we can hardly feed them as it is.”
“We need children to work the fields.”
“If the women are not pregnant, then they will be able to help. And they will be healthier. And with fewer mouths to feed, we can sell more of our crops. With the money, we might even be able to start some small businesses here,” Ms. Beyene said. “You men and your egos.”
“Search this place,” the sergeant yelled at the two patrolmen who were with him.
The other young woman in the office cowered in the corner as the two men began searching through the cabinets and drawers in the office. The sergeant stood by the door, glowering at everyone as he picked at a splinter in his hand.
Ms. Beyene walked over to him and offered help. “Let me get that for you,” she said, brandishing a needle. She deftly removed the splinter then put a small bandage over the cut. The young woman cowering in the corner suppressed a laugh.
After an hour of searching, the police left the office, leaving it in disarray.
The young woman stood up from her chair in the corner and walked over to Ms. Beyene. “Did you use one of our special bandages on him?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean he won’t be able to have children?”
“I wish,” Ms. Beyene said. “But my understanding is that it will just regulate all that testosterone he has; maybe it will make him easier to get along with. I’m sure his wife will be happier if he’s a little calmer than usual.”
“Maybe we should use them on more of the men.”
“I’ll ask about it,” Ms. Beyene said. “Now we have to get this place straightened back up; we will have clients coming in after this mealtime is over.”
Chapter 8
Catie’s Alter Ego
“Hi, Mommy,” Catie said as Linda entered her condo.
“How are you doing, Sweetie?” Linda asked.
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not sounding okay.”
“Well, I’m stuck inside; every time I go out, I get mobbed!”
“They’re still at it?”
“Yes!”
“So, what are you doing now?”
“I’m working on a couple of projects for MacKenzies,” Catie said.
“What projects, can you tell me about them?”
“Sure, I’m working on a new probe that we can use to explore outer space with, and I’m also designing a new ship, one that’s smaller than the Sakira,” Catie said.
“Why do you need a smaller ship?”
“The Sakira is kind of big and takes a big crew to run it. A smaller ship would be more efficient, and might work better with some of the new drive technology we’re working on.”
“So, how are you making it smaller?” Linda asked.
“I’m only giving it one small flight bay, just big enough for four Foxes and two Lynxes. It just has two decks for cabins for the officers and crew. Engineering and environmental use up about one-third of the ship,” Catie explained.
“How much smaller is it then?”
“It’s only one hundred forty meters long compared to two hundred fifty meters for the Sakira and only fifty-five meters tall versus the Sakira’s eighty meters.”
“That still sounds like a big ship,” Linda said.
“It is, but it’s substantially smaller in size and mass, which is good for the engines.”
“Are you keeping up with your schoolwork?”
“Mommy!”
“I have to ask.”
“Of course I am. I’ve almost finished the work for my BA in mechanical engineering and for one in computer science,
too,” Catie said. “And I’ve finished all the high school courses I was putting off; I just have one more paper to write.”
“You mean the ones like political science, sociology, health, and history?”
“Yeah, those are the ones,” Catie said. “A lot of reading and then a lot of papers to write, and Grandma reviews each paper I write, so it takes twice as long to finish.”
“What paper do you have to write?”
“It’s supposed to be on classes in society, how a person’s social background limits their choices,” Catie said. “We’re supposed to study and interview a person without them knowing it and write about how they fit into society. But with my newfound celebrity, I don’t know how I’m supposed to do it.”
“That sounds like an interesting project,” Linda said. “Why haven’t you done it before now?”
“You did hear me say it was for sociology?” Catie asked.
“Yes, and you should learn that the soft sciences can be just as interesting as the hard sciences,” Linda said. “Where are you thinking about doing it?”
“I was going to do it in Delphi City. I thought I’d get a job in one of the manufacturing plants as a regular worker and study the people I work with, but now that’s out.”
“Sam told me that Liz suggested a disguise for you.”
“It’s Sam’s fault that I have this problem!”
“Well, besides that, what do you think about a disguise? You could color your hair and use some makeup,” Linda said.
“Maybe, but I’m not sure that will be enough,” Catie said.
“Talk to Liz about it.”
“Okay, I will. We have a workout scheduled for tomorrow, so I’ll ask her then.”
“Good. Now, are you coming to dinner tonight?”
“What are you making?”
“Are you daring to suggest that having dinner with your mother is dependent on what I make?”
“No . . . I was just curious,” Catie said.
“Good, we’re having pasta primavera.”
“Bye, Mommy.”
“Bye, Sweetie.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Good shot,” Liz said as she twisted Catie’s arm and threw her over her hip.