Delphi Federation
Author: Bob Blanton
Date: 2020-04-06T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: War; Science Fiction
Description: After winning the war against the Paraxean rebels, now the McCormacks have to win the peace. Everyone on Earth now knows that they have alien technology that they've been hiding. What changes when they come out into the open? How do they handle their new leadership role on Earth? When lives are threatened they step up, but when they can’t control the situation they have to take a bigger step. Read how the machinations on Earth get in the way of exploring the stars. **

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 The Price of Winning
Chapter 2 A Hero’s Wakeup Call
Chapter 3 False Choices
Chapter 4 What’s a Light-year?
Chapter 5 Homecoming
Chapter 6 Cabinet Meeting – Sept 7th
Chapter 7 Women United
Chapter 8 Catie’s Alter Ego
Chapter 9 Testing Testing
Chapter 10 Press Conference
Chapter 11 Catie Undercover
Chapter 12 Science is Boring
Chapter 13 Cabinet Meeting – Oct 5th
Chapter 14 To-Do List
Chapter 15 Doesn’t He Ever Give Up?
Chapter 16 Blind Date
Chapter 17 Cabinet Meeting – Oct 26th
Chapter 18 Probe Deployment
Chapter 19 Trouble in Guatemala
Chapter 20 The Situation
Chapter 21 The Kealoha Solution
Chapter 22 The Guatemalan Solution
Chapter 23 Damn that Sam
Chapter 24 Cabinet Meeting – Dec 7th
Chapter 25 Asteroid Mission Prep
Chapter 26 Taking Command
Chapter 27 Cabinet Meeting – Jan 4th
Chapter 28 Target Ukraine
Chapter 29 Cabinet Meeting – Feb 1st
Chapter 30 Target Ukraine Again
Chapter 31 Something Has to Change
Chapter 32 Press Conference

Delphi Publishing

Copyright © 2020 Robert D. Blanton

Cover by Momir Borocki
momir.borocki@gmail.com

All rights reserved.  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.  Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2020.

This is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

https://www.facebook.com/StarshipSakira/

Chapter 1

The Price of Winning

“Oh lord, you’d think that after fighting off an alien invasion, facing the U.N. would be a cakewalk,” Marc thought as he stood before the U.N. Security Council preparing to answer their questions.  “This is worse than facing the Paraxean commander.”

He wished he could have left it to his ambassador, Margaret Hannaford, but that would have been cruel.  The Delphinean fleet had just won the first interstellar war Earth was ever involved in, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be overwhelmed with congratulations.

“Ambassadors,” Marc started.  “If I can have your attention.  I am here to announce that I have accepted the full and unconditional surrender of the Paraxean rebel forces.”

“What is the status of our forces?” the U.S. Ambassador asked, more like demanded.

“The Delphinean fleet and the Paraxean fleet are now in orbit around the solar system,” Marc answered.  “Their orbit is at fifty-five AUs, well beyond the orbit of Pluto.  Our pilots and crew are being ferried back to Earth via our Oryxes.”  Marc’s team from Delphi Nation had led the effort to thwart the invasion by the Paraxeans.  He and his brother Blake had discovered a Paraxean starship on the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Hawaii some years earlier.  They’d been harvesting the technology from the ship since then to push Earth forward and to prepare it for when the Paraxeans came back to Earth.  Of course, the Paraxeans had shown up earlier than hoped for.

“Why are you not bringing the carriers back?” demanded the U.S. Ambassador.

“Due to the nature of the engagement, the carriers had to enter a solar orbit,” Marc explained.  “Due to the distance of that orbit and the events that occurred during the engagement, the carriers are at the edge of our solar system’s gravity well, as well as the gravity well of any nearby planets.  It will take months to bring them back to Earth.”

“What about all the fighter jets?” the U.S. Ambassador asked.

“Most of them have been placed in the various flight bays on the carriers where they will be stored,” Marc said.

“Why can’t you fly them back here?”

“It takes over one week to fly from the carrier’s location to Earth, that is unreasonable to do in a single-seat fighter.”

“We demand our share of the fighters,” the ambassador yelled.

“Sir, I remind you of the agreement made when you joined the alliance,” Marc said, trying to remain calm.  “All the ships, fighters, and equipment would remain the property of the Delphi Alliance and under the control of the Nation of Delphi.  They will not be dispersed among the participating nations.”

“Ambassadors, I do remind you that that was the agreement,” the French Ambassador said.  He had the privilege of being the head of the Security Council for this month, but he didn’t appear to be enjoying the status.

“What about the prisoners?” the Russian Ambassador demanded.

“The prisoners captured during the engagement are being held on the carriers at this time,” Marc said.

“What about those we captured from Ganymede?” the Russian Ambassador persisted.

“They have been given permanent resident status in Delphi as a reward for helping us prepare for the invasion,” Marc said as he tried to control his temper.  “Some of them are in Delphi City, some in Delphi Station, some of them are remaining with the carriers, and a few are being returned to Delphi City.”

“How dare you!” the American ambassador yelled.

“May I remind you that it was a Delphinean commando raid that captured those prisoners,” Marc said.

“Please, we are here to discuss how to move forward with the surrender,” the French Ambassador said.  “Your Excellency, could you tell us about the disposition of the Paraxean colonists?”

“There are 1.5 million Paraxean colonists who have been in stasis for over one hundred years and did not participate in nor have any knowledge of the invasion,” Marc said.  “There are fifty-eight hundred surviving members of the Paraxean military force.  The leader of the colonists is out of stasis and should be arriving at Delphi Station in two days.”

“The United States would like to state that we would be happy to host the Paraxean colonists,” the U.S. Ambassador said.  “We are also willing to host the Paraxean prisoners.”

“Russia would also be willing to host the Paraxeans,” the Russian Ambassador said.

“I think all of the nations have expressed interest in hosting the Paraxeans,” the French Ambassador said.

“We would also like to lay claim to the technology aboard the Paraxean ships,” the U.S. Ambassador said.

“Just shoot me now!” Marc thought.

Chapter 2

A Hero’s Wakeup Call

“Hey Girl, are you going to wake up?” Liz asked as she knocked on the door.  She and Catie were sharing Liz’s stateroom on the DSS Enterprise, a space carrier where Liz was the wing commander.  There had been a second party the night before to celebrate the victory.  Apparently Catie did not learn much from the first party.

“Go away!” Catie replied.

“What happened to the girl who only needs four or five hours of sleep?”

“She drank too much champagne!”

“Champagne always gives me a headache when I drink too much.”

“You could have told me that last night,” Catie complained.

“Didn’t you learn from the last party; you’re not supposed to drink that much, you’re only fourteen, remember.”

“I remember, and I only had three glasses all night.”

“Were you paying attention to the fact that waiters were refilling everyone’s glasses?”

“No!”

“Well, you were the hero of the hour, so they would have tried to take extra care of you.  I’m sure you had way more than three glasses.”

“Just let me go back to sleep, I’ll either wake up without a headache or die.”

“Come on, get up, that Dr. McDowell is asking for you.  We’ll go see Dr. Metra.  She can give you a patch that will cure that hangover,” Liz said.  “Just don’t start relying on having a cure.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Catie said.  “From now on, I’m just doing the toasts.”

“Move it!”

“Ugh!” Catie groaned as she headed for the shower.

◆ ◆ ◆

“How did the experiments with your guy go yesterday day?” Liz asked once Catie had showered and dressed.  They were on their way to sickbay to get the hangover cure from Dr. Metra.

“He’s not my guy!” Catie groaned.  Catie’s father had been referring to Dr. McDowell as Catie’s guy ever since she’d recommended he hire him.

“Whatever, how did the experiments go?”

“You didn’t hear?”

“I haven’t heard anything, that’s why I’m asking,” Liz said.

“Well, they went great, right up until his test vehicle disappeared,” Catie said.

“It blew up?”

“No, it disappeared.  Poof, one second it’s there, the next it’s gone, no explosion, no big energy spike, just gone.”

“Well, what are you going to do about that?”

“We’re building a second test vehicle with a sensor array and a quantum relay on it.”

“That’s a big investment.  Your dad’s going to let you risk a quantum relay?”

“It’s just one, and we might be onto something,” Catie said.  “One relay is a small price to pay if Dr. McDowell has discovered something really huge.”

“What do you think happened?”

“Either he sent it someplace, or the gravity drives crushed it into a tiny blob,” Catie said.

“Crushed it, why would that happen?”

“Well, he did have the gravity drives pushing against each other.  But I’m hoping it just went someplace.”

“Where would it have gone?” Liz asked.  “I assume you couldn’t get any reading from it.”

“Yeah, no readings, so it either lost its communication system or was sent someplace a few light-days away; otherwise, we’d have picked up its beacon by now.”

“It would be cool if he figured a way to travel to other star systems without the twenty- to one-hundred-year time-lapse the Paraxeans have been putting up with.”

“Yeah, that would be so cool.  If it is, I’m going to go exploring,” Catie said.

“Are you crazy?”

“No, it’ll be fun.  You’d come with me, wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe, but first you have to prove it’s safe.”

“Duh!  We’ll run a bunch more experiments,” Catie said.  “Do you want to have lunch after we see the doctor?”

“Sure, we can talk about tomorrow’s big conference we’re having on what to do with the Paraxeans,” Liz said.

“Or we could just have fun and talk about going on space missions,” Catie said.

Chapter 3

False Choices

“Welcome, Governor Paratar,” Marc said as he greeted the leader of the Paraxean colonists.

“Thank you,” Governor Paratar replied.  “I wish again to express my apologies for the unlawful acts of Commodore Warlmag.”

“I accept your apology on behalf of Delphi, but I cannot speak for the rest of the planet, although the national governments seem ready to accept it,” Marc said.  “Now, let’s begin this discussion.  I believe you’ve met the members of my security council who are still with the fleet; they will be joining us via video conferencing.  Here on Delphi Station, we have our secretary of foreign affairs, Cer Samantha Newman, our secretary of science, Cer Nikola Zelbar, our secretary of security, Cer Kal Kealoha, and our secretary of defense, Admiral Paul Michaels.”

“I am pleased to meet all of you,” Governor Paratar said.

“Is everyone on the Enterprise linked in?” Marc asked.

“We’re here,” Blake, Catie, Liz, and Dr. Metra said as their images appeared on everyone’s specs as if they were in the room.

“That means we’re ready to begin the meeting.  The purpose of this meeting is to decide how we help the Paraxean colonists as well as deal with the Paraxean prisoners,” Marc said.  “But before we begin, I’d like to give Governor Paratar a chance to explain what happened to the colony fleet.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” the governor said.  “As many of you already know, our colony fleet set out from Paraxea approximately one hundred of your years ago.  We were fifty years into the voyage when the fleet was attacked by some unknown alien race.  They caught us completely by surprise, and they had a well-thought-out plan.

“They made a single pass through our fleet at one-third the speed of light, crossing us at ninety degrees from our direction of travel.  They targeted the ship with the stasis pods; we thought it was because it was the largest.  Hundreds of their fighters passed it using plasma beams to weaken the hull.  They also targeted the cargo ship which was carrying most of the supplies and equipment that we had brought to start the colony.  Then they destroyed its engines and somehow attached a drive system to it that slowed the ship down.  Apparently, the cargo ship was their real target.”

“How would they slow the ship down?” Blake asked.

“After examining the sensor logs, our scientists surmised that they attached small fusion drives with enough reaction mass to slow the ship down by ten percent,” the governor explained.  “With our weakened hull, the colony ship could not adjust its velocity without risking multiple hull breaches.  We were forced to leave the cargo ship behind.  Commodore Warlmag and his ships were forced to decide between trying to recover the cargo ship or staying with the colony ship to protect us from further attack.  They chose to stay with us.”

“What do you think happened to the cargo ship?” Blake asked.

“If they followed protocol, which their DI would have ensured, they would have destroyed the antimatter drive, fusing it into a solid block.  Then they would have destroyed the quantum relays,” Governor Paratar said.

“Because?”

“Paraxea jealously guards the secret of the quantum relays.  We have traded a few with other civilizations that we trust, but they are such a big advantage in any conflict that we refuse to allow them to fall into the hands of potential enemies.  The same is true for the antimatter reactors.  Not all civilizations have them.

“We recovered several escape pods, about half the crew. They confirmed that the protocol was being followed before they ejected.  We don’t know what happened to the rest.”

“Thanks for that,” Blake said.  “Go on, after you got away from the attackers.”

“With our weakened hull, the colony ship would not be able to maneuver as we approached the binary-star system we were to slingshot around, nor would it be able to decelerate when it reached our destination.  Therefore, the scientists came up with a plan to segment the ship and place it on an asteroid.  We found one with the necessary integrity to allow the gravity drives to maneuver it and to accelerate and decelerate it as necessary.”

“So how did that lead to the invasion of Earth?” Admiral Michaels asked.

“I’m now to that point.  First, we realized that without the cargo ship, we would not be able to colonize a new planet.  I decided that our only alternative was to return to Paraxea.  When I gave the order and returned to stasis, the captain and a few of the other leaders of the colony mission decided that returning to Paraxea was not an option.  Commodore Warlmag knew Commander Centag of the Sakira, and had been in contact with him.  Between them, they came up with a plan to come to Earth and, as you say, invade.”  The Sakira was the starship that Marc and Blake had found underwater near Hawaii.  Commander Centag was the XO who had killed the ship’s captain in an attempt to take over the Sakira.

“Why did your fleet have that battleship?” Admiral Michaels asked.

“It didn’t.  After they came up with the plan to come to Earth, apparently Commodore Warlmag contacted the captain of the battleship and convinced him to join them.  It was guarding another colony that had been established on a planet that is between Paraxea and the planet we were heading toward.  They gathered a lot of colonists from that colony, and traveled to join us.  They were able to drive the ship hard enough to catch up with us since we were so much slower with the asteroid,” the governor explained.

“Thank you for that explanation,” Marc said.  “With that, we can move forward with the purpose of the meeting.  Governor, we would appreciate any suggestions you have about the prisoners as well the colonists.”

“I will be happy to provide any help that I can,” Governor Paratar said.  Everyone’s Comm was providing a translation of the governor’s words.  The governor’s Comm had been upgraded by ADI, so it was able to provide a translation for him.

“Somewhat to my surprise, all the various nations have expressed a willingness to host the Paraxean colonists as well as the prisoners,” Marc said.

“That is a surprise,” Liz said.

“It shouldn’t be,” Samantha said.  “They’re after the technology.”

“That is what I suspect,” Marc said.  “They believe by having access to the Paraxeans, especially their scientists, that they will be able to learn and recreate the technology from Paraxea.  The dissemination of that technology is of grave concern to me.  We have been trying to introduce it in a controlled manner to avoid too big a disruption to Earth’s economy as well as to avoid war breaking out between the various nations over the military technology.”

“I’m not sure that’s going to be as big a problem as you think,” Dr. Nikola said.

“Please explain,” Marc said.

“I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Cer Masarg, whose specialties are physics and astrophysics.  I’ve found that he didn’t seem to have any better understanding of the physics involved in the gravity drive or the reactors than I did,” Dr. Nikola said.  “I’ve also spent time talking to the various engineers.  I’m sure they are all competent at their jobs, but most of their knowledge seems to be about how to maintain the systems, which parts to order, and how to replace them.  They didn’t show a strong grasp of the underlying technology.”

“That would be consistent with my expectations,” Dr. Metra said.  “The guilds wouldn’t let anyone leave Paraxea who had a deep understanding of the sciences.”

“The guilds?” Marc asked.

“Yes, I’m surprised we’ve not talked about them.  All the scientists on Paraxea are organized into guilds.  It is the guilds that complete their final education, going from what you would call a master’s degree to a PhD.  They’re very protective of their core knowledge and are careful never to let it leave the control of the guild,” Dr. Metra said.

“What about the mediocracy you told me about?” Marc asked.

“That applies to politics and business,” Dr. Metra said.  “The guilds lose power during the mediocracy cycles, and their members don’t earn as much money, but they still manage to control the knowledge.”

“What she says would also be true for the colonists,” Governor Paratar said.  “The guilds would never let a member with core knowledge join a colony expedition.”

“What about the crew aboard the ships?” Marc asked.

“The military would be focused on engineers who can repair and maintain their systems.  They would never make room for a scientist,” Governor Paratar said.

“But how have we managed to do so much?” Blake asked.

“You’ve had access to the technical documents and designs controlled by ADI,” Dr. Metra said.  “Then, Marc brought scientists in to re-invent the technology.  ADI was able to steer them by comparing what they were doing to the designs in her system.”

“I think we need to ask Governor Paratar what he thinks the colonists will want?” Samantha said.

“My people signed up to transform a new world,” Governor Paratar said.  “I don’t think they would want to become second-class citizens on your world.”

“What about the members of the fleet?” Marc asked.

“For the most part, they are just normal Paraxeans,” the governor said.  “We would be happy to accept anyone except the top officer corp.”

“Why not them?”

“Because they’re undoubtedly the ones behind this mess, and we would not be able to trust them not to create issues later,” the governor said.  “We need to start out with a united, peaceful civilization.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a colonizable world at hand,” Marc said.

“What about Mars?” Samantha asked.

“They would need extensive support from us,” Marc said.

“Isn’t that a bit close to Earth?” Blake suggested.  “There are plans to send men to Mars; it might be viewed as an affront if we usurped it for the Paraxeans.”

“I agree,” Marc said.

“What about Ganymede?” Catie asked.  “They would be able to mine Jupiter and the asteroid belt.”

“That is a good possibility,” Marc said.  “We need to start mining for some of the rare elements we’re running short of, so that would be a reasonable tradeoff.”

