by Bob Blanton
“Money will work,” Samantha said. “Just buy one from one of the shipping companies; go for a new one, give them an extra ten or twenty million for it.”
“We should buy three,” Admiral Michaels said, “four, if we can afford it. We can fly the crew and planes to where they’re needed, but having one in the Mediterranean Sea, one in the western Pacific and one in the Atlantic gives us the best coverage. Put a skeleton crew on each and just keep them in place. If you get a fourth, you could put it down by Australia and New Zealand.”
“Okay, you and Blake figure it out,” Marc said. “Now, let’s go over our regular business. Sam, what’s the status on a CFO for MacKenzies?”
“I’ve narrowed down my list to four candidates; I’ll interview them after the first of the year,” Samantha said.
“Mining the asteroid belt, where are we, Catie?” Marc asked.
“I’ve talked to Paul; he’s confident they’ll be able to get miners from Appalachia; if not, we think we can get some from Britain, too. He’s going to send his brother out to do some recruiting for us after the first of the year,” Catie said. “Based on his recommendation, Nikola and I designed a new probe to search for good asteroids to mine. I think we should make four of them, one for each quadrant of the asteroid belt. We’ll send the miners out and set up next to the best asteroid we find.”
“Where are the miners going to live?” Marc asked.
“At first, I think we have to use the Sakira,” Catie said. “It can accommodate the number of people we need to put out there, and some are going to want their families with them,” Catie said. “I would suggest we build a small space station to house them once we find the right asteroid to start mining. We can easily find methane and iron asteroids close by to provide the material.”
“But how would we move the space station once the asteroid plays out?” Fred asked.
“Hopefully, we wouldn’t need to move it too far, but you just push it along,” Catie said. “We moved Delphi station’s orbit farther out once everyone knew about it. We can add more powerful thrusters to speed it up a bit, but really we wouldn’t be in a hurry; a Lynx will be taking the crews back and forth anyway.”
“What are you going to do for gravity on the Sakira? You don’t want the miners to be hanging out in microgravity too long,” Samantha asked.
“We can fly the Sakira in a tight circle; if it’s five miles across, then a Lynx will be able to dock with her. It’s the most efficient method of giving them one G.”
“When will the probes be ready?” Marc asked.
“They’re ready now,” Catie said. “We’ll need to use an Oryx to deploy them; they’re one and one-half meters in diameter.” Catie looked at her father with a pleading look.
“Alright, you can fly the mission,” Marc said.
“Thanks, Daddy. Liz, are you in?”
“You bet, I’m not turning down the chance to be part of the first crew to circumnavigate the solar system,” Liz said.
“Take someone else with you as well,” Marc said. “Morgan, maybe.”
“I’ll ask her,” Catie said. “It’s actually going to be boring; we’ll be able to do a lot of work since we’ll just be flying most of the time.”
“What about your Solar Explorers?” Marc asked. “I like the name, who coined it?”
“Ajda did,” Catie said. “They won’t be ready for two or three weeks. I suggest we send out eight, divide the local space into eight sectors, one for each.”
“And the status of our new jet design?” Marc asked.
“Hey, is it just me, or does Catie seem to be managing most of your projects?” Herr Hausmann asked.
“No, it’s not just you. She grabs all the most interesting projects,” Blake said. He scowled at Catie as he said it.
“Catie just happened to be designing the Solar Explorers when we decided we needed more probes for the asteroid belt; that plus the fact that she’s been the program manager for all of our aircraft, has created a bulge of activity for her,” Samantha said. “Although Blake is right, she can be greedy.”
“Thanks, I think,” Catie said.
“Catie, our new jet,” Marc reminded her.
“Yes, we’re still waiting on the first pass of the airframe design; it should be ready in about two more weeks. Once we have it, we’ll start building out our prototypes so we can add and fine-tune the rest of the design. All the design teams are fully staffed and making good progress.”
“Herr Hausmann, how are you settling in?” Marc asked.
“I’m doing well,” Herr Hausmann said. “I’ve done the budget projections for the Delphi government; you’re running a healthy surplus. It does confuse me; I’m not used to winding up with positive numbers after I finish my calculations.”
“I’m sure you’ll adapt,” Samantha said.
“I’m sure I will,” Herr Hausmann said. “I will need to factor in the cost of expanding your military, but given what Admiral Michaels is suggesting, I don’t think it will make a very big impact over what I was assuming. I suggest you diversify your bond holdings, but U.S. T-bills are relatively safe.
“I also took the liberty of running the numbers on MacKenzie Discoveries, which resulted in an even bigger surplus. Shocking actually; you people need to find something to do with all that money,” Herr Hausman said. “Also, given the numbers I’m seeing for the Delphi economy, you should consider creating your own currency.”
“Thank you for doing the numbers for MacKenzies,” Marc said. “We’ve been thinking about launching a Delphinean Dollar, but I would like to hold off on that for now. Once you’re settled in more, we might be able to consider it. International monetary policy isn’t my strength.”
“It’s up to you,” Herr Hausmann said. “Using U.S. dollars and T-bills is safe, but it does create support for the U.S. economy.”
“That’s okay, we like the U.S.,” Marc said. “We’re just not too fond of the current president.”
After reviewing production numbers and the status of the various construction projects, Marc adjourned the meeting.
Chapter 18
Probe Deployment
“Alright, Girl,” Liz said as they left the meeting. “We’re going to be the most famous astronauts in history.”
“You think so?” Catie said. “I think what we’ve done is going to look boring in ten years.”
“But we’re not stopping now,” Liz said. “We’re going to be part of whatever happens in the next few decades. Are you going to invite the twins to come along?”
“I’m going to tell them about it, stressing how long and boring it’s going to be,” Catie said. “I’m not sure I want to be trapped in an Oryx with those two when they’ve been bored for over one week.”
“We could always lock them in the cargo hold,” Liz said.
◆ ◆ ◆
Once Catie told them about the mission, the twins begged Catie to let them come. They promised that they would study the whole time and not bother anyone. Of course, Catie relented.
“I can’t believe the twins wanted to come,” Liz said, “Much less that you’d give in and let them.”
“I told them it was going to be fourteen days of just sitting in the plane, but they kept saying that they had lots of homework,” Catie said.
“How much is Dr. Sharmila giving you to take them off her hands?”
“I would never ask for anything to take care of the twins,” Catie said indignantly. “But she did promise to take the two of us out to the best meal ever when we return.”
“There they are.”
The twins both raced toward Catie, leaving their mother behind. They each were carrying a bag with their extra shipsuits and whatever else they wanted. Dr. Sharmila just stopped and waved at Catie, “Take good care of them,” she said over the Comm.
“We will,” Catie said. She grabbed one twin, and Liz grabbed the other; then, they led them onboard the Oryx where Morgan was waiting. Catie waved to her other two
bodyguards who were positioned on both ends of the Oryx before she closed the hatch.
“Morgan, you’ll have to watch them,” Catie said. “Okay, you two, get strapped in,” she instructed the twins.
“We want to see the probes first,” both twins said together.
“They’re just big black balls,” Catie said, but she motioned them to go ahead and check out the cargo hold.
“I’ve got them,” Morgan said as she followed the twins to the hold.
“Okay,” Catie said as she headed to the cockpit with Liz, “Just thirteen days twenty-three hours and fifty minutes to go,” she whispered.
“Don’t remind me,” Liz said. “I’m actually dreading this flight; that flight back from the Enterprise was grueling, and that was only one week.”
Morgan watched the twins as they recorded themselves in various poses with each of the probes to document the beginning of their trip. It seemed they were trying to figure out what to do next when Aalia got that ‘aha’ look and started whispering to her sister.