“Ganymede is a moon?” the governor asked.

“Yes, of our largest gas giant,” Catie said.  “It’s on the outside of the asteroid belt.”

“That could be an acceptable compromise,” the governor said.  “Of course, we would prefer our own planet.”

“Would you be willing to wait another one hundred years?” Marc asked.

“If necessary,” the governor said.  “When do we need to decide?”

“We need to do a lot more research and planning first,” Marc said.

“How can we help?” the governor asked.

“Captain, we should bring the Paraxean doctors and scientists out of stasis.  They can help with the planning, and they can also help you promote your other objectives,” Dr. Metra said.

“How many are we talking about?” Marc asked.

“There are thirty-five hundred doctors and eight thousand nurses,” ADI informed everyone.  “There are four thousand two hundred sixteen scientists.”

“We could accommodate that,” Marc said.

“They would need support,” Governor Paratar said.

“I’ll authorize two thousand additional personnel plus immediate family,” Marc said.

“That will be approximately twelve thousand Paraxeans,” ADI said.

“We’ll start there and see what plans we can come up with,” Marc said.

“We thank you,” Governor Paratar said.

Chapter 4

What’s a Light-year?

“Hi Uncle Blake,” Catie said as she entered her uncle’s office on the Enterprise.

“Hey Squirt,” Blake replied.

“Uncle Blake!” Catie whined.

“Oh sorry, I meant Lieutenant Squirt.”

Catie slugged Blake in the shoulder.  “What did you want to see me for?”

“First, I want to invite you to dinner tonight,” Blake said.  “Then, I want to ask about the status of the experiments your guy is running.”

“He’s not my guy!”

“Never gets old,” Blake grinned.  “Now, what about the experiments?  When will you be finished?”

“We have the new test vehicle ready, so we’re going out today.  Until we figure out what happened to the last one, we won’t know what we have to do; but I would say at least two days.”

“Okay, we’ve got at least two days of work to clean up things and get the Paraxean fleet into mothballs,” Blake said.  “We’re already starting to send people back.  It’s going to take over one month to get everybody back to Earth.”

“You don’t have to wait for me,” Catie said.

“Not according to Sam,” Blake said.  “She’s given us a timetable.”

“What’s she up to?” Catie asked.

“You mean besides missing you?”

“Yeah.”

“I think she wants to be able to declare an official end to the mission,” Blake said.

“I guess,” Catie said.  “I’ll see you for dinner.  Bye.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Okay, Dr. McDowell, I’ve got the probe in the same position as the last one was when it disappeared,” Catie said.  “Are you going to use the same power setting?”

“I’m still conflicted about that,” Dr. McDowell said.  “If I use the same settings and the last probe was destroyed, we lose everything, but if I use lower power settings, then something else might happen, and we lose it anyway.”

“They say only change one variable at a time,” Catie said.  “We’ve already had so many changes that we can’t control.”

“You’re right, we’ll start with the last setting, learn what we can, then start varying things when we know more.”

“Alright, it’s ready when you are.  We’re recording, our quantum relay is up and communicating,” Catie said.

“Powering it up,” Dr. McDowell said.

“And it’s gone,” Catie said.  “I still have contact with it via the quantum relay.  Now let’s see where it is.”

“Okay, start mapping the stars around it.”

As they mapped the stars, Catie added them to a three-D image so they could reorient them, hoping to recognize familiar star clusters.

“Hey, I think that’s Orion,” Catie said.  “See, if we rotate the orientation forty-five degrees on this axis and thirty degrees on that one it matches up.”

“I think you’re right,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Then we should see Gemini over here.”

Catie adjusted the telescope on the probe, “Is that it?”

“Yes, it is.  So now we know where it is, how far away is that?”

“Cer McDowell, it is 10.5 light-years from your location,” ADI said.  “It is close to the star that your scientists label Epsilon Eridani.”

“Wow!” Catie said.  “That will make getting around the universe a lot easier.”

“If we can control it,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Now, do we see our first probe?”

“Yes, it’s about twenty thousand kilometers from this one,” Catie said.

“So, what moved, it or us?”

“I think we did.  We’re in the same orbital position relative to Jupiter as before, so we’ve moved quite a bit,” Catie said.

“And we were dead stop before, right?”

“Relative to the sun, yes.”

“Right, right, no such thing as not moving.  Can we control the probe?”

“Yes,” Catie said.  “Just select it on the control board, and it will be just like it’s here, at least until you send it someplace else.”

“Okay, I’m going to reverse its alignment and try to send it back here.”

“I’ve got everything recording, ready when you are,” Catie said.

“Okay, . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . engage,” Dr. McDowell called off.  “Did it come back?”

“I’m looking for it . . . there’s its ping,” Catie said.  “That means it’s ten light-seconds away; it’s going to take forever to get here.”

“Strange, I used the same power settings as I did with our first probe.”

“Why don’t you send it back, then we’ll see if we can adjust the power?”

“Okay, reorienting it, and three . . . two . . . one . . . engage.”

“Looking,” Catie said.  “It’s now fifteen light-seconds from the probe.”

“Okay, bringing it back, I’ll use one percent more power,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Three . . . two . . . one . . . engage!”

“There it is, it’s now twelve light-seconds from us.”

They spent another six round trips before they got the power setting correct, and the probe arrived within ten thousand kilometers of their position.  It only took one try to get the second probe to the same general area.

“Okay, so why does it take more power to get back?” Dr. McDowell asked.

“Hey, it took more power to go, too,” Catie said.  “Maybe it’s related to the distance from the gravity well.”

“That’s likely; it does use gravity for the power, so I think I just have to calibrate the power setting based on the gravitational strength at its location.  I’ll spend some time modeling it later.  I wonder how close to the sun it can work?”

“I don’t know, but would you mind testing that premise using another sun besides ours?” Catie suggested.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Let’s head back; I think I have enough data to make a model.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“How did the test go?” Blake asked Catie as they sat down to dinner.

“It looks like we have the ability to travel faster than light,” Catie said.

“You’re kidding, right?” Blake asked.

“Would I kid about a thing like that!” Catie said.  “We were able to send the probe to where the other one was.  It was 10.5 light-years away.  Fortunately, it was at the boundary of another solar system, so its gravity drives would work.  We managed to get them both back.”

“Have you told your father yet?” Blake asked.

“No, we just got back.”

“We need to keep this a secret,” Blake said.  “Will your guy stay quiet?”

“He’s not my guy!  And yes, he’ll keep it quiet,” Catie said.  “First, we don’t know enough about it yet; second, he knows how big a deal it is; third, he hardly talks to anyone anyway.”

“ADI, connect us with Marc,” Blake said.

“Yes, Cer Blake,” ADI said.

“What’s up?” Marc asked.

“Your daughter has some news,” Blake said.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, Sweetie, did your guy come up with something?”

“He’s not my guy!” Catie said as Blake pantomimed the words.

“Well, what’s the news?” Marc asked.

“Dr. McDowell’s experiment sent the probe 10.5 light-years away.  We’ve managed to get them both back, and he’s analyzing the data now.”

Marc whistled.  “That is big news.  I assume he knows to keep quiet about it.”

“Yes, he does.  He still needs to do a lot of characterization.  We don’t know how big an object we can send, and whether anything living can survive.  The probes were undamaged, so that’s a good sign,” Catie explained.

“When will he finish his characterization?”

“He has a few days, maybe weeks, of analysis to do on the data he has,” Catie said.  “We’ll need to come back out here later to finish it up.”

“Okay, so does that mean you’re heading home tomorrow?” Marc asked.

“That’s our plan,” Blake said.  “Unless you have a reason for us to stay.”

“No that’s good; what about the carriers and that battleship?”

“We’re putting skeleton crews on them and leaving them in orbit here,” Blake said.  “It will take months to get them back to Earth once you decide you want to bring them back.”

“I’ll let you get back to your dinner, thanks for letting me know right away,” Marc said.

“Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, you two, see you in a week or so,” Marc said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I am not looking forward to that flight back,” Blake said.

“I think I have a way to make it faster,” Catie replied.

“How?”

“Higher acceleration,” Catie said.

“Duh!  That works with an unmanned spaceplane, but how’s it going to work with an Oryx?  We can push it and do 2.5Gs, but that’s about the limit.”

“I know.  But I was researching that when I was designing the scout ship.  I asked ADI if the Paraxeans did anything to go faster.”

“Did they?”

“No.  So ADI and I started looking at the problem.  It’s really just about your heart’s ability to pump blood to your brain.  When you’re sitting down, and the acceleration is perpendicular to your spine, then it doesn’t have to pump that hard.  That’s why with a pressure suit, the guys can push it to 3Gs.”

“Okay, but that’s now a long and uncomfortable trip.”

“I haven’t gotten to the solution,” Catie said.  “Now, if you were to accelerate at 4Gs, but stop the acceleration every two seconds for half a second, then you would average 3Gs, and your heart would sync up to thirty-beats per minute and have half a second to get the blood where it needs to go each beat.”

“Were still back to the long and uncomfortable ride.”

“Yes, but if that works, what’s to stop us from increasing the acceleration to 6Gs, or even 10Gs?”

“The crew passing out,” Blake said.

“I don’t think they will.  ADI and Dr. Metra think it will work up to 15Gs.”

“They do?”

“So, we should go out in a Fox and test it,” Catie said.

“Hmm, it might work.  I guess ADI would detect if the pilot passes out and cut the acceleration and bring the Fox back in.”

“Sure, it should be relatively safe to test.  And think of how much better it will be to make the trip in six days or so instead of fifteen.  You can have the pilot cut the accel for a longer period of time every few hours to let everyone get up and stretch, and when we eat.”

“I’ll arrange a test,” Blake said.  “We’ll see how well it works.”

“I was going to fly the test.”

“You just take care of your guy; I’ll take care of this.”

“He’s . . . Not . . . My . . . Guy!”

“He is until some else claims him,” Blake said.  He gave Catie a big grin, just daring her to keep arguing.

Chapter 5

Homecoming

It was a boring trip back to Earth.  The acceleration trick worked like a charm.  Everyone was happy to put up with the restrictions on their movements to cut the travel time in half.  Catie spent the time on her studies and reviewing the scout ship designs.  She sat in on the various meetings talking about how to settle the Paraxeans on Ganymede, but got tired of all the wrangling about minor details.  She gave up on flying the Oryx they were in; it was pretty boring after all.  Mainly everyone let ADI fly it and just focused on getting through the trip.  There were over a hundred people on the Oryx; Catie did manage to make a few friends among the crewmen and pilots who were returning to Earth.

It took almost two hours for everyone to grab a quick two-minute shower aboard the Oryx before they landed in Delphi city.

“Okay, heads up, we’ll be taxiing for about a minute.  Lieutenant Clark, Lieutenant Beaulieu, Lieutenant Owens, and Lieutenant McCormack, meet me up front after we land; we’ll be exiting through the front hatch.  The rest of you can exit through the rear cargo door.”

“What’s up?” Catie asked Blake.

“Sam has a little welcome committee waiting for you guys,” Blake said.

“No!”

“Hey, suck it up.  We need to do some PR work, and you four are the heroes of the hour,” Blake scolded.

Once the plane finished taxiing, the four Lieutenants met at the front of the plane.  “Leave your gear here, someone will bring it to your place later,” Blake instructed.

When the front hatch opened, Catie could see her father; mother; Samantha; Jason’s father, Captain Clark; Jason’s girlfriend, Annie Halloway; and a few other friends waiting for them at the foot of the boarding stairs.  “Not too bad,” she thought; she didn’t even mind the cameramen standing just outside the group.

The plane had stopped right in front of one of the hangars, and there were security guards in front of the partially open hangar doors.

“Hey, Sweetie,” Marc said as he hugged Catie and then sent her on down the receiving line.

“Hi, Daddy,” Catie said over her shoulder.  She was quickly embraced by her mother.  “Hi, Mommy.”

“Hi, Sweetie,” Linda said.  “You have to keep moving.”

“Sure,” Catie said.  She got a quick hug from Samantha before moving on down and shaking hands with the others in the line.  She reached the end and turned around and watched the other three proceed down the line.  They quickly gathered at the end, wondering what the big deal was.

“Okay, that was the practice line,” Samantha said.  “Now, as you enter the hangar, you’ll be going through another line where you will politely greet the person, shake their hand, and then move on.  Catie, you four come in two minutes after the rest of us get inside.”

“We’re not exactly dressed for a party,” Catie said as she pointed to her shipsuit.

“You’re all perfect,” Samantha said.  She led Marc into the hangar, followed by the rest of the welcoming committee.

“This seems weird,” Catie said to Jason.

“Hey, as long as there’s food in there, Sam can do whatever she wants,” Jason replied.

“Hey, I think it’s ladies first,” Lieutenant Owens said.  “Catie, Mariam, me, then you.  Do you think you can hold off rushing the buffet table, Flyboy?”

“Just don’t move too slow, or I might run over you,” Jason said.

“It’s been two minutes, let’s go,” Catie said.  She moved to enter the hangar, but the security guy held her up.  After a few seconds of communication via his Comm, he nodded for her to go on in.

“Her Royal Highness and Hero of the Realm, Princess Catherine!” came booming over the sound system as Catie entered the hangar.

Marc was the first person in the line, followed by Samantha.  Marc gave Catie a quick kiss on the cheek before handing her off to Samantha.  Samantha air-kissed Catie on both cheeks, then turned and introduced her to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

“Lieutenant and Hero of the Realm, Lieutenant Mariam Beaulieu!” boomed out as Mariam entered the hangar and started down the line.

“Lieutenant and Hero of the Realm, Lieutenant Kathleen Owens!” boomed out as Kay entered the hangar.

“Lieutenant and Hero of the Realm, Lieutenant Jason Clark!” boomed the final introduction.

At the end of the receiving line were the reporters, Leslie Walters being the most prominent.  Her camerawoman was behind her, and she clearly wasn’t letting them pass before she got her interview.

After everyone was there, the four pilots were forced to endure the presentation of their new medals.  They were to be the first to receive the Delphi Cross, the equivalent of the U.S. Medal of Honor.

“This isn’t fair,” Catie whispered to her father as he pinned the medal on her.

“Don’t worry, we have six more to hand out when they come home,” Marc said.  “Plus, we have eight posthumous ones to award.  But tonight is about celebrating and raising everyone’s spirits.”

“Here they come,” Leslie reported.  “These four pilots were the ones who destroyed the battleship that was coming to subdue Earth.  Princess, can we have a few words?”

“Hi, Leslie,” Catie said.  “This is crazy.”

“Everyone is so relieved that this nightmare is finally over, and we have you to thank for it,” Leslie said.

“I was only one of over seven thousand men and women who volunteered to fight,” Catie said.  “We just happened to be the four who were selected to fly the Fists.”

“I understand you designed it as well,” Leslie said.

“I was fortunate enough to be inspired by the actions of our other pilots who went against the battleship.  It was their sacrifice that gave me the insight to design Odin’s Fist,” Catie said.

“Why did you name it Odin’s Fist?” Leslie asked.

“I was reading a novel about Vikings at the time.  It just seemed like an apt name since it was going to be such a small ship,” Catie said.

“Small is right,” Kay said.

“Let’s bring the four of you up close so our viewers can see you.  I notice there is only one man in the group,” Leslie said.

“Yes, Jason was the only one who was dumb enough to volunteer and small enough to fit into that torture chamber Catie designed,” Kay said.

“Small enough, so how small was it?” Leslie asked.

“His head was touching the ceiling, and his knees were against the control panel.  And he’s only half an inch taller than I am,” Kay continued.

“Why so small?” Leslie asked.

“It had to be as small as possible to limit the amount of energy that could be directed at it,” Catie said.  “I designed as small as possible while still fitting in the controls and the reactor.  Then when I put in the pilot area, there was enough room for me, so I figured we could find enough pilots who would fit.”

“That must have been claustrophobic,” Leslie said.

“You’re telling us!  I think they would have to drug me to get me back into that thing,” Mariam said.  “I can’t believe Catie did it twice.”

“It couldn’t be as bad as that,” Leslie said.

“Oh yes it was,” Mariam said.  “You have to crawl inside it, then sit there for two hours while they seal you in.  Then you go out and do your thing, and when you get back, it takes them thirty minutes to cut you out of it.”

“That does sound scary,” Leslie said.

“Leslie, you have to let our heroes circulate,” Samantha said.  “Now, you guys get a snack, walk around and talk to people.  There is a formal ball tonight, so you’ll want to go rest up before it.  There are outfits for each of you in your condos; I’ll be contacting you later with details about tonight.  Now go have fun.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Sam, you can’t be serious!” Catie said over her Comm.  She was looking at the gown, tiara, and jewelry that Samantha had laid out for her to wear to the evening ball.

“What’s the matter, you don’t like the color?” Samantha replied.

“Har, har!  It’s too much!  And a tiara, get real.”

“You are a princess,” Samantha said.  “You have to look the part.  The Queen of England is going to be at the ball.”

“Fine, let her wear the tiara!”

“Suck it up, girl.  We need some good PR.  Some people are a bit upset with us about hiding an alien spaceship.  We need to get the public back on our side.”

“We just saved their asses!” Catie hissed.

“Well, we need to remind them of that and give them a visual to go with it, and face it, you’re the visual,” Samantha said.  “Besides, you’re going to look gorgeous.”

“How do I wear a bra in this thing?”

“A perky thing like you doesn’t need a bra.  You’ve got it, so flaunt it.”

“I am so going to get even with you,” Catie promised.  “What are you wearing?”

“I’m wearing a very nice gown,” Samantha said.

“Are you wearing a tiara?”

“I’m only the secretary of foreign affairs, not royalty,” Samantha said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I look like a little girl,” Catie told Samantha when they met before the ball.

“No you don’t, you look like a princess,” Samantha said.

“But even with the spaghetti straps, this isn’t very sexy.  And white?”

“We’re not going for sexy,” Samantha said.  “We’re going for ingenue, the fairy tale princess who saved Earth.  And in fairy tales, princesses always wear white.”

“Whatever.”

“Now for some rules,” Samantha said.  “If the person you meet is royal, curtsy to them; if they offer to shake hands, do it; if they kiss your hand instead, smile.  If the person you meet is not royal, say hello; if they present their hand for you to shake, stare at it; if they say hello and you like them, offer your hand for them to shake, or kiss; they should be taking their direction from you, not you from them.”

“That sounds kind of snooty,” Catie said.

“It is, but we’re going for effect; you have to act like the Princess of Delphi.”

“Okay, I hope I remember all this,” Catie said.

“We have cameras around the room.  ADI will be monitoring you, and if I’m not there, she’ll give you the appropriate hints.  You do have your earwig in, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Good, now let’s go get your father.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Princess, this is Queen Elizabeth,” Samantha said as she introduced Catie to the queen.

Catie gave a small curtsy to the queen.

“Hello, my dear,” Queen Elizabeth said.  “My, you are young to be such a famous pilot.”

Catie just smiled and gave a small shrug.

“And modest,” the queen added as she extended her hand to Catie to shake.

“I’m not usually acknowledged for my modesty,” Catie said as she shook the queen’s hand.

“Good for you,” the queen said.  “Prince Charles wanted to be here; unfortunately, he had other commitments.  He is very excited about what you people are doing for the environment.”

“I’m glad he recognizes our efforts,” Catie said.  “I want to thank you and your people for all the help they gave the Alliance.”

“You’re welcome.  It would have been shameful not to offer help,” the queen said.  “Now go on, I’m sure you have other guests to greet.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“This is Minister Xing,” Samantha said.  “He is the foreign minister of China.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Catie said.

“The honor is all mine,” Minister Xing said.

“I want to thank you for all the support your government provided to help build the fleet,” Catie said.

“We were most happy to.  We only regret we could not send pilots and crew out with them,” the minister said.

“I’m sure there will be opportunities for Chinese pilots and crew in future missions,” Catie said.  “Hopefully, peaceful ones.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Princess, King Mohammed the Fourth of Morocco,” Samantha said.

Catie curtsied to the king.

“A pleasure to meet you,” the king said as he reached for her hand.  He brought it to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss.  “We hope that the good relationship between our two countries continues.”

“Morocco has been a great partner with us,” Catie said.  “I spent a holiday there last year and really enjoyed myself.”

“Next time you come, you must allow me to host you,” the king said.

“I will be happy to visit with you,” Catie replied.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Mr. Vice President, I would like to present Princess Catherine,” Samantha said.

“Hello, my dear,” the vice president said.  He reached for Catie’s hand to shake it.

Catie stood there and stared at his hand.  It took thirty seconds before the vice president reacted.  “Oh, sorry.  We Americans are not used to royalty.  We’re happy to be invited and celebrate our victory,” he said.

“I want to thank you for the people you sent who stayed to help the Alliance,” Catie said.

“It was our pleasure.  After all, we were fighting for the same thing,” the vice president said.  “Minister Newman.”  He nodded to Samantha, then walked away.

“Good for you,” Samantha said.  “That man is an ass, he was trying to bring you down to his level.  And nice shot about the ones who stayed.”

Catie eventually managed four dances, the first with her Uncle Blake, the other three with various pilots who were brave enough to ask.  But mostly she used ADI to allow her to maneuver away from anyone who was approaching her to dance.

She did manage to enjoy some time with the Prime Minister of New Zealand.  But she was thrilled when Samantha finally told her she could leave.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Senator Novak, I’m pleased you could come for the welcoming party,” Marc said as Samantha brought the senator into his office.

“I was thrilled to come,” Senator Novak said.  “And I’m especially happy that you’ve agreed to this discussion.”

“We’ve always been willing to have a discussion,” Marc said.

“I know that, but the president has been very conflicted on the subject of Delphi, and that has made it difficult for anyone in the government to approach you.”

“Yes, that has been apparent,” Marc said.

“As you know, we’re eight weeks from the election,” Senator Novak said.

“Yes.  I’m also aware that the polls show you winning by a wide margin,” Marc said.

“They do, and I’m confident that they are correct.  I would like to take this chance to start a dialog about how the U.S. and Delphi can work together to achieve our common goals,” Senator Novak said.

“I’m not sure our goals are common,” Marc said.  “Delphi’s goals are to help Earth achieve a more balanced standard of living across countries.  We are also committed to denuclearization of the planet.”

“Admirable goals, and I believe we share them.  I’m sure it was Delphi that solved the Korea situation.  Despite the president claiming that his sanctions and his negotiations did it, those of us on the Foreign Affairs Committee were able to see your hand in the situation.”

“We gave the Chinese and Koreans some suggestions,” Marc said.

“Plus, you disabled their two ballistic missile submarines,” the senator said.

“Who says that?”

“We’re pretty confident based on intel from the Chinese and South Korea.  But putting that aside, you obviously have capabilities that can be brought to bear here on Earth as well as in space.  Your little demonstration on Iwaki Island was very educational about the strength of having the high-ground.  And your gift to the Russian Ambassador was very clever,” she added.

“Well, the Russians are a problem child,” Marc said.  “I’m sure we haven’t heard the last from them.”

“I know; we’re very worried about them interfering in our election again,” Senator Novak said.

“Well, since you haven’t done much to punish them for the last time, why wouldn’t they try again,” Marc said.  “They really don’t care who wins; they just want to undermine America’s confidence in their democratic institutions.”

“We seem to be doing that just fine, all by ourselves,” Senator Novak said.  “It’s just that sanctions are counterproductive.”

“If you want to get serious with them, we have a way to help,” Marc said.

“How?”

“It’s highly classified, but I can tell you it would be very disruptive to their economy and to their ability to engage in cyberattacks.  Let me know if you and the president can agree on it, but you’d need to have hard proof against them.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.  Now I would really like to meet your daughter.”

Chapter 6

Cabinet Meeting – Sept 7th

“You’ve ruined my life!” Catie complained to Samantha as she entered the Cabinet Chamber before the meeting.

“How so?”

“I can’t go anywhere without someone asking for an autograph.  Everywhere I go, people point at me and talk about me.”

“You hardly go anywhere anyway,” Samantha teased Catie.

“Now, I can’t go anywhere!  At least before, I could go out with Sophia and my other friends, but now we just get mobbed.”

“It’ll wear off,” Samantha said.  “It’s only been two days.  Just wait it out.”

“You could go up to the space station,” Blake said.  “Smaller crowds.”

“Thanks, Uncle Blake, you’re a big help,” Catie said.

“What’s wrong with that?” Blake asked.

“If I go up there, I’ll be trapped.  There’s no place to hide, and if I step out of my cabin, I’ll be cornered right away.  They already camp outside my door down here.  When Kal made them move, they just camped outside the building.  But at least down here, I can manage to sneak out.”

“Ooh, do you want to work on a disguise?” Liz asked.  “I bet with a little help from Dr. Metra, we can make you impossible to recognize.”

“If everyone is ready, we can start the meeting,” Marc said, interrupting everyone.

“Oh, hi, Daddy, I didn’t see you come in.”

“I noticed.  Now, why don’t you update us on your guy’s progress with his new drive.”

“He’s not!  Whatever.  He is still analyzing his data, but he thinks he can predict where it will jump to now,” Catie said.  “We got enough variations on power during our tests last week.  But he still has a list of experiments to do, some of them are pretty scary.”

“Please explain,” Dr. Nikola said.

“We did all of the experiments out beyond fifty AU, so minimal gravity.  We don’t know what happens if you do it inside the gravity well,” Catie explained.

“But you should have more power there, why wouldn’t that be better?” Blake asked.

“Because it’s opening something like a wormhole, so we don’t know how that will react to gravity.  If the effects of gravity go through the wormhole, it might destabilize the star or mess up a planet’s orbit.”

“That would be bad,” Blake said.  “How is he going to verify that?”

“In another star system,” Catie said.  “And he’ll need to ease his way in.”

“I like the idea of using another star system,” Samantha said.

“He has to use two different star systems,” Catie said.

“Why?”

“Because we don’t want our system connected in any way with the experiment.  We need to choose two systems that are A) uninhabited, and B) not likely to create a problem with an inhabited system if something goes wrong,” Catie said.

“How will you do that?”

“We’ll choose young stars, so they won’t have living planets yet, and we’ll choose ones that are relatively isolated.”

“When is he going to run the test?” Marc asked.

“In a few days, I think,” Catie said.

“Won’t it take longer than that to get back out there?”

“We left the probes out there,” Catie said.  “We added a quantum couple and an observation module to the first probe, so he can run the experiments from here.”

“Just be very careful,” Marc cautioned.

“We will be,” Catie said.  “And we still need to figure out what goes with the probe when it goes.”

“Yes, why did the whole probe get transported?” Dr. Nikola asked.  “And is it based on connection, proximity, or something else?”

“On our list of questions to investigate,” Catie said.  “Would you like to sit in on the test?”

“I would love to,” Dr. Nikola said.  “Do you think he’ll mind?”

“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.

“At least I hit you,” Catie said from where she usually ended up, on her butt on the mat.  She’d been training with Liz for almost two and a half years, but she still didn’t stand a chance.  She’d hoped that when Kal started training her as well, she would get faster and finally be able to beat Liz, but Liz worked out with Kal too, and she just got faster.

“Come on,” Liz said as she offered Catie a hand to help her get up.  “You’re getting faster.  That actually hurt.”  Liz rubbed her ribs where Catie had hit her.

“Good,” Catie said as she rubbed her butt.  “At least I’m not the only one who’s sore.”

“You might have cracked one; I think I need to have a doctor look at them,” Liz said as she rubbed her ribs.

“I have an appointment to talk with Dr. Metra today; you want to come?” Catie asked.

“I don’t want to horn in on your appointment,” Liz said, “but I can be your bodyguard for the trip and have someone else look at me while you’re with Dr. Metra.”

“It’s not an appointment, or at least not a doctor’s appointment.  She just wants to tell me something,” Catie said.  “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about a disguise; you suggested Dr. Metra might be able to help.”

“Oh, you still can’t go anywhere without attracting a crowd?”

“Yes!  I’m so tired of it.  And I have a paper, my last high school assignment, and I need to be undercover to do it.”

“What, like a journalist?”

“Yeah, it’s for sociology, but it’s kind of like a report,” Catie said.

“Sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, sure.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hello, Dr. Metra,” Catie said as she and Liz entered Dr. Metra’s office.

“Hello, Catie, hello, Liz,” Dr. Metra said.

“Hi, I can wait outside if you like.  I need to see someone about my ribs,” Liz said.  “Catie kicked me pretty hard this morning.”

“I can look at your ribs while we talk.  The Captain has just asked me to, how do you say it, come clean with Catie.”

“About what?” Catie asked.

“Those nanites you’ve been giving me printer time for,” Dr. Metra said.

“Oh, the birth control ones?” Catie asked.

“Why yes, how did you know?”

“I reviewed the designs you submitted for printing,” Catie said.  “Did Daddy figure out you were distributing them?”

“Yes, he did; apparently, I’ve been so successful that there was a news report about the drop in the birth rate.”

“Cool.  Was he mad?”

“No, he offered support and gave me a budget and said he’d tell you the printer time was on the up-and-up now.”

“Your slang is really improving,” Catie said.  “What are you watching?”

“Oh, I’ve been reading mystery novels,” Dr. Metra said.  “I’m reading the ABC Mysteries now.”

“Good for you.”

“How are you distributing the nanites?” Liz asked.

“I’m putting them on small bandages.  One of the women who came here from the refugee camps is part of a network of women who have been distributing birth control to women in male-dominated environments.  When she told me, I offered to help.  A one-time bandage is much easier to distribute than boxes of pills.”

“That’s amazing.  Let me know if you need any help,” Liz said.

“I will, but with the Captain’s support, we should be able to increase distribution and help even more women.  Now, let me see those ribs,” Dr. Metra said as she picked up a scanner and walked over to Liz.  After running the scanner over the affected area, she spent a moment reviewing the scan in her HUD.  “No breaks or cracks, you’ll be sore for a bit.  I can give you a shot to speed up the healing if you’d like.”

“Sure,” Liz said.  “I have a training flight tomorrow, and bruised ribs don’t go well with high-G turns.”

Dr. Metra entered some data in the nanite printer she had in her office; it was used for simple treatments like this, but the birth control nanites had to be printed in space.

“Dr. Metra,” Catie interjected, “I wonder if you could help me with something?”

“If I can.”

“I need to disguise myself so that I can get around the city without people recognizing me.”

“Oh, you’re still getting mobbed?”

“Yes, and I need to be able to do some things without people recognizing me,” Catie said.  “I’ve got to do an undercover report for school.”

“Interesting, what would you like to change?”

“What can you change?”

“Oh, lots of things,” Dr. Metra said.  “We can change your hair color, skin color, and eye color.  Those take a while to take effect, also to reverse.  We can also change your weight a little.  Then if you need more, we could do some cosmetic surgery.”

“Wow,” Liz said.  “That’s way more than I expected.  How do you change skin color?”

“I have to program some nanites; then they’ll reset the melanocyte cells in your skin to produce a different level of melanin.  It takes about one week for the color change to complete if we’re making it darker.  But it takes three weeks to lighten it back up, though we can speed that up with skin peels.”

“What about eye color?”

“The same thing; we have the pigments carried to the eye by nanites.  It only takes a few hours.”

“And hair color?”

“That only takes a few hours as well, but then you have to wait for it to grow out,” Dr. Metra said.  “But hair dye can take care of that.”

“Then why bother?” Catie asked.

“Roots,” Liz said.  “You don’t want to have to dye your hair every few days to avoid having your roots show.”

“Oh, so what should I change?”

“Who do you want to pass for?” Liz asked.

“I want to work in one of the manufacturing plants as an assembler or something like that.”

“So, maybe you’d like to be a Latina or a Syrian refugee,” Dr. Metra suggested.

“No, that won’t work,” Liz said.  “Too easy to get tripped up with language or cultural things.”

“A girl from Boston or San Diego isn’t going to be a good undercover identity,” Catie said.

“Could you change her voice?” Liz asked.

“We can change the tone,” Dr. Metra said.  “But accents are caused by mispronunciation, usually the vowels.”

“What about a Polynesian girl from Hawaii,” Liz suggested.  “That would allow us to make you look really different without going too far outside your cultural norm.  You’ve been to Hawaii, and there’s nothing too unique about the culture that you couldn’t fake it.”

“Then why am I here?” Catie asked.

“Your parents are construction workers,” Liz said.  “That covers a lot of area.  You can say they went home, but you decided to stay.  I think you can pass for seventeen now.  You said you could change her weight; how does that work?”

“I can make some nanites which will make her hold water; that will add five or six pounds, and give her a softer look,” Dr. Metra said.

“That would be perfect,” Liz said.  “That and a darker skin color with brown eyes and hair, and she’ll be totally unrecognizable.”

“What about my voice?” Catie asked.

“I think if the doctor can lower it half an octave, it’ll be good.”

“When do you want to do this?” Dr. Metra asked.

“As soon as you can,” Catie said.  “I’m getting cabin fever.”

“Oh, another good idiom,” Dr. Metra said.  “Anyway, I can have everything ready in two days.”

“Okay, I’ll be back.  Hey, is my mother working today?”

“Yes, she is.  Why do you ask?”

“Just want to drop in and say hi,” Catie said.

“That’s nice,” Dr. Metra said.  “She has surgery in an hour, so she should be in her office.”

“Thanks, bye.  See you in two days.”

Chapter 9

Testing Testing

“Hi, Nikola,” Catie said as she met Dr. Nikola at her office.  “Are you ready to sit in on the experiments?”

“Certainly, I’m interested in meeting this guy of yours.”

“He’s not my guy!”

Nikola laughed.  “Dear, if people keep getting that kind of reaction from you, they’re going to keep calling him that.  You have to ignore it; eventually, they’ll get tired of teasing you.”

“I’m not so sure it will work.  Uncle Blake doesn’t give up very easily.”

“Come on, he’s a man, they all get bored easily.”

“We’ll see.  Anyway, we’re set up for the test over in his office.  It’s just four floors down.”

“You couldn’t get him a nice office on the top floor?”

“He didn’t want one up here, said it was too crowded.  The floor he’s on has some big labs and storage, so not many people are down there.”

“So, he likes his privacy?”

“He’s not much of a people person,” Catie said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hello, Dr. McDowell, this is Dr. Nikola Zelbar, I told you about her,” Catie said.

“Yes, yes, she wants to watch, just sit there,” Dr. McDowell said, pointing to the chair to the side of the big display he was using.

“He doesn’t like to use specs,” Catie whispered to Nikola.

“They give me a headache,” Dr. McDowell said, “but my hearing is just fine.”

“Sorry,” Catie said.  “ADI should have the probes powered up and ready for our test.”

“They are ready,” ADI said.  “This is exciting, interstellar travel in minutes instead of decades.”

“We’ll have to see about that,” Dr. McDowell said.  “I’ve selected these two stars.”  He pointed them out on the display.

“Why those two?” Catie asked.

“They’re far away from our solar system, they’re next to each other, and they’re both so young they’ve just finished forming their solar systems.”

“How far away are they?”