“We think they need names,” the twins said.
“Names, you don’t think probe-one, probe-two, probe-three and probe-four are good enough?” Catie asked over the Comm.
“Boring!”
“Okay, so what do you want to name them?”
“Can we name them anything we want?” the twins asked.
“I don’t think so,” Catie said as she thought about how to challenge the twins to come up with good names.
“Well, what are the rules?”
“We’re launching the probes around the solar system, every ninety degrees, so you have to name them after a famous person from a country that has a longitude equal to the position we’re placing the probes in, that being zero, ninety, one-eighty, and two-seventy,” Catie said.
“What countries are those?”
“I don’t know, you’ll have to do some research,” Catie said.
“Smart,” Morgan said. “They’re already heading back to their seats.”
Catie strapped in and fired up the engines; she’d completed her preflight check while waiting on the twins. “I hope that will keep them busy for a while,” she said.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Liz said. “But maybe it’ll let us get off the ground. Tower, this is Oryx thirty-five, requesting permission to taxi.”
“Oryx thirty-five, you’re clear to taxi.”
“And we’re off,” Catie announced over the Oryx’s intercom once Liz had permission to take off. She could hear the twins cheering in the back.
“At least they’re happy, but I’m not sure they realize what a pain it is to be stuck on a spaceplane where nothing is oriented the right way. At least on the Lynx, we could set panels to create a floor,” Liz said.
“Oh, it won’t be that bad,” Catie said.
“Why not?”
“I appropriated a couple of gravity drives from the scout ship we’re building and had them installed in this Oryx. So, once we’re out of the atmosphere, we can orient the ship so the floor is still the floor.”
Liz punched Catie on the shoulder.
“Ouch!”
“That’s for letting me think we’d be miserable for two weeks,” Liz said. “I’ll make dinner tonight to thank you for thinking of snagging the gravity drives.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The twins decided to classify all the probes as Asteroid Explorers and named each individual probe after a famous cartoon character from the country that was found along that longitude. For the zeroth meridian and France, they selected Madeline, the little French girl depicted in early books by Ludwig Bemelmans, and now famous for her movies. For the ninetieth meridian and the United States, they selected Snoopy, the famous comic strip and cartoon dog by Charles Shultz. For the one hundred eightieth meridian, they selected Tuatara, the DC Comics superhero and alter ego of a boy from New Zealand. For the two hundred seventieth meridian, they selected Mowgli of The Jungle Book fame since he was from India.
Appropriately, they had just finished deploying Snoopy when the U.S. election results came in. Senator Novak had won the election in a landslide, 80.5 million to 50 million in the popular vote, and 510 to 28 in the electoral college. The president had only carried five states, Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, and Mississippi. It was the most lopsided win in U.S. history since Ronald Reagan’s second election.
“Yay,” Catie said. “I’m so tired of all the junk the president has been throwing at us, much less what he’s been saying about us. It’ll be nice having a friend in the White House.”
“I’m glad he lost,” Liz said, “but I’m not sure Senator Novak is going to be much of a friend.”
“Why not?”
“She’s pretty soft on defense. A big part of her campaign was about not allowing American forces to get pulled into regional conflicts,” Liz said.
“Sounds good.”
“It does until you figure out that just means that you’re letting Russia and China prey on all the little guys. If the U.S. refuses to help, then the EU isn’t strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Russia, and there’s nobody to get in China’s way,” Liz said.
“She can’t be that foolish,” Catie said. “Both Afghanistan and Iraq had nothing to do with Russia.”
“But Syria did, and look what happened there.”
“She wasn’t the one to pull out and let Turkey and Russia have their way.”
“No, but she supported the move. Even after it turned into a mess, she just kept saying that if we had never gotten involved in the first place, it wouldn’t have turned to Russia’s advantage as much as it did.”
“You’d think that Russia would figure out that they’re setting their sights on the wrong borders; they should be looking to space.”
“How can they when we’ve been making it pretty clear that we’re going to be dominating what happens in space,” Liz said. “And they don’t even know all the capabilities we have.”
Liz made a special dinner to celebrate the election results. The twins even helped to cook. “Those two are not nearly as much trouble as I thought they’d be,” she said to Catie as they were cleaning up after the meal.
“I know,” Catie said. “They’ll be thirteen in January, but I still thought they’d be driving us nuts. Instead, except for their two-hour romp in the cargo hold every day, they’ve been studying the whole time.”
“Do you think they’re okay?” Liz asked.
“They seem to be; you don’t think they’re giving up their wild ways, do you?” Catie asked.
“No way. They’re still the undisputed champs of the micro-G obstacle course; Kal takes them up every month to give his guys a real workout.”
“Oh, that’s why they’re not asking me for rides,” Catie said. “It’s funny, they never mention it when we talk.”
“I think they just assume you know, and I guess they think it’s no big deal.”
“Let’s count our blessings; we have ten more days, don’t jinx it.”
Chapter 19
Trouble in Guatemala
Tues Nov 10th – 0800 CST
“Gawd, I hate hospitals,” Barry groaned to himself. He was currently masquerading as a nurse in Angels of Mercy Hospital in Guatemala City. His real job was to provide onsite security for the Paraxean doctors and nurses who were staffing MacKenzie Discoveries’ clinic in the hospital. The fact that he’d been in and out of hospitals for over a year after being wounded in Iraq had given him a severe aversion to hospitals, but this was the job that Kal had given him, so he was sucking it up.
“Señor Barry, would you take this to Dra. Carmen for me?” the cute nurse staffing the reception desk asked. Of course, she asked in Spanish; Barry’s Spanish was improving, but he was sure glad that his Comm provided a simultaneous translation for him.
“Si, Consuela, estoy feliz de,” Barry said as he grabbed the medical patches from her. He liked to do errands for the staff; it gave him something to do while he wandered around assessing an
y potential threats. The clinic had taken over an entire third floor of the hospital, which made Barry’s job easier. He mainly had to keep tabs on the elevator and the two stairwells.
The clinic treated children who had severe childhood diseases such as muscular dystrophy, cancer, or diabetes, although they did make a few exceptions and treat adults when it was a life-or-death situation. The nurses and doctors were always willing to go to the emergency room and help out, and with the emergency medical patches that Dr. Metra had developed, they could save someone who would otherwise not have made it. Barry liked the fact that they treated the children; he was glad that his children were guaranteed access to Delphi City’s clinic should they ever need it. He hoped they never did, but their needing to be treated at the clinic might be the only way Barry was ever going to see them again. He still had to figure out how to make up with his wife; she’d had to throw him out of the house because of his PTSD and his intransigence about getting treated. “Damn, think of something more pleasant,” Barry thought, “like that nice señorita at the bar you’re going to tonight.”
“Dra. Carmen, the medical patches you requested.”
“Gracias, Señor Barry.”
Suddenly there was a loud commotion from downstairs. “Graciela, what’s happening?” he asked via his Comm. Graciela was posted on the first floor.
“Fifteen men just came into the hospital and pulled out guns!” Graciela replied. “They’re saying that they’re taking over the hospital.”
“Crap; do not engage,” Barry ordered. “Stash your weapon, and make like a visitor. We need to figure out what they’re up to. Emilio, what’s the situation outside?”
“We’ve got twenty men out here setting up a perimeter around the hospital. They’re pretty organized,” Emilio reported.
“Find a place to set up recon,” Barry ordered. “I’ll contact the rest of our crew.”
“Roger.”
“Jones!” Barry made a call to the off-duty team.
“Jones here, what do you need, boss?” Jones replied.
“We have a situation here at the hospital – fifteen armed men inside, twenty outside, unknown allegiance. I need you and your team to set up surveillance around the area. We need to know what else they have.”