“Two hundred twenty light-years to the first star, the second is just 2.5 light-years from the first.”

“There is one star that’s in the path between the two,” Catie said.

“Yes, but it’s not directly in line,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Based on my calculations, we should be able to make twenty-five light-year jumps with the engines we have in the probes.”

“I’ve got everything recording; which probe are you going to use first?” Catie asked.

“We’ll start with the alpha probe.”

“Okay, I’m ready when you are.”

“On three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage,” Dr. McDowell counted down and pressed the button.

“It’s gone,” Catie said.  “I’m reading the data from it now.  We didn’t make it.  It looks like we’re over three light-years short of the star and quite a bit off line.  I make it fourteen degrees off.”

“Something must be off,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Let me set up the next jump.”

Dr. McDowell spent several minutes calculating the necessary variables and entering them.  “Okay, let’s see if we can get this right, on three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage.”

“We only jumped point-zero-zero-one-two light-years,” Catie said.

“I know I had the power setting right.  Okay, I’ll dial it up this time . . . engage.”

“You jumped point-zero-zero-three light-years that time,” Catie said.

“Okay, max power next time.”  . . . “engage.”

“You jumped point-zero-zero-five light-years.”

“I don’t understand,” Dr. McDowell said.

“Maybe I can help,” Nikola said.  “I’ve been studying the data from your earlier experiments.  I noticed that you sent the first probe toward Epsilon Eridani.  In fact, the data shows you were about sixty AUs from the star.”

“That close; I didn’t notice,” Dr. McDowell said.

“And, when you sent the probe back, even though you didn’t get it where you wanted to, it was within sixty-five AUs of Sol.  So, I would hypothesize that you need to be within the gravity well of a star where the gravity measures the same as the gravity of our solar system at sixty-five AUs.  The numbers seem to corollate since Epsilon Eridani is point-eight-seven times the mass of Sol.”

“That makes sense, but why did we miss this time?” Catie asked.

“Again, a hypothesis, but that star you pointed out might have deflected the wormhole or whatever it is that the probe moves through,” Nikola said.

“Okay, but it’s going to take over two days to get Alpha to the star we’re targeting,” Dr. McDowell said.  “What a waste of time.”

“Dr. McDowell,” ADI interrupted.  “I suggest you let me get the Alpha probe into position, and you can concentrate on doing experiments with the Beta probe.”

“Oh, you can do that?”

“Of course, just switch your control board over to the Beta probe, and I’ll take care of the other one,” ADI said.

“Um, thanks,” Dr. McDowell said.

“I’m happy to help,” ADI replied.

“Okay, so to help validate Dr. Nikola’s hypothesis, I’ll send the Beta probe to the first star and then on to the target star,” Dr. McDowell said.

“You need to hit the edge of its solar system, so you don’t have to pass through it to get to the next star,” Catie said.

“Of course,” Dr. McDowell said with just a bit of irritation at having the obvious pointed out to him.  “I’ll adjust my numbers to target a distance that will produce the same gravimetric density as sixty-five AUs from Sol.”

After a few minutes, he had the necessary variable set.  “On three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage.”

“We’re there,” Catie said.  “I have us at seventy-eight AUs from the first star; that was a perfect jump.”

“Thank you,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Now I’ve got it set up for the next jump.  On three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage.”

“Another perfect jump,” Catie said.  “Now, we’re ready to run the experiments we were planning to run.”

“We already have data that shows we need to be inside the gravity well,” Dr. McDowell said.  “So, let’s see how far inside we can be.  I have two experiments in mind.  The first is to push the probe into the star’s gravity well with its drive and then see if we can jump out.  It takes an hour for each test.  The second is to jump it to the other star and try to see how far into the gravity well I can jump.  Those take the least amount of time, but also have the most unknowns.  Anyone have a suggestion?”

“Well, being one who hates to wait,” Catie said, “I vote for the second method.  It’ll give you both how far in you can jump and how far in you can be and still jump without having to wait.”

Nikola just shrugged her shoulders.  “Worst case, you have to wait two days for the second probe to get into position.”

“Okay, we’ll go with method two,” Dr. McDowell said.  “I’ve programmed it to jump just to the edge right now.  We’ll use a couple of jumps to calibrate the power; then, we’ll start modifying the jump distance.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Okay, we’re calibrated, I’ve targeted a jump that reaches one hundred AUs from the star; that would be the same as sixty AUs from Sol,” Dr. McDowell said.  “On three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage.”

“Right on target,” Catie said after she finished taking all the readings.

“Good, so going back, we’ll target the same as fifty-five.  . . . On three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage.”

“Off target,” Catie announced.  “The probe is at one-hundred-eight AUs and five degrees off line of the target.”

“It looks like the end of the jump has the same behavior as we saw when the jump vector was too close to the other star,” Nikola said.  “The gravity well pushes it around.”

“Yes, I think we might need to consider that the wormhole behaves like the end is in each of the locations along its path.  And that end is pushed around by gravity.”

“But there is gravity everywhere,” Catie said.

“Yes, but it becomes very small when you’re outside of a solar system,” Dr. McDowell said.  “It is nice to know you won’t jump into the middle of a star by accident.”

“But you could screw up and brush a star and wind up in the middle of nowhere, weeks or months of microjumps from a gravity well; like when we brought the first probe back,” Catie said.

“That is a possibility,” Dr. McDowell said.  “I want to move the probe inside the gravity well.  I think we should start with ninety-five AU; that will take twelve hours.  Can your ADI handle navigating it for us?”

“I would be happy to,” ADI said.

“We’ll meet at ten a.m. tomorrow,” Dr. McDowell said.

“We’ll be here,” Catie and Nikola replied.

◆ ◆ ◆

“We’re ready for the test,” Dr. McDowell said the next morning.  “On three, one . . . two . . . three . . . engage.”

“Nothing happened,” Catie announced.  “The probe didn’t even move.”

“Curious,” Dr. McDowell said.  He made some adjustments on the control panel and watched the display.  “The drives are working; it moves just as one would expect.  But if we set up the harmonics, it just sits there.”

“What do the harmonics do?” Nikola asked.

“I set the drives to oppose each other, then I create a harmonic between them,” Dr. McDowell explained.  “I was using the harmonic to characterize the drive performance when we had the first jump.”

“So, based on that, you wouldn’t have expected the probe to move,” Nikola said.

“That’s right, and it didn’t with all the other tests we did.”

“So, when it’s inside the gravity well, it behaves as anyone would expect it to; but when it’s outside the gravity well and where, in general, one would expect it not to perform very well, the harmonics then cause it to jump,” Nikola said.

“That’s correct,” Dr. McDowell said.  “So now we have to wait another twelve hours before we can do the next experiment.”

“What are you testing next?”

“We want to see if one probe can carry the other along with it when it jumps,” Catie said.

“Interesting,” Nikola said.  “So, tomorrow?”

“Wait,” Catie said.  “I have a design for a new probe I want you guys to look at.  Tell me what you think.”

“What’s new about it?”

“It’s designed to carry things inside it.  I assume we’ll eventually want to send some different plants along for the ride, and eventually animals,” Catie said.

“Yes we will,” Dr. McDowell said.  “I see you’ve added an environment chamber?”

“Yes, I’ve upsized the engines by thirty percent, increased the capacitor storage by fifty percent, and added the chamber with appropriate sensors.”

“How much bigger is the probe?” Dr. McDowell asked.

“I’ve made it ten percent bigger, but I’ve designed it so we can add skins to it to make it even bigger, up to three times as much volume.  If you approve the design, we can have the crew on the Enterprise fabricate one and send it out for us.  They’re at fifty-five AUs.”

“Good thinking.  Send me the design, and I’ll review it,” Dr. McDowell said.

“Send me a copy as well,” Nikola said.

“You’ve got them.”

◆ ◆ ◆

It took another week of testing before they had characterized the probes well enough to discuss moving to the next step.  They had determined that plant life and meat from the grow vats showed no effects from going through the wormhole.  Using Catie’s design, they had shown the correlation between gravity drive size and the volume that could be transmitted through the wormhole.  They also determined that it was independent of mass; they had transported the probe filled with iron pellets and found no difference between that and an empty probe; volume was the critical element.  They built another probe that was long and narrow to determine if the shape would affect the transit.  It did, the cross-section was the most important variable, followed by total volume.

“How long until your menagerie reaches the Enterprise?” Dr. McDowell asked.

“We sent it out two days ago,” Catie said.  “It should be there in six more days.  The Earth has moved quite a ways in its orbit from when we left the Enterprise.”

“Remind me what we’ve shipped out there?” Dr. McDowell asked.

“We’ve sent a snail, a pair of white rats that know how to run a maze, a pair of chihuahuas that know a few tricks, a pair of grey parrots that have a large vocabulary, and a pair of spider monkeys,” Catie said.

“You’re planning on verifying intelligence,” Nikola said.

“Yes, seems we would want to make sure the trip doesn’t affect the brain,” Catie said.

“Definitely need to do that before I’m willing to ride through one,” Nikola said.

“So, did you determine if the volume has to be encased inside the vehicle?” Nikola asked.

“We were able to move one of the smaller probes when it was next to the big probe,” Catie said.  “They didn’t have to touch, just be within the volume that the gravity drives could encompass.”

“What does that mean for our colonists?” Nikola asked.

“It means we have to have gravity drives that are twice as big as that battleship had to move the asteroid,” Catie said.  “They would take four months each to print.”

“We don’t know how to make them another way?” Nikola asked.

“That was on my list,” Dr. McDowell said.  “I’ve been sidetracked, but I should be working on that when I’m not working on this.  I’m sorry Catie.”

“We’ve all been sidetracked by this,” Catie said.  “We can afford the printer time to print them if necessary.  First, we need to figure out if we can send people through it.  And we need to add having those people in a stasis chamber as part of the test.”

“Something interesting to talk about during our next Cabinet Meeting,” Nikola said.

“I’ll give Daddy an update tonight,” Catie said.

“That’s wise,” Nikola said.  “Do you want any support?”

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Marc, I wanted to stop by and give you an update on the SALT III negotiations,” Samantha said.

“Come in; I’ve been waiting to hear,” Marc said.  “They’re keeping everything very quiet.”

“That won’t last long,” Samantha said.  “France and the UK have decided to unilaterally disarm.  They’re tired of waiting while the U.S., Russia, and China keep going around in circles.”

“That is a huge step; what brought them around?”

“Fusion power.  We’ve agreed to give them each fifty fusion reactors.  Israel has also agreed to disarm if we will provide them with five reactors and sign a defense treaty with them that assures their protection from any nuclear attack.”

“Didn’t Pakistan already disarm?” Marc asked.

“They’ve agreed to, but they are still in the process.  They can’t let India have the economic advantages of fusion power, so they agreed right after India did.  But they’ve been slow to complete it and allow inspectors in to verify it.”

“So are France and the UK going to go public?”

“In thirty-six hours,” Samantha said.  “I would like to reward them in some way that creates more public support; the economic advantages of fusion power are a bit abstract for the average citizen.”

“What would you suggest?”

“Something health related, high impact.”

“Dr. Metra, would you join me in my office,” Marc called over his Comm.

“Captain, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.  First, I just need to get another doctor to take over my patient.”

“You’ve already been thinking about something,” Samantha accused.

“I’m always thinking about something,” Marc said with a laugh.  “But yes, Dr. Metra and I have been discussing how to best utilize the Paraxean doctors and nurses.  We were focused on creating a more positive image for the Paraxeans, but this is an opportunity to crack two eggs at the same time.”

“By the way, I just saw Catie, has she gained weight?”

“Yes, Dr. Metra is helping her with her disguise,” Marc said.  “She’s going to be looking like Kal’s sister in a few days, skin color, and all.”

“Really, just because of the publicity thing?”

“That and the fact that she has to do an undercover report before she can complete her high school diploma,” Marc said.

“An undercover report?”

“Yes, she’s got to do a report on the effects of social class on one’s life choices.  I believe she’s planning to get a job at one of our manufacturing plants and study her co-workers.”

“You set this up?” Samantha asked.

“Only partially,” Marc said.  “ADI and I review her curriculum to make sure she has a rounded education.  This is taking a leaf from my mother’s handbook.  She once made Catie spend time working in a shelter and feeding the poor on Christmas.  This will give her a better perspective of what normal people have to deal with.”

“Does she know how much you influence her curriculum?” Samantha asked.

“No, and don’t tell her.  She’s much more enthusiastic about these things when she thinks I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You’re sneaky.”

“Teenagers demand sneaky.  She used to share everything, but now she likes to have a few secrets.”

“Captain, how may I help you?” Dr. Metra asked when she arrived.

“Please be seated.  Sam and I were just discussing that it would be helpful for some of our other objectives to provide some advance medical care for France and the UK.”

“Good, which treatments do you want to make available?” Dr. Metra asked.

“The Muscular Dystrophy treatment would be the first on the list.  You’ve perfected it already,” Marc said, alluding to the treatment of Dr. Sharmila’s twins after Catie’s mother had suggested to her that they might have a treatment.

“Of course, and we should include acute lymphocytic leukemia, and mesothelial cancer,” Dr. Metra suggested.  “And as long as we have a treatment, there is nothing to stop us from treating any patient who shows up with a different type of cancer or medical problem.”

“I agree,” Marc said.  “Sam, why don’t you and Dr. Metra work out the details.  Again, we need to keep the nanites secret.  The treatments need to occur under our control.  Still, we should be able to accomplish that while working at a local hospital.”

Chapter 10

Press Conference

“Ladies and gentlemen, the leader of Delphi, His Excellency, President Marcus Alexander McCormack.”

Marc entered the room and approached the podium; there was a standing ovation from the press and the various dignitaries whom had been invited.  He waited for a few minutes for the applause to finally quiet down.

“I’ve asked you here today to announce a historic agreement between Delphi and Algeria,” Marc said.  “Delphi will be providing fusion reactors to Algeria and will also license the production of polysteel to them.  In exchange, Algeria has promised to build a plant that will desalinate water from the Mediterranean, and use that water to start a ten-year project to reforest Algeria.  Delphi’s scientists have developed a version of the Saharan Cyprus that grows three times as fast and can tolerate the harsh conditions found in the Sahara better.  This effort will result in the sequestering of over thirty billion tons of carbon from our atmosphere.  I’ll take questions now.”

“What’s to stop people from burning the trees to create cropland?”

“First: there is no cropland in the areas where the trees will be planted.
Second: watering the trees will create grazing land around them for sheep and goats, which will provide the migrant population an income.
Third: the introduction of polysteel manufacturing should provide jobs to absorb the population that is now tied to subsistence farming, and allow Algeria to establish larger family farms.  The government has agreed to provide the necessary assistance to encourage that transition.”

“Why Algeria?”

“Algeria is the largest, most democratic country in the Sahara.  The government agrees that with the economic boost to their economy by this initiative, they will be able to move their country toward a more democratic society.  We hope they will be a model for other nations in Africa.”

“What right do you have to control the licensing of polysteel?”

“MacKenzie Discoveries developed the process for polysteel,” Marc said.  “We had samples of it from the spaceship we found, but the process to produce it was developed by us.  Under all the laws on this planet, that entitles us to control the use of that technology.  We are dedicated to introducing that technology to the world in a controlled manner with the express goals of raising the income levels in the nations that are suffering from poverty.”

“How can we trust you?”

“Because you don’t have a choice.  We control the technology and will continue to introduce it according to our plans, but look at our actions,” Marc said.  “We have dedicated all of our resources to enhance the lives of people in every nation.”

“You built a monstrous space station, what benefit was that?”

“That space station was instrumental in building the ships and fighters that defeated the invading force that was trying to colonize Earth.  When we found the spaceship, we were immediately concerned that the owners would come looking, and we did everything we could to make sure Earth was prepared.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to allow the U.S. to exploit that technology to defend us?”

“We feared that if one of the nuclear powers gained the technology, it would lead to nuclear war.  Earth has not had a history of managing leaps in military power without starting an arms race.”

“What is the status of the Paraxeans?  Why are they only in Delphi City and on Delphi Station?”

“The Paraxeans are in Delphi by their choice,” Marc said.  “The prisoners we captured during the battle are in stasis awaiting final disposition of their status.  We have brought the leaders and key scientists of the colony expedition to Delphi to help us find a solution for the colonists.”

“Aren’t you hoarding the Paraxeans to prevent other nations from learning from them?”

“The Paraxeans are free to talk and share their knowledge with anyone,” Marc said.  “In fact, in two weeks, there will be a conference here in Delphi City between the leading Paraxean scientists and scientists from several nations.”

“Can you explain the fact that the UK and France have started to receive special medical treatment from Paraxean doctors?”

“Since we introduced the treatment for Alzheimer’s, MacKenzie Discoveries has been working on other medical treatments.  We have brought the Paraxean doctors from the colony ship on board to help with the efforts.  Between us, we’ve developed several new treatments for diseases that are especially prevalent in children.  We are simply starting to make those treatments available to the world.”

“What are you charging for the treatments?”

“We are only recovering cost,” Marc said.  “The clinics we are working with will be responsible for paying and supporting the doctors and nurses who will be managing the treatments, and also the cost of the medicine.”

“Like the cost of the medicine for Alzheimer’s?”

“No, we are not trying to make a profit,” Marc said.  “I believe the average cost for the medicine involved in the treatment will be five thousand dollars.”

“Per dose?”

“No, for all the medication that the patient needs that is provided by MacKenzie Discoveries.”

“Why France and England?”

“The UK and France have been extremely flexible in accommodating our needs to protect the Paraxeans as well as protect the technology associated with producing the medicine.”

“Why not the United States?”

“The U.S. has continued to be inflexible and belligerent in its dealings with Delphi.  We do not believe we can ensure the safety of the doctors and staff that would be needed to support the treatment,” Marc said.  “We hope that will change in the future, but until it does, U.S. citizens will need to travel to other countries for treatment.”

Chapter 11

Catie Undercover

“Do you think I’m ready?” Catie asked Liz.  Her body had completed its transformation.  She now sported a soft brown complexion, her hair was black, her eyes brown, and she had few extra pounds to soften her usually lean features.

“You look great,” Liz said.  “What name have you chosen for yourself?”

“I’m going to be Keala Nakoa.”

“Do you have your new condo assignment yet?”

“Yes, and I’ve got a roommate.”

“Oh, that’s going to be fun.  I assume nobody you know.”

“Right, I’m still surprised ADI couldn’t nail me a condo without a roommate.  We should have lots of empty ones available.”

“We probably do, but they’re being assigned under tight rules.  It would look suspicious if you suddenly came up with one all to yourself.”

“I guess it would blow my cover.  Anyway, I’m moving in tonight.  My first day at work is tomorrow.”

“So, your first day on the job, excited?”

“It’s assembling solar panels,” Catie said.  “It’s not going to be very exciting.”

“Hey, you have to change your attitude, or you’ll blow your cover and get an F on your paper,” Liz said.  “You have to ask questions about even simple things.  It’ll help your co-workers accept you, and nobody as smart as you would be working in a manufacturing plant as an assembler.”

“I know, but it’s going to be hard.  And why do I have to wear these shoes?”

“They have a slight heel,” Liz said.  “That will make you walk different than your normal pilot strut.  We don’t want people recognizing you as a pilot.”

“Pilots do not have a strut!”

“Au contraire my young friend, they most certainly do.  Just watch a few pilots walking around, and you’ll notice it right away.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie knocked on the door to the condo that would be her home for the next few weeks.  She had a duffle bag with all that she would need, just clothes and toiletries.

“Just a minute,” a voice called out from inside.  A bit later, the door opened and a small woman looked up at Catie.  “Great, someone who can reach the top shelf,” the woman said.  Catie estimated her height to be about 145 centimeters tall or 4’ 9”, so Catie, who was a foot taller, figured she was serious about someone to reach the top shelf.

“Hi, I’m Keala.  I think I’m your new roommate.”

“That’s what I’ve been told.  My name is Wei Xiāo,” she said.  “I’ve been expecting you.  You have the right-hand room.”

“Thanks,” Catie said.  She carried her bag in and put it into the room.  “Is there anything you need me to do, any rules I need to know about?”

“Just clean up after yourself, no parties unless we both agree, and if you’re going to make out with someone, do it in your room,” Wei said.

“Sounds good to me,” Catie said.  “I’m going to be working a first shift job.  I start work at seven, but I usually go to the gym at five-thirty to do a workout first.”

“I’m an admin for Vancouver Integrated,” Wei said.  “So, I have office hours; I don’t get up until seven.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem; I’ll be quiet, and I shower at the gym and eat on the way to work,” Catie said.  “Any food restrictions?”

“I’m Chinese; if it’s edible, we have a recipe for it,” Wei said.  “Do you cook?”

“I’ve been known to try, but I’m still pretty basic.”

“Do you like to eat?  Because I like to cook.”

“I love to eat; what do you make, Chinese food?”

“Not that much, I mainly cook Chinese when my mother is visiting,” Wei said.  “I like Italian and French recipes, plus what they call fusion cuisine.  For me, that means some Chinese and Japanese techniques with West Coast cuisine.”

“Did you come from Vancouver?”

“Yes, they offered to move me here when they opened the office, and hey, a Pacific paradise where it never gets cold, how could I turn that down.”

“I’ll go unpack,” Catie said.  “Would you join me for dinner in honor of our first night as roommates?”

“Sure.  Seven o’clock?”

◆ ◆ ◆

The next day, Catie got up at five o’clock and was at the gym by five-thirty.  Morgan, her bodyguard, had moved into a condo in the same building the week before to make it simpler to guard Catie when she moved around.  The two of them just happened to have the same workout schedule which worked well since Morgan had to be with Catie while she was working out anyway.  After a thirty-minute run on the treadmill followed by a circuit on the weight machines, Catie showered and headed to her first day at work; a second pair of bodyguards shadowed her from the gym to work.  She stopped at the local coffee shop to grab a large coffee along with a breakfast burrito, which she managed to eat in fifteen minutes; it was similar to the routine she used when she had early morning flights to the space station.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Jasmine, this is our new trainee, she’ll be working with you.  Angela is moving to second shift.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jasmine said.  “Hello,” she said to Catie as she extended her hand in greeting.

“I’m Keala,” Catie said as she shook Jasmine’s hand.  “I appreciate anything you can do to help me learn.”

“Don’t worry; it’s not that complicated.”

“Jasmine, I expect you to be up to full productivity by the end of the week,” the shift supervisor said as she left the workspace.

“That woman is so full of herself,” Jasmine said once the shift supervisor was out of earshot.

“She didn’t seem very friendly,” Catie agreed.

“Not with the likes of us,” Jasmine said.  “She only hangs out with the other shift supervisors, the manager, and the engineers.  She doesn’t like anyone that doesn’t have at least a college degree, and she only has an associate’s degree.”

“Sounds like a snob,” Catie said.  “I guess we’d better get to work before she comes back.  What do I do?”  Catie had purposely not looked at the training material the night before.

“Okay, let’s get started.  First, we slide this foam base over.  We have to make sure it’s right side up; there’s this stupid logo stamped on the other side, so you have to use this side.  Make sure it’s rotated, so the pocket for the inverter is on this side.  Then slide the array on top of it.  We need to line it up carefully.”  Jasmine checked the alignment of the array as she continued to talk.

“You need to make sure the wires are on this side next to the pocket for the inverter; if you screw it up, it means rework, and we get dinged.  Now that it’s all aligned, we push this button, and the heater comes down and presses the array and heats it up, so the glue melts and sets.”

“Glue?  Won’t it melt when the panels get hot again?” Catie asked.

“No, they say it’s a one-time melt thing, which is why the rework is so bad, they have to grind the foam off and recoat the array with glue.  Anyway, if they’d just put the pocket for the inverter on both sides, there would never be a problem.”

“Have you suggested it?”

“Me?  No way.  They’d think I was trying to show someone up,” Jasmine said.

“I don’t think so; you should suggest it to what’s her name.”

“You mean, Bianca?”

“The shift supervisor, is that her name?”

“Yes, you mean she never told you her name?”

“No, and her name badge is covered up with something,” Catie said.

“That’s her supervisor badge,” Jasmine said.  “She can be so clueless.  Anyway, I don’t think she will listen to me.”

“You won’t know unless you try,” Catie said.

“Maybe.  Anyway, now that the array is glued on, we have to flip the thing over, put this plate on top of it, put the inverter in and plug it in, then bolt on the side panels.  We push it out to the conveyer belt, and they test it.”

“Seems straightforward.  You could almost do it yourself.”

“You can, but it goes faster with two people.  It’s all about speed here.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Lunch,” Jasmine called out.

“Great, I’m hungry,” Catie replied.  “What kind of food do they serve?”

“We call it grub,” Jasmine said.  “It barely qualifies as food.”

Catie was shocked.  The assembly plant was part of MacKenzie Discoveries, so she didn’t expect that they would be stinting on the food.  Lunch was part of the employee’s compensation since they only had thirty minutes to eat, so they were a captive customer group.  She followed Jasmine to the cafeteria, mulling the issues over.

“Looks like we’re having lasagna today,” Jasmine said.  “But I don’t think Italianos would be too happy with it.”

Catie got a plate with lasagna, some overcooked broccoli, and a slice of garlic bread on it.  “It doesn’t look too appetizing,” she said as she followed Jasmine toward the tables.

“Doesn’t taste too appetizing either.”

An older woman waved to Jasmine, and Jasmine made a beeline to her table.  “This is Esmerelda,” Jasmine said, introducing the older woman.  “Everyone calls her Esme.”

“Hello, Esme,” Catie said.  “I’m Keala, Jasmine’s co-worker.”

“Buenas tardes,” Esme said.  “So, you’re new here.”

“Yes, this is my first day,” Catie said.  “How long have you worked here?”

“I have been here over one year; I was one of the first to work in this plant,” Esme said.  “It was better back then.”

“How was it better?” Catie asked.

“The food was better.  And the bosses were nicer.  Back then they tried to be helpful, now they just tell you to work faster,” Esme said.

“Have you gotten faster?”

“A little,” Esme said.  “But we have more rework, so I don’t think we make that many more panels per week than before.  The bosses spend most of their time adding new lines to handle all the orders.  They don’t care about the way we do our job; they just want us to work faster, always faster.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Catie said.  “By the way, where are all the bosses?”

“They usually go somewhere to eat,” Jasmine said.  “They get a full hour for lunch; sometimes, they take even longer.”

“Do they work longer?” Catie asked.

“Who knows?”

◆ ◆ ◆

By three-thirty, Catie was more than happy to call it a day.  After saying goodbye to Jasmine, she made her way back to the gym.  Liz had made arraignments with the manager of the gym so that she and Catie would have private use of the back room that was used for martial arts training.  It was three forty-five by the time Catie got to the gym and changed.

“How was your first day?” Liz asked.

“Interesting,” Catie said.  “There’s something fishy going on there.  I’m going to have Fred look into it.”

“What’s fishy?”

“The food is pretty marginal,” Catie said.  “I’ve been told that it wasn’t so bad when they first started, but it’s gotten worse, and they’re not being very efficient.  It sounds like the bosses don’t like to hear suggestions from the workers.”

“That does sound strange, but if you have Fred go charging in and investigate what’s going on, you’re going to blow your cover.  Then, he might not be able to find out everything that’s happening.”

“Oh, so what should I do?”

“Complete your assignment; you’re supposed to report on what it’s like to be a part of the working class, just add investigating what the bosses are doing and why.  Be careful that nobody catches you sneaking around.”

After a good workout where Catie managed to only get thrown on her butt four times by Liz, Catie was more than happy to call it a day and head to her new home for the evening.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie had barely had time to change and eat an apple before Wei arrived home.

“Keala, how was your first day?” Wei asked.

“It was good, not too hard,” Catie said.

“Make any new friends?”

“My co-worker is pretty nice,” Catie said.  “And she introduced me to another lady who’s been working there for a long time.  I’ll have to see how that goes.”

“Sounds like a good first day.  What do you want to do for dinner?”

“I was waiting for you to get here to decide,” Catie said.

“Want to help me cook something?”

“Sure, and you need to tell me how we should handle the shopping, and sharing the costs.”

“My last roommate and I would have our Comms record what we ate and used, then we’d run a program to reconcile at the end of the month to split the cost,” Wei said.  “I thought it worked pretty well.  You could eat whatever you found in the kitchen and not worry about it.”

“I like that idea,” Catie said.  “I’ll add the apple I just ate to my list and have my Comm start recording.  Do you ever have discrepancies?”

“Big word,” Wei said.  “Sometimes, usually when someone has a late-night snack and isn’t wearing her specs.  It’s usually pretty obvious when we review the report.”

“Sure, no problem, when do you want to start cooking?”

“Give me an hour to change and decompress; then we’ll start.  What do you want to eat?”

“Anything but lasagna,” Catie said.

“You don’t like it?”

“That’s not it, I had something that resembled lasagna for lunch,” Catie said.

“Okay, then what about a Caesar salad with chicken?”

“Sounds good to me.  Call me when you’re ready.  I’ll be doing some reading in my room ‘til then.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie spent the next hour catching up on her email and checking in on the various projects she was responsible for, especially the design of her new scout ship.  It had been impossible for her to do any of it while she was working at the plant.  Her breaks were too short to spend catching up on work, so she had spent them chatting with Jasmine.

At six, Wei pinged her Comm to let Catie know she was starting to cook.  Catie finished up her last report and joined her in the kitchen.

“If you take care of the rinsing and separating the romaine, I’ll start the chicken,” Wei said.  Two chicken breasts were sitting on a paper towel next to the cooktop.  Apparently, Wei had cleaned them before she pinged Catie.

Catie grabbed the lettuce from the refrigerator and took it to the sink to rinse.

“Excuse me.”  Wei grabbed a short step stool from the cabinet under the kitchen sink.  She set it down in front of the cooktop, opened the drawer under the stove, and extracted a saucepan.  Then, opening a tall, narrow drawer, she grabbed a bottle of olive oil and stepped up on the stool.  She poured some olive oil in the pan, turned the burner on under the pan, and waited for the oil to get hot.  She swished the pan around a few times to spread the oil out.

“What do you do for salad dressing?” Catie asked.

“I made it last night,” Wei said.  “Why don’t you grate some parmesan cheese.”

“Sure,” Catie said.  She went to the refrigerator and found a block of parmesan, then cut off a chunk and looked around for the cheese grater.  “Grater?”

“This drawer to the right of the cooktop.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll send you the layout for the kitchen,” Wei said.  “It shows where I keep everything.”

“Thanks, that’ll make it easier on me,” Catie said.  “I’m not feeling very helpful right now.”

“When you finish the cheese, you can set the table; the silverware is in the drawer on the left here.  The plates are in the cabinet just left of it, top shelf of the bottom cabinet.  I don’t keep much in the top cabinet since I can’t reach it.”

“Got it.”  Catie set the table that was just past the kitchen island.

“Would you like to have some wine with dinner?” Wei asked.

“I’d like half a glass,” Catie said.  “I don’t drink much.”

“Then more for me.  The wine is in that refrigerator under the counter over there.  Why don’t we try the Chardonnay?”

“Wine opener?”

“It’s a screw top,” Wei said.

Catie opened the wine, grabbed a couple of wine glasses and a trivet from the cabinet, and set them on the table.  “Do you want a glass of water as well?”

“Please.”

Catie quickly added two glasses and filled them with water.  Wei had finished cooking the chicken and had moved her step to the other side of the kitchen next to the sink.  She was chopping the chicken into strips.

“Get the dressing for me, and I’ll make these up.  The bread is in the oven; if you grab it, we’ll be ready to eat.”

After placing their two plates on the table, Wei poured each of them half a glass of wine.  “To roommates,” she toasted.

“They don’t offer a unit with lower counters?” Catie asked.

“No, too expensive,” Wei said.  “I just have my friend, Steppie, to give me a boost.  I only wish he’d learn to move where I need him.  I also have a small step ladder to get to the upper shelves, but with you here, I might not need it too often.”

“I don’t mind grabbing things for you,” Catie said.  “I’ll try to put my stuff up high if I have anything you won’t use.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, I was wondering what kind of lunch service you guys have at Vancouver Integrated?”

“Oh, it used to be good, but it’s not that good anymore.  Since I can take a longer lunch, I go out now.  I kind of feel sorry for the workers who are stuck eating in-house.  A lot of them bring their lunches.”

“When did the food quality start going down?”

“About three months after we opened.”

“Hmmm.”

◆ ◆ ◆

By the end of the week, Catie had figured out which restaurant the bosses at the plant went to for lunch.  She put a few surveillance pucks in the restaurant to record the activity.

“TGIF!” Jasmine hollered when their shift was over on Friday.  “Do you want to go out with me for some drinks?”

“I’m not old enough to drink,” Catie said.

“Not a problem, just stick with me.  Are you in?”

“Sure.”

They left the plant and walked down toward the restaurant district.  Jasmine turned down an alley that started about halfway down the block.  She walked up to a door with no markings on it and knocked.  A tiny peek window through the door opened.  Jasmine inserted her hand through it, and almost immediately the door opened, and Jasmine pulled Catie through and into a dark corridor; music could be heard coming from the other end.  They walked to the end of the corridor and ducked through some curtains.  Suddenly they were inside a lively bar.  A band was playing on the stage, a few couples were on the dance floor, and the rest of the patrons were seated at small tables around the room.  Catie immediately noticed that everyone in the place looked like a teenager.  Some seemed younger than she was.

“Wow, this is some place,” Catie said.

“It’s barely going now,” Jasmine said.  “It’s not even four o’clock.  Wait ‘til midnight.”

Catie’s first thought was, “I’m not going to be able to stand being here until midnight.”  “You’re not serious about staying ‘til after midnight, are you?” she asked.

“Sure, you can leave whenever you want.  They serve decent food, and the party starts to ramp up around eight; by midnight, this place is really rocking,” Jasmine said.

“Let’s grab that table, then we can order some snacks and something to drink,” Jasmine added as she pulled Catie farther into the room.

“How do they keep this place a secret?” Catie asked.  “And what is it called?”

“We call it Hooligans,” Jasmine said.  “You have to know the password to get in, and anybody that causes problems gets their ass kicked by the bouncers.  Nobody wants to mess up a good thing, so we’re all cool.”

“What password?”

Jasmine placed her hand on the table with her fingers curled up so that the tips rested on the table.  Then she extended her index finger, pulled it back, did the same with her ring finger, and then did it with her pinky and index finger.

“Nobody can hear it or see it, so it keeps the narcs from getting in.  The place is soundproof, so nobody knows what it is.”  Jasmine gave Catie a big smile and then waved at a waitress.  “What do you want to drink?”

“I’ll have a Guinness and an order of fries,” Catie said.

“I’ll have a Modelo and nachos,” Jasmine said.  The waitress nodded at them and turned to get their order.  “What did you think about your first week?”

“It was okay,” Catie said.  “It seems a little inefficient; I think you should submit your ideas about improving the process.”

“Me, no way.  You have to write them out, and I don’t read and write English.”

“You speak it well enough.  Is your native language Spanish?”

“Yep, and I barely can read it.”

“Your Comm can teach you how to read English, just like it taught you to speak English.  It just takes a little practice.”

“What for?” Jasmine asked.  “I’m never going to be anything but an assembler.”

“Why do you think that?  You’re pretty smart.”

“Not really, those ideas I told you about were obvious.  I can’t do math and stuff like that.  Besides, why should I work that hard?  I make enough money.”

“But don’t you get bored?”

“Not really, you’re too busy at work to be bored.  When I’m not at work, I have fun going to places like this, watching TV, or hanging out with my friends.”

“But if you made more money, you could travel, go to Europe, buy nice clothes.”

“Who cares about travel?  We have great weather here, a nice beach, and they’re putting up that fancy hotel, so we can even see famous people here.  And who needs nicer clothes,” Jasmine said as she pulled her shirt off, revealing a tight-fitting white tank top.  She hung the shirt over the back of her chair.  She undid the ponytail holding her hair and shook it out so that it draped over her shoulders.  With her tight jeans, she now fit right in with the other teenagers in the crowd.

Catie made it through dinner and to nine o’clock before she just couldn’t stand it anymore and went home.  She had managed exactly three dances in the two hours after dinner.

Chapter 12

Science is Boring

The scientific symposium had gone on all week.  Although of interest to the scientific community, it was turning out to be a bust.  As Marc had predicted, the Paraxean scientists provided some new topics, but the discussion quickly topped out as the Paraxeans demonstrated that, although they were great technicians, they didn’t have an in-depth knowledge of the theory.

The one group everyone was interested in was the one that nobody could get any information from.  Marc had invited religious scholars from around the world to meet with the Paraxean xenoanthropologist slash theologian.  The group was holed up in the top floor of one of the condo buildings and wasn’t providing any updates on what they were discussing.  The only observable activity from the group was the continual addition of other scholars; they had already added five more to the fifteen that had started the conference.

◆ ◆ ◆

A press conference was scheduled for the end of the symposium.  The Paraxean scientists and the Earth scientists would answer questions on live TV.  Marc and Samantha were in his office, where they planned to observe the show over a glass of wine.

“Marc,” Kal said as he entered the room.  “We have a situation, and I need the two of you to decide how we go forward.”

“What kind of situation?” Marc said.

“A suicide bomber is planning to attend the press conference; he’s posing as one of the cameramen.”

Samantha sat upright so fast she spilled some of her wine.  “What do you need our input for?  You have to stop him!”

“We have replaced the explosives, so he won’t be doing any physical damage, but we don’t know everyone involved.”

“Start from the beginning,” Marc said.

“We detected him coming off of a fishing tour with a news camera filled with explosives,” Kal said.  “The scan showed us enough to be confident that it wasn’t armed.

“He is staying at the new hotel where most the press is staying.  We bugged his hotel room and added a couple of our new surveillance pucks.”

“New pucks?” Marc asked.

“Yes, remember how Catie used them on the Carl Vinson against Admiral Morris; well, we shrank them to a half-inch diameter and a quarter-inch depth.  They can only carry two cameras, but they can walk about anywhere; we used them to get better details on the bomb.  Anyway, we observed him for two days, figured out what he was doing to secure his room.  Then when he was out to dinner, we went in and replaced the explosives and detonators with dummies.  But the bomb has a cellphone trigger as well as a hand trigger.  We want to catch whoever is on the other end of the cellphone.”

“Okay, that sounds like you need him to try and set off the bomb,” Marc said.

“You can’t be serious,” Samantha said.

“That’s why I’m here.  We can alert the Paraxeans, but we can’t tell anyone else,” Kal said.  “We don’t know who he’s working with.”

“How’s he going to get into the conference?” Marc asked.

“He struck up a friendship with one of the cameramen from one of the small networks.  He let him know he was a cameraman himself, hoping to get footage outside the conference since he wasn’t on the invite list.  Then his friend came down with a serious case of intestinal flu this morning after breakfast,” Kal explained.  “Our guy was asked to step in since it was too late to bring in a replacement.”

“I assume they had breakfast together,” Marc said.

“Yep.  So, we’d like to let him go through with it.  When the bomb fails to go off, the accomplice will dial the phone to detonate it remotely.  We’ll be able to zero in on their location and grab ‘em.  Nobody should get hurt, except maybe the cameraman.”

“You’re crazy, someone might have a heart attack,” Samantha said.

“We have medical teams standing by at the conference already,” Kal said.

“And you waited until now to tell me,” Marc said.

“We didn’t know his target until this morning.  I did tell you we had discovered a plot to disrupt the conference and that we had it under control.”

“This doesn’t sound like it’s under control!” Samantha said.

“Hey, the reporters are complaining about how boring the show’s going to be.  No major scientific breakthroughs are going to be announced.  The only real interest is to see the Paraxeans; a few geeks will be interested in some of the science questions, but they’re saying it’s going to be a bust,” Kal said.

“So, they get a breaking story, lots of attention, and then the lion-hearted can continue the press conference after we haul the guy out,” Marc said.  “What’s to lose?”

“You are insane,” Samantha said.  “Can we at least tell Leslie?”

“If she swears not to say anything to her cameraman,” Kal said.

“Camerawoman, but she’ll be willing to keep her in the dark.  She’d leave her mother in the dark if it helped ratings.”

“We could use her,” Kal said.  “She could interview the bomber, see if he tells us anything else.”

“Okay, I’ll go have a quick chat with her,” Samantha said.

◆ ◆ ◆

As the press conference was about to start, Catie, Blake, and Liz came into the Cabinet Chamber where Marc, Samantha, and Kal had set things up to watch the show.

“What are you doing here?” Marc asked.

“We came to see the show,” Blake said as he headed over to the cabinet to grab the bottle of scotch.

“I brought popcorn,” Catie said.

“You people are sick!” Samantha said.

“Hey, this is going to be the best reality TV show this year,” Catie said.  “Liz and I have a bet on how many of the reporters faint or pee themselves.”

“How are you going to know who wins?” Blake asked.

“ADI says that with all the surveillance pucks, she can isolate the odor of urine or other bodily fluids to within eight inches of the source,” Catie said.  “Unless they’re lying on top of each other, we’ll get a count.”

“You are sick!” Samantha said.  “Who has the over?”  She laughed as she turned her chair so she could watch the show on the big screen.

“I do,” Catie said.

“What happened to, you people are sick?” Marc asked.

“That was your minister of foreign affairs.  Now, she’s taking a break,” Samantha said.  “Pass the popcorn.”

“I thought you were going to warn Leslie,” Marc said.

“I texted her to expect fireworks, but that we had it covered,” Samantha said as she passed the bowl of popcorn back to Catie.

◆ ◆ ◆

The reporters were allowed into the room where the press conference was to be held.  There were three tables in a shallow arc at the front of the room.  A collection of chairs for the reporters was in front of the arc of tables, with about eight feet of open space between them.  The camera crews took up position around the edge of the room so they could get shots of their reporter and the scientists.

As Leslie’s camerawoman started moving to the side, Leslie grabbed her arm, “No matter what happens, you keep rolling,” Leslie said.

“Do you know something?”

“I might,” Leslie said as she gave her camerawoman a push.

A moment later, the scientists filed in and were seated.  The scientist who was leading the symposium sat at the center of the head table.  Once all the scientists were seated, he stood up at the podium.

“Welcome,” he said.  “We’ve had a productive week.  Our brethren from Paraxea have been gracious with their knowledge.  We all owe them a debt of gratitude, . . .”

“Liar!  They are not our brethren; they are the spawn of the devil!” the cameraman with the bomb yelled as he ran to the center of the room.

The security guard immediately started to walk toward the maniac.

“Stop, I have a bomb!” the man yelled.

As soon as he yelled ‘bomb,’ clear partitions erupted from the floor.  They divided the room into six separate cells, splitting the table arc into thirds.  The bomber was caught on the same side of the partition as most of the reporters.  He ran into the partition like he thought he could knock it down.

“No!  They’re evil, I’m supposed to destroy them!” he yelled as he pounded on the polyglass panel with his fist.  He even banged his camera into it a few times.

“How do you know they are evil?” Leslie asked as she walked up to the bomber.

“They’re animals that dare to talk like men!  God set men aside from the animals; we are to rule over them.”  The man’s eyes looked wild as he searched the room.

“But these scientists haven’t done anything to harm us,” Leslie said.  “They are here to help us learn, to help us reach the stars.”

“God doesn’t want us to reach the stars, he made Earth for us, we’re supposed to stay here until he comes for us!” the man cried.  He was clutching the camera to his chest as he continued to look like a trapped animal.

“Who told you to come here?” Leslie asked.

“God did, he told me to come and destroy the devil’s spawn.  To prevent them from corrupting the people of Earth.”

“When was this?”

“Last week, he gave me this camera and told me to blow up the aliens.”  The man was frantically pressing a switch on the camera over and over.

“God must not have wanted you to kill anyone,” Leslie said, “otherwise, the bomb would have gone off before the partitions went up.”

“It was supposed to kill everyone,” the man said.  He was crying as he slipped to the floor against the partition.

“Got him,” Kal said.  “Seal the building!”

“Where is he?” Marc asked.

“In the building across the street.  He was in a room on the third floor when he dialed the cellphone in the bomb,” Kal said.

“Will he get away?” Samantha asked.

“Security cameras on the floor don’t show anyone entering or leaving the room since the call was made.  We back-traced the call within ten seconds and are now reviewing the footage to see who entered the room,” Kal said.

“Who won the bet?” Blake asked.

“ADI, what’s the count?” Catie asked.

“Cer Kal, you really should let the reporters and scientists out of the room,” ADI said.  “Most of them need to find a place to change.”

“What did you win?” Blake asked.

“Liz has to clean up after dinner for a month,” Catie said.  “And it doesn’t start until I get back from my undercover assignment.”

Chapter 13

Cabinet Meeting – Oct 5th

“Before we start the meeting, there are a few things I need to cover.

“First, the fireworks after the science symposium should remind all of us that we need to be on guard.  There are crazies out there that just don’t like the idea of aliens, and they can be manipulated by others.  We need to be vigilant.

“Second, the reason we’re meeting after four o’clock is that Catie has a temporary job, and I want her to be able to attend,” Marc said as Catie joined the meeting.  Everyone, except Dr. Metra and Liz, was shocked as a young Hawaiian girl walked in instead of Catie.  “As you can tell, she’s changed her looks so that she won’t be recognized.  We’ll be back to a normal schedule next month.”

“Wow, you look totally different,” Samantha said.

“You like?” Catie asked as she twirled around to give everyone a good look.

“How did you manage that skin color?” Samantha asked.

“Dr. Metra used some nanites to adjust it.  It’s natural, and so is my hair, so it’s easy to stay in disguise.  ADI has programmed an avatar for me that looks perfect, so I can talk to people on my Comm, and they see the old me.”

“How long did it take?”

“Three weeks,” Catie said.  “Then, three or four to get back to my old self once I’m done.”

“And the weight?”

“Nanites.”

“Okay, you guys can follow up with Catie and Dr. Metra after the meeting if you want to review what cosmetic nanites might do for you,” Marc said.

“The third thing I want to do is to set the ground rules for our new finance minister who will be joining us in a minute,” Marc said as he looked out at his cabinet.  “As you know, we operate on a need-to-know basis.  For now, Dr. Hausmann only has a need to know of our expansion plans, our financial status, and our long-term objectives.  He does not need to know about the Sakira, ADI, or any new technology we are working on.  Please avoid introducing those topics while he’s in the room.  If you need to touch upon one of them to answer a question, then just state that you need to do follow up before you can answer.”

Everyone around the table nodded.

Marc signaled for his assistant to bring Dr. Hausmann into the meeting.

“Everyone, let me introduce Dr. James Hausmann, our new finance minister,” Marc said.  “Dr. Hausmann, I'll let everyone introduce themselves after the meeting.”

“Thank you for having me,” Dr. Hausmann said.  “I hope I am able to be of use.”

“Sam assures me that you’re just what we need,” Marc said.  “I assume your needs have been taken care of, and you’ve had a chance to settled in.”

“Yes, I’m feeling very healthy, and I have my Comm and specs here,” Dr. Hausmann said.  “I moved into my condo yesterday; it is very nice.  Everybody has been so helpful.”

“Good, now down to business; Kal can you cover the results of your investigation into the bombing attempt?”

“Yes,” Kal said.  “First, the actual bomber was, let me use a very technical psychological term, a complete nutjob.  He was manipulated into his attempt by the person we captured in the hotel.”

“I don’t think nutjob is a fair representation,” Dr. Metra said.  “He is schizophrenic and suffers from bi-polar disorder.  He is in no way responsible for his actions.”

“Yes, like I said, a complete nutjob.  But the real culprit was the guy behind the curtain.  He is a hired fixer.  He’s not talking, but ADI has traced his movements and they tie him to the oil industry, and possibly other major industries that we’ve been at odds with.  He got our nutjob out of a psych ward and then conditioned him to hate the Paraxeans.  He’s not talking, but we’ve been able to rebuild the events from ramblings of Dr. Metra’s patient.”

“So it all comes back to money,” Liz said.

“It always does,” Kal said.

“Thank you, Kal.  Keep us apprised of what else you learn,” Marc said.  “Now moving on to more traditional business, we are negotiating with Algeria for a polysteel concession and some reforestation.  Sam, can you provide an update?”

“Margaret has started negotiations; she says she’s getting lots of attention.  The Algerians are highly motivated.  You saw the preliminary deal before the press conference.  She indicates that she can have the final deal inked in another three weeks,” Samantha said.  “Fred is already coordinating the installation of two fusion powerplants.”

“Dr. Hausmann, we will receive a per-gigawatt fee from one of the powerplants and will also be getting a license fee from the polysteel once they start manufacturing it,” Marc said.

“Excellent, I always love to see sources of income,” Dr. Hausmann said.

“Remember that MacKenzie Discoveries is getting the fees, Delphi just gets to tax it,” Marc said.

“Darn, less expenses too, I assume,” Dr. Hausmann said.

“No, straight fifteen percent of sales,” Marc said.

“That does make things easier,” Dr. Hausmann said.

“Speaking of income, Fred, can you update us on our various ventures?”

“Sure,” Fred said.  “We currently have thirty-five percent of the global solar panel market, which means our sales have reached 1.25 billion dollars per month.  We’re growing that as fast as we can ramp up production.  The market is growing at twenty percent per year, so we’ll reach about 1.3 billion per month within six months.  Our polyglass business has taken over the smart glass market, and it has grown to one billion per month.  We’re exploring how we can manufacture car windshields effectively; we think that will generate an additional five hundred million dollars per month.  Our battery and car sales have continued to grow.  Battery sales are topping five hundred million dollars this year, and our cars are now over twenty billion dollars, and we’re making a solid fifteen percent profit.

“Our sales from Vancouver Integrated have reached seven hundred fifty million per month and are growing at ten percent per month.”

“You mean ten percent per year?” Dr. Hausmann asked.

“No, it’s per month,” Fred said.  “The new phones from Vancouver Integrated are rivaling Apple in sales right now, and still growing, our specs being the major advantage over the competition.  We are also selling CPUs to various industries, and are taking over the high-performance server processor business.  We plan to introduce a faster, more reliable, and cheaper solid-state hard drive that will have ten times the capacity of anything else available.  It should put paid to the mechanical hard drive business within one year.  We should make approximately six hundred million per month from that business within six months of introduction.  We also make about twenty million per month from our Lynx passenger service.”

“That’s a very nice portfolio,” Dr. Hausmann said.  “However, it does seem pretty narrow.”

“Yes, I want to talk about how to expand that,” Marc said.  “I propose that we join the air passenger service industry in a big way.  I’d like to build an airliner that will fly at Mach 3.5 and carry four hundred passengers in comfort.”

Catie was excited; she usually got to lead the design efforts related to aircraft.  “You do realize that we haven’t figured out how to scale the shock wave suppressors,” Catie said.  “We couldn’t make them work for the Oryxes.  And how did you pick Mach 3.5?”

“I know you couldn’t do it for the Oryxes,” Marc said.  “I’ve picked 3.5 as a starting point based on making a big enough difference in travel time.  I am hoping your guy will be able to figure the shock suppressors for us.  That was one of the main reasons we hired him.”

Catie rolled her eyes, not bothering to try and correct her father.  “Oh, right.  He’s been busy, but I’ll follow up with him,” Catie said.  “Do I get to run the program?”

“Do you think you have time?” Marc asked.  He was smiling since he knew that Catie wouldn’t let anyone else run the program.

“I have plenty of time; I’m only working eight hours a day; besides, I should be finished with that job in two months,” Catie said.  “I can get things rolling right away.  We should be able to use what we learned on the Oryxes.”

“Okay, but this plan is to manufacture and fly the planes commercially, so there’s more involved,” Marc said.  “We’ll focus on flights of over seven hours to start with and work our way down to three-hour flights as we ramp up.”

“That is ambitious; if you pull it off, the money you’ll make will be extraordinary; you’ll be looking at tens of billions per month, maybe even a hundred billion,” Dr. Hausmann said.

“That’s why we’re going for it,” Marc said.  “Now, what do we need to make it happen?”

“That will take a lot of manufacturing space.  I’d say two sections at least,” Blake said.

“Why don’t we add that to the airport,” Samantha suggested.  “You’ll need a big runway to get those things in the air.”

“That’s going to be a bitch of a commute, and we’ll have to move quite a bit of freight between the city and the airport,” Fred said.

“Attach the airport to the city,” Samantha said.  “If you do it off the northeast corner, you’ll be landing and taking off next to the city’s airport.  I assume we could change that over to manufacturing if we can just ride a golf cart to the airport.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Blake said.  “We kind of like being able to adjust the airport’s orientation, so you’re taking off into the wind.”

“How much rotation do you need?” Catie asked.

“We generally just move it plus or minus forty-five degrees,” Blake said.  “Takes too long otherwise.”

“So, make the bridge rotate at one end,” Catie said.  “We can put a trolley on the bridge to handle the traffic.  Most of the heavy cargo will be coming directly to the airport, not through the city, so the trolley should be able to take care of cargo too.  You can bring in a few big trucks to handle the rest.”

“That’s kind of scary,” Liz said.  “If the airport shifts suddenly, you could have your bridge break.”

“Not if the bridge is soft coupled to the airport.  Have it terminated on its own island, then have a few roads cross and overlap the airport; they don’t have to be attached on the airport end.  When the airport is moving, stop traffic, just like a drawbridge,” Catie said.

“I think that will work,” Blake said.  “I’ll draw it up and review it with Catie and some of our structural engineers.”

“How long?” Marc asked.

“If we’re going to convert the city airport to manufacturing, we can move the four quads we’ve just attached to the city to the airport and redirect the next four there as well.  That means three months to have it attached and ready for buildings to go in.  There will still be infrastructure work, but since it’s not residential, that can go on while we’re tooling up.”

“Okay.  Next, Fred tells me we’re hitting material shortages for the exotic elements, especially the platinum group,” Marc said.  “It seems we’ve consumed a large percentage of the world’s supply, and the extraction rate from the known mines won’t meet our demand.  That, and prices are now going through the roof.”

“It sounds like you’re going to need to start mining asteroids,” Dr. Metra said.  “Those elements are present, but they’re present only on a small percentage of asteroids and then only in small quantities.”

“Can we detect them?”

“Yes, but you have to be close to the asteroid to detect them, so it’s true prospecting as you people say.”

“Okay, Dr. Nikola, would you work with Catie, one of our miners, and ADI to come up with what it will take to launch a prospecting team to the asteroid belt.  Fred, talk with our miners and figure out where we can get some more.”

“I would love to,” Dr. Nikola said.

Catie was almost bouncing in her seat, she was so excited.  But then Marc turned to her and took the air out of her balloon when he said, “Catie, you will not be going on the prospecting expedition.”

Her face fell, “Why not?”

“You can’t do everything.”

“I don’t try to do everything!”

“That’s true,” Blake said.  “She usually only tries to grab the fun and adventurous assignments.”

Catie stuck her tongue out at her uncle.

“Dr. Metra, how are your doctors and nurses doing?” Marc asked.

“We’ve sent out seven more teams so far; each team consists of sixteen nurses and four doctors,” Dr. Metra said.  “Britain, France, Germany, Ukraine, Japan, Canada, and Singapore each have one team.

“As you suggested, we’re focusing on children’s hospitals and childhood diseases.  As we get the logistics and the population shows that our people will be safe, we can expand the efforts,” Dr. Metra added.

“I’ve got publicists lined up to cover the most heartwarming of the cases,” Samantha said.  “We should start getting some good press.”

“Kal, security?” Marc asked.

“We’ve got a team of eight covering each clinic.  The doctors and nurses are all staying at a secure apartment complex close to the hospital.  They’ve liaised with the local police, and we haven’t had any issues so far,” Kal said.

“Good.  Now Blake, what’s the status of the Delphi Armed Forces?” Marc asked.

“Of the four thousand who have been loaned to us from the services of the various nations, we only see about twelve hundred that we think would be wise to keep.  Most of them are crew, only two hundred pilots and twenty-three officers,” Blake said.  “We have one hundred eighty pilots, twelve officers, and three hundred crew that are Delphinean.  That is about one-third of what we need to staff one carrier.”

“That’s not good,” Marc said.  “Sam, do you think the countries will allow us to keep the ones we want?”

“Not surprisingly, the ones we want coincide with the countries we are having the fewest issues with, that means everyone except the U.S., Russia, and China.  Although to be fair, the Chinese haven’t been that much of a problem, but they mostly provided local support,” Samantha said.  “So, odds are good.”

“Then Blake, why don’t you coordinate with Sam and Margaret to request long-term assignments for them.”

“Roger.”

“How do we grow our force?”

“We put in a real boot camp; we can use a section of the city airport for it, or better yet, we’ll carve out a section in the new airport,” Blake said.  “We’ve set aside the section where we plan to house the Delphi Armed Forces Academy and Delphi University.”

“Armed Forces Academy?” Catie asked.  She was shocked that she wasn’t aware of any plans for a university or an academy.  “How did that get by me?” she thought.

“Surprise,” Blake said with a smile.  “We’ve been playing with the idea since we got back.  We just grabbed one of the open sections and set it aside while we consider if we want to move forward.”

“So, how long?” Marc asked.

“Six months to put in the buildings and infrastructure,” Blake said.  “Admiral Michaels, Liz, and I are working out how to go forward.  We’ve asked Dr. Nikola to join us to help with the academic part and what to do about the university.  We need a university president and an academy commandant.”

“I’ve got someone in mind for the commandant,” Admiral Michaels said.  “No idea about a university president.”

Marc looked at Samantha.

“I’m on it,” she said.  “I’m sure I’ll be able to find someone who wants to step up or sideways.  We’re getting a reputation as a nice vacation destination, so someone will want to live in paradise.”

“Dr. Hausmann, do you have any questions?” Marc asked.

“I have lots of questions, but I need time to adjust to this reality.  I’ll send them out, and if they can’t be answered by email, I’ll arrange the appropriate meetings.  I do have one suggestion, though.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“You need a CFO for MacKenzie Discoveries.  I’m reeling with what I have to deal with, and I can’t imagine how you’re keeping all the rest of the stuff straight.  A CFO can take a big load off your plate,” Dr. Hausmann said.

“I’m on it,” Samantha said before Marc could turn to her.

“Then let’s call it a day,” Marc said.  “Catie, Dr. Nikola, Dr. Metra, Liz, and Blake, can you stay behind for a short discussion?”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hey Kal,” Catie called out before he left the room.

“What’s up?” Kal asked.

“Have you heard of a place called Hooligans?”

“Sure, teenage bar down off of Apian Way.”

“A teenage bar, isn’t that illegal?” Liz said.

“I guess,” Kal said.  “Our police chief briefed me on it last spring.  She says she has an undercover agent there as a waitress.  Place seems to keep everyone in line, and give the younger crowd a place to blow off steam, so they just keep an eye on it.  Catie, have you been there?”

“I went on Friday,” Catie said.  “It did seem to be a good environment.”

“Yeah, they keep drugs out of the place, price hard liquor through the roof, so most of the clientele stick to beer.  I hear the food’s good too.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Catie, can we get an update on the new drive?” Marc asked after the door was closed, and the small group was alone.

“I was writing it up,” Catie said, “but here it is.

“We’ve managed to send our entire menagerie through at least two jumps,” Catie said.  “The rats still run the maze as fast after the jump as they did before; the chihuahuas still play dead and roll over; as close as we can tell, the parrots still have the same vocabulary; and the two spider monkeys still get along and know all the commands they started out with.”

“Sounds pretty good,” Blake said.

“Yeah, so far.  We sent half of them back here for examination by a vet and Dr. Metra.  The other half is going through as many jumps as we can make in the next two weeks,” Catie added.

“What defines what can go through it?” Dr. Metra asked.

“It seems to be volume-based; girth being the most important dimension.  Our tests haven’t identified any mass relationship.  It will only work when the gravity flux is below ten picometers per second squared.  If the gravity is higher than that, it does nothing.”

“You mean it won’t move you?” Blake asked.

“That’s right.  The drives are running in opposition to each other, so you wouldn’t expect to go anywhere,” Catie said.  “Also, the tests show that the wormhole will not open anywhere the flux is higher than one picometer per second squared, either; it bends and drops you wherever it bends to.  We tried to have it drop a probe inside a small asteroid, and it did the same thing, bent around the asteroid, and dropped the probe off to the side.  Also, it bends around any gravity well in its path.  So, you have to plot the course you want to avoid them, or you end up way out in the middle of who knows where.”

“So, are we ready to start sending probes out to look for a solar system with a suitable planet for our Paraxean guests?” Marc asked.

“I’ve designed the probe, we can make as many as you ask for and start sending them out,” Catie said.  “Two weeks to make the new probes, but they’re using up that material you mentioned earlier.”

“Make ten,” Marc said.  “Start sending them out to the stars that are likely to have suitable planets as soon as you can.  Avoid contact with any existing civilizations.”

“Of course,” Catie said.  “What about building the scout ship?”

“Review the plans with Blake and Dr. Nikola.  When they and ADI approve it, start building one,” Marc said.  “Needless to say, all of this is top secret; nobody outside this room is to know anything we’ve discussed, except ADI, of course.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“What’s up with Catie?” Samantha asked Marc when he met her in his office after the meeting.

“What do you mean?” Marc asked.

“She looked a little peeved when she came out of the meeting.”

“I think she’s just frustrated that she’s not going to be involved in every big action plan; specifically, the project to grow our forces,” Marc said.  “She’s usually the smartest person in the room, but she still hasn’t quite gotten used to the fact that experience can be more important than intelligence.”

“Well, she is a teenager; they all have that problem.”

“Tell me about it.”

Chapter 14

To-Do List

On Wednesday, after work, Catie flew up to the space station to confer with Dr. McDowell.  He generally hated any kind of electronic communication; more likely he hated any type of communication; it was just that electronic communications were easy to avoid, just don’t answer the phone.

“Hello, Dr. McDowell,” Catie said as she entered his office.  She stood there patiently while he continued to work on the problem he had on his whiteboard.

“Oh, hi, Catie,” Dr. McDowell finally said when he finished the step he was working on, two minutes later.  While waiting, Catie had been trying to figure out what he was working on, but was unable to figure out the math.

“I have a problem that we’ve been waiting for you to work on, but we’ve all been distracted with the gravity drive and the jump drive work.”

“Yes, yes.  I’m busy now,” Dr. McDowell said.

“Can you at least look at it?  Maybe you can recommend someone else who can work on it for us.”

“Sure, if you promise to leave me alone after,” Dr. McDowell said.

“Sure, I always leave you alone, don’t I?”

“Harrumph, let me see what you have,” Dr. McDowell said as he turned to face Catie.  “Did you do something with your hair?” he asked giving her a look.  He hadn’t seen Catie since she’d changed her look.

“Yeah, I colored it.”

“Oh, that’s it.  Now what do you have?”

“As you probably know, we have shock wave suppressors on the Lynxes and Foxes,” Catie said.  “We tried to scale the design up for the Oryxes, but we couldn’t make it work.  Nobody seems to understand the math.”

“I remember something about that from when I was working on my first PhD,” Dr. McDowell said.  “They never got it to work that well.”

“Here’s what we have,” Catie said as she drew up a wire diagram of a Fox with the suppressors on it and added the equations that had been in the design documentation they had gotten from ADI.  “Here’s the design for the Fox, and this is the design for the Lynx.”  She quickly added the diagram and equations for the Lynx.

“And here’s what we tried for the Oryx, but it failed miserably,” Catie added.

Dr. McDowell went over the equations for a minute, making a few scratch marks over them.

“Failed miserably?” he asked.

“Yes, made things worse, messed up the aerodynamics something awful,” Catie said.

“I see, harrumph …”

Dr. McDowell just stood there looking at the equations and diagrams, after ten minutes, Catie started working on her notes for the meeting with the asteroid miners and Dr. Nicola.

It was two hours before Dr. McDowell did anything except breathe.  Finally, he said, “Ah, I see your problem.”

“You do?”

“Yes, you’re treating the flow over the airframe like a laminar flow, but the suppressors are designed to make the flow turbulent, that’s the whole point.  These equations are missing some pieces,” he said as he added some more variables to the equations.  “It looks like the designers got close then dialed it in experimentally.  Here, use these equations.”

“Can you give me the details for the Oryx?” Catie said.  “That would allow us to quickly verify the equations and learn how to read them better.”

“Sure, sure,” Dr. McDowell said.  “I already did it; here are the adjustments you need to make.”

“ADI?”

“Cer Catie, I have the equations and have entered the new numbers for the Oryx into the design.  I can transmit a change order to the plant and have them add them to the one that is currently being manufactured.”

“Please do that,” Catie said.  “Thank you, Dr. McDowell.  Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Peace and quiet,” Dr. McDowell said.  “Oh, and I need bigger gravity drives to verify the scalability numbers we came up with.”

“They’re being built right now.  It will take another three weeks to finish them,” Catie said.

“Good, good,” Dr. McDowell said as he walked back over to the other whiteboard.

“Bye,” Catie said.  She left the room, not expecting him to even hear her.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie knocked on Natalia’s cabin at six; she’d just had ADI verify that Natalia was home.

“Hello, can I help you?” Natalia said when she answered the door.  She hadn’t recognized the name Keala Nakoa that had come up on her Comm.

“Wow, Nattie, you’ve lost weight, looking good,” Catie said.  She had switched off the nanites that were modifying her voice, so she sounded like herself.

Natalia’s eyes went wide, “Catie?”

“Yep, Asteroids Are Us is needed for some consultation tomorrow.  I wondered if you were up for it,” Catie said.  Only a select few knew that Catie and Natalia had been on the first mission to retrieve asteroids and send them to Earth so they would have enough material to build the space station without having to lift it all from Earth’s surface.

“I would never have recognized you, what are you doing all in disguise?”

“I’m doing research,” Catie said as Natalia escorted her to the sitting area in her cabin.  “At first, it was just for a school paper, but now I’m looking into some corruption in MacKenzie Discoveries’ manufacturing plants.”

“What kind of corruption?”

“The food quality has gone down, but we’re paying the same for service,” Catie said.  “I’ve figured out that most of the managers are eating offsite at a particular restaurant.  They’re having really expensive meals with plenty of booze, and most of them are eating two meals a day instead of the one covered in their pay package.”

“Sounds bad, is that all?”

“I’m having ADI review the books on the restaurant and the HR manager that is responsible for the meal program.  We’re checking out some of the other plants too, as we see a similar situation at Vancouver Integrated and a couple of other assembly plants.”

“Kickbacks?”

“That’s what I’m guessing; I haven’t found the smoking gun yet, but I will,” Catie said.  “But that’s not why I’m here.  I want you and Paul to meet with Nikola and me tomorrow to go over a new asteroid expedition we need to set up.”

“Sure, but why do you need us?”

“We’re going to be mining the asteroids in the belt.  We’re looking for platinum group metals, so we can’t afford to move the asteroid here close to Earth; we have to extract what we want there and just ship the metals back to Earth.”

“Paul won’t be back until tomorrow,” Natalia said.

“I knew that.  I thought we’d do dinner tonight; I switched days with one of the girls, so I don’t have to be back planetside until tomorrow.”

“Let’s go.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“What’s up with the weight loss; are you okay?” Catie asked as they sat down at their table in Ristorante Altissimo, the latest restaurant to open on Delphi Station.

“No, all good,” Natalia said.  “Dr. Metra has me focusing on strength training, strong muscles but smaller.  I’ve lost twenty-five pounds; I’m just as strong as I used to be and can run faster and farther.”

“How does Paul like it?”  Paul was Natalia’s boyfriend and one of the lead asteroid miners.

“He just tells me I’m gorgeous no matter what I weigh,” Natalia said.  “He likes to avoid anything that might lead me to womp his ass,” Natalia laughed.  She was an ex-marine, and at six feet tall she had three inches on her boyfriend.  That plus the fact that she had trained in Krav Maga with Catie under Liz’s tutelage, made it clear who would win any arguments.

“Are you two going to get married?” Catie asked.

“We’re talking about it.  I’m thinking about having a kid,” Natalia said.

“Ooh, do I get to be the godmother?”

“We should start with bride’s maid first,” Natalia said.

“So, when are you thinking?”

“Next May,” Natalia said.  “My parents and sisters are coming out to Delphi City next month to meet him.  If he survives that we might set a date.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hi Paul, hi Nattie,” Catie said as her two friends joined her in the Delphi Station Cabinet Chamber the next afternoon.

“Hey, yourself,” Paul said.  “Wow, even with Nattie telling me, I’m shocked at how different you look.”

“Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yes, it is,” Paul said as he sat at the table.  “You know this is the first time I’ve ever been in this room.  It’s as nice as Nattie said it was.  Nice big wood table, must have been expensive to lift.”

“Not really; we brought it up when we were running three-to-one in mass down versus mass up,” Catie said.  “Until we figured out how to land the Oryxes on water, we had lots of uplift capacity.”

“Right, I remember Nattie telling me about that.  She said you cornered the market in Persian rugs back then.”

“Yeah, I still have a bunch, you guys need another one?”

“Not now,” Paul said.  “So, what’s this about mining asteroids in the belt?”

“We need more platinum group metals,” Catie said.  “We’ve used up most of the reserve material on Earth, and the mining of new material isn’t keeping up.  Besides, the price has gone through the roof since they figured out how much we need them.”

“Okay, so we go grab a few asteroids with platinum metals on them,” Paul said.

“It’s not that easy, the metals are rare even in asteroids; we’ll be finding asteroids with a hundred kilotons down to a few hundred kilograms,” Catie explained.  “We need to find S-type and M-type asteroids; the M-type are the best, but they’re rare.  The question is, how much time do we spend hunting for them versus mining the ones we find.”

“Well, we didn’t take too long to find the ones we brought here, did we?” Nattie said.

“Yes, but we only needed to find an S-type since they’re mostly iron; now we’re looking for ones that have a lot of other elements.”

“I see,” Paul said.  “But if we find one with lots of that platinum group stuff in it, we could bring it to Earth, couldn’t we?”

“Of course, but we can’t plan on finding one like that; we have to plan on finding a bunch of small asteroids with what we want on them.”

“Okay, so we’re prospecting and have to plan on staying out a long time to find what we want,” Paul said.

“Right, based on what ADI tells me, we’ll probably wind up grinding the asteroid into dust to extract the material we want.  We’ll separate out the iron and fuse it into a big ball, and leave it there until we need it.  The platinum group metals we’ll collect in smaller balls and plan on shipping them to Earth when we have enough to justify an Oryx making the trip,” Catie said.

“How do we find the ones we want?”

“We can make a few probes that will scan for them, but the probe has to be right on top of the asteroid to detect the platinum groups.  There are a lot of asteroids spread out over a huge volume of space, so it’ll be slow.”

“So, you send your probes out, when they find a good one, we go out, set up a base, and start mining it.  Meanwhile, your probe does a detailed survey of that region; with a base established, we can afford to mine asteroids with marginal deposits.  We’ll work out a formula on what to use to pick them once we figure out how much work it is,” Paul said.

“That will be way more efficient,” Catie said.  “I was thinking of one of you guys flying in a Lynx, prospecting the belt.”

“That doesn’t sound like much fun,” Paul said.  “Machines are good at doing dull stuff; always assign a job to a machine when you can.”

“Good advice.  So, once we find a place to start, how big a crew will we need to send?” Catie asked.

“How fast do we have to work?”

“We’re not desperate yet; we should focus on efficiency,” Catie said.  “We can send additional crews to other areas if we need to extract material faster.”

“We should plan on crews of four miners per shift, three shifts per day, four on, two off.  We would need to run three crews per shift to be able to have two crews active per shift.  That means forty-eight miners plus support personnel.  Where are we going to put all those people?” Paul asked.  “And how often do they get to come home?”

“It can take up to one and a half weeks just to get home,” Catie said.  “What do you think we should do?”

“You need to set it up so they don’t want to come home that often,” Paul said.  “So that means family needs to go with them.  Now you’re talking about two or three hundred people to set up.  What are we going to do about gravity?”

“We’ll just have the ship fly in a big circle, that will give you gravity.  I calculated that a nine-kilometer radius works about right, the gravity drives can handle that without using too much power, and a Lynx with gravity drives can sync up and land in the flight bay without too much trouble.  The autopilot will be able to manage the maneuver, so the pilots won’t have to worry too much.”

“Where are you going to come up with a ship?” Natalia asked.

“We can reconfigure the Sakira, use one of the carriers, or build a new one,” Catie said.  “I’ll ask Daddy and Uncle Blake, which they prefer.”

“How would you reconfigure the Sakira?”

“Change Flight Bay One into crew quarters and some additional rec areas, and whatever else we need,” Catie said.  “Flight Bay Two would be able to handle the Lynxes and some Hyraxes we would want to have available.”

“How about ore processing?” Paul asked.

“We take what we need so we can build a smelter from the iron and carbon we find on the asteroid.  Park it in the belt, then move it when we change base locations,” Catie said.  “Do you think we’ll be able to find enough miners?”

“We could start with fewer than the forty-eight,” Paul said.  “We’ve only got fifty-two out here now.  I’ll check in with everyone to see if they know of someone that would want to come out.  How many do you want to keep working on the asteroids here?”

“We should keep it the same if possible; if we can get the experienced ones to go to the belt, we could backfill with the new guys,” Natalia suggested.

“I read that there are a lot of British coal miners out of work; we can probably recruit from there if you can’t find enough back in the U.S.,” Catie said.

“Well, they sort of speak English,” Paul said.  “We could probably figure them out.  I’ll let you know later how many we think we can recruit from home.  Delphi’s got a good image right now after the war, but the president was bad-mouthing us so much before it might be hard to get Americans miners to move here.”

“Nattie, do you and Paul want to go?” Catie asked.  “You could run the ship’s environment and steward systems.  I think Uncle Blake is going to want a military captain to run the ship.”

“We’re going to have to say no,” Natalia said.  “We have some commitments with Paul’s family this spring.”

“Too bad,” Catie said, “maybe next time.”

◆ ◆ ◆

By three o’clock, Catie was in Delphi City for a meeting with Dr. Metra; she’d hitched a ride on one of the Oryxes dropping cargo.  She was waiting in Dr. Metra’s office while the doctor finished up with a patient.  Catie was trying to figure out how to best ask Dr. Metra for what she wanted.  Finally, she gave up and decided to just ask.

“Hello, Catie, are there any problems with your cosmetic changes?” Dr. Metra asked.

“No problems,” Catie said.  “I have something else I wanted to talk about.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve read in science fiction books how people have electronics embedded in their brains so they can communicate with their Comms without having to have an external interface.”

“We’ve tried that,” Dr. Metra said.  “It tends to become problematic over time.  The interface has problems, never good to have too much RF energy inside your brain.”

“That’s what some of the books say.  It does seem risky to have electronics wired directly to your brains,” Catie said.

“It is, an EMP would fry the circuits and most of your brain,” Dr. Metra said.

“Ooh, that would be bad.  I thought of another way to do it, or at least to make it easier,” Catie said.

“Let’s hear it.”

“My friend was showing me how she uses a simple code to get into bars; she uses her fingers positions to essentially type out a code.  Since we have ten fingers, that means we can have one thousand twenty-four unique symbols if we encode two positions for each finger.”

“Makes sense.”

“So, if I had pressure sensors in my fingers, I could just type based on the ten-bit code instead of having to use the projected keyboard.  I wouldn’t have to move my fingers or have my hands in a particular position.”

“So, what are you trying to accomplish?” Dr. Metra asked.

“Two things: first, I think it will be faster than typing; second, I’ve found that I can’t get away with trying to secretly communicate with my Comm when I’m with people.  Using my eyes only works for very short or simple button presses.  My Comm can provide me all the data I want if I can just find a way to ask it.”

“I see,” Dr. Metra said.  “I think there is a better way to accomplish what you want.”

“What’s that?”

“The human body and the Paraxean body both have what are called vestigial muscles, muscles that were once important but have been rendered obsolete by evolution.”

“Like we used to have a tail?” Catie said.

“Yes, and you’re actually born with one now, but it fuses into your coccyx after you’re born.  There are muscles that would control that tail, and some nerves that used to extend into the tail.  We can see what you have and then put nanite sensors at the nerve ends.  By stimulating your brain, I can teach you to use the nerves.”

“But what about EMP?”

“The nanites are too small to be affected; they have some shielding, but their dimensions are the best defense against EMP,” Dr. Metra explained.

“Cool, then how many can I have?”

“Ten to twenty shouldn’t be a problem.  They don’t have to be the same muscle set, but it would probably be best; your brain will do a better job of coordinating muscles that are parts of sets.  Jump up here on the examining table, and I’ll see what you have.”

Catie hopped up on the table and lay down.  “How will we train my brain to start using the nerves again?”

“We’ll put the nanites on them and one in your pituitary gland, then have your Comm make it release endorphins whenever the nerves are stimulated.  We’ll only need to do that for a little while, so the risk of creating a problem with the RF will be minimal, about the same as when you sit next to someone using their cell phone,” Dr. Metra said.

“Then, once your brain associates getting rewarded with the use of those nerves, you’ll be able to train yourself to use them,” Dr. Metra continued.  “Then it’s just a matter of practice.”

“Cool.”

“You’ve got sixteen good vestigial nerves associated with your old tail.  Eight for each side.  Do you want to put nanites on all of them?”

“Sure, more is better, I can always just ignore the extras if I don’t need them.”

After Dr. Metra finished implanting the nanites, Catie spent thirty minutes having that area of her brain stimulated.  Every few seconds, she would get a jolt of pleasure as her brain accidentally triggered the nanites.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t be by accident soon.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hi, Wei,” Catie greeted her roommate when she finally made it home.

“Hi, Keala.  How was your visit with your parents?”

“Fine, they’re having a blast working on the space station,” Catie said.  “I’m not sure I would want to live up there.”

“Why not?  It sounds pretty neat.”

“I’d be nervous about a hull breach,” Catie said.  “I kinda like breathing.”

“I bet they have some kind of auto-sealing stuff to deal with hull breaches,” Wei said.  “Lots of people live up there, doesn’t the president live up there too?”

“I think so.  Do you want to go out to dinner?  I’m kind of late.”

“Pizza?”

“Sounds perfect,” Catie said.

◆ ◆ ◆

They went to Giorgio's pizza, one of Catie’s favorite places.  She caught herself just in time before she blew her cover by greeting the owner.  They were early, so they managed to get a table in the back corner.

Once they were seated and Wei had her glass of wine, Catie decided to make her pitch.

“Wei, while I was on Delphi Station, I saw something you might be interested in.”

“What, a good-looking guy?”

“There were a few of those, but I didn’t get any contact info,” Catie said.  “I was in one of the new units they were converting into a shop.  There was a technician who was installing fixtures and stuff.  Anyway, he had an automated step.  He called it Jimmy Step.  Whenever he needed it, he would say ‘Jimmy Step, here!’  Then he would tap his foot where he wanted it to be.  The step would come over and set up there.  When he stepped on it, he could tell it to go up or down in height.”

“That sounds interesting,” Wei said.  “How high can it go?”

“Anywhere from ten to thirty-five centimeters, or four to fourteen inches,” Catie said.  “It can support up to two hundred fifty pounds.”

“How big is it?”

“When it’s parked, it’s twenty-two centimeters tall, and only ten centimeters wide.  The platform tilts when it parks, so it doesn’t take up too much space.  The platform is twenty centimeters by forty-five when it’s in use.”

“I could use something like that,” Wei said.  “How much is it?”

“He said he got it for four hundred dollars,” Catie said.  “It links up to his Comm, so that’s what actually controls it and provides the voice command.  I looked it up; you can preprogram locations for it and name them.  Since it’s your Comm, there’s no issue with voice recognition.”

“I want one, do you have the ordering information?”

“Sure,” Catie said.  She was excited to have made her first sale.  She’d designed the step on her way to Delphi station, and refined it after she had dinner with Natalia.  She was hoping she could sell a bunch of them; she wouldn’t be making any money on the first few since she was going to have them printed.

“Thanks,” Wei said.  “Now, for your information, a couple of real cute guys just moved in down the hall from us.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie spent her afternoons and evenings figuring out what she needed to know to design a new jetliner.  She decided to use the Boeing 777 and the Airbus 350 as her models.  They were currently serving the market that her father wanted to go after.

She had an engineering team modeling the size of the jet.  Since it was going to be supersonic and needed to have shock suppressors to avoid a sonic boom, the basic shape of the jet was limited.  Their experiments with the Oryx and Dr. McDowell’s new equations had only allowed it to reach Mach 1.8 before it created a shockwave; it wasn’t the most aerodynamic of jets, being designed to maximize cargo space.

Catie was reading about the interior design for jets of that class.  It was frustrating; everyone had a different opinion.  The flight attendants complained about every one of the various layouts; she mentally tossed the document she was reading off of her HUD.

“Arrgh!” she yelled in frustration.  “Maybe Jennie can help . . . no, she’s always been assigned to small jets.  . . . Aha!” Catie said after flipping through her mental contact list.  “Jackie would be perfect.  She does long haul flights, besides Uncle Blake would probably be happy to see her.”

Catie checked where Jackie was.  Once MacKenzie Discoveries had started selling the new phones, Catie had sent Jackie a Comm unit, which was much more powerful than the phones, and they’d sporadically kept in touch, so Catie was able to check her location.  Jackie was in Paris, “probably on a layover,” Catie thought.  It was nine o’clock in the morning in Paris.  She sent Jackie a message to call her when she was available.  Her Comm rang right away.

“Hello, Catie, this is Jackie.”

“Hi Jackie.”

“It’s been ages since we’ve talked,” Jackie said.  “I almost dropped my phone when I saw your name come up.”

“Sorry to surprise you,” Catie said.  “I was wondering if you wanted a job.”

“I have a job.”

“I mean a different job,” Catie said with a little frustration.

“I know, I was just teasing you.  You’re probably not used to it now that you’re a big hero and a princess,” Jackie said.  “But what kind of job?”

“This is kind of a secret, but we’re going to add wide-body jets to our airline,” Catie said.

“Humm, are they going to be supersonic?”

“Yes, we’re hoping for Mach 3.5, but we’re still designing the airframe,” Catie said.

“So, what do you need me for?”

“I need someone to lead the design for the interior layout,” Catie said.  “Everything I read is contradictory.”

“No surprise there,” Jackie said.  “What would I do after that?”

“Depends on what you want,” Catie said.  “You could manage all the cabin crews if you want.”

“So, I could quit flying,” Jackie said.

“Except when you want to,” Catie said.  “You could work a flight, or just take one whenever you want.”

“Sounds pretty nice.  You do know it’s kind of weird talking about a job with a teenager, what are you fifteen?”

“Next month; you don’t have to work for me if you don’t want to.  After we finish the design, you’d work for the head of the airline.”

“I’d be happy to work for you, you’re probably more mature than my current boss,” Jackie said.  “Half the time, she acts like a two-year-old.  What’s the pay?”

“I don’t know.  ADI?”

ADI flashed the current salaries of the managers of cabin operations for Delta, United, and Air France on Catie and Jackie’s HUDs.

“The average plus twenty percent,” Catie said.

“Deal,” Jackie said.  “When do you want me there?”

“As soon as you can get here,” Catie said.

“I have to give notice,” Jackie said.  “I’ll have to do my flight back to LA tonight, I have a lot of vacation on the books, so I might be free right away.”

“Let me know,” Catie said.  “I can use the help right away.”

“I’ll study up on the cabin configurations,” Jackie said.  “By the way, how’s Blake doing?”

“He’s doing good, you’ve seen him on the news,” Catie said.

“Of course, he does look nice with his face all fixed up.  It is amazing what you people can do.  Is he dating much?”

“Off and on, it’s kind of hard right now, he can’t date in his chain of command, so that eliminates most of the people he interacts with.”

“I won’t be in his chain of command,” Jackie said.

“No, you won’t,” Catie said.  “I’ll make sure of that.  He’ll be shocked to see you again.”

“I hope in a good way.”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be happy,” Catie said.  “You guys really got along in Hawaii.”

“It was only two weeks.”

“That’s longer than most of his relationships last,” Catie said.  “Except the one with the Chinese spy.”

“Chinese spy?”

“I’ll let Uncle Blake tell you; it’s a funny story.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie grabbed two adjacent warehouses they’d just had built.  She had them combined into one big warehouse that would be able to hold two of their new jetliners.  She was going to have two of them built here one piece at a time.  She decided to call them Alpha and Beta, “creative, huh,” she thought.  Alpha would be the one where they’d used full-immersion virtual reality to simulate the structure of the aircraft.  Only things that they were absolutely certain of would be built up.  Beta would be where they tried out different configurations.  They would practice in Alpha; then, when they thought they had a solid concept, they would build it in Beta.  Then they would test it, over and over, reconfiguring it based on what they learned.  When they reached a solid design, they would add that to both Alpha and Beta.

Right now, Alpha was just an empty space.  Catie had a list of all the maintenance procedures and the activities that the passengers and crew did during flights, from boarding to deplaning.  She was just waiting for the airframe design to get started.

She hired the chief of maintenance away from one of the major airlines, as well as three of the top designers from Boeing and two away from Airbus.  Offering them a thirty percent raise as well as moving them to the island paradise of Delphi City made the recruiting easy.  She would have her full team in place by next week when she should also have the final spec for the airframe.

Chapter 15

Doesn’t He Ever Give Up?

On Monday, October 19th, the President of the United States recalled all U.S. forces that had been assigned to the Delphi Alliance during the Paraxean crisis.  He was pressuring all the NATO countries to do the same.  Marc immediately called an emergency meeting of the Delphi Security Council for Tuesday morning.  He was giving everyone one day to collect intelligence on the issue.

“Doesn’t that guy ever give up?!” Blake growled as he came into the cabinet room.

“It’s his last-ditch effort to influence the election,” Admiral Michaels said.

“How is this going to help?” Blake asked.

“He’s been preaching America first, claiming that Senator Novak will gut the U.S. military and leave the U.S. at the mercy of other countries,” Samantha said.  “This will be one more example for him to point at.  Senator Novak has publicly stated that she believes the U.S. should continue to be part of the Delphi Alliance.”

“Catie, I didn’t expect to see you,” Blake said.

“I’ve finished my investigation, and I’m ready to file the report,” Catie said.  “Besides, there’s no way I was going to miss this.”

“Okay, let’s get started,” Marc said as he and Kal entered the room together.  Liz followed closely behind.

“Admiral, have you heard anything?” Marc asked.

“It caught everyone by surprise,” Admiral Michaels said.  “My contact says the president just decided this morning and announced it without telling anyone.”

“What about our other allies?” Marc asked.

“They are stalling, making motions that look like they’re going to recall their people, but letting red tape get in the way.  Privately, they’ve told me they are going to stall until after the election,” Samantha said.  “I’ve got Margaret working on getting a better sense of the situation.”

“Blake, how are our forces responding?”

“Captain Clark tells me that they’re mostly dismayed by the move,” Blake said.  “He’s getting private inquiries from people who want to resign from the U.S. forces and join us.”

“That sounds good,” Catie said.

“It is, but the majority of our pilots are within their six-year obligation to the U.S.  They can’t do anything but comply with the order.  Lots of the regular crew are beyond their commitment, so we’ll be able to pick whomever we want.”

“Why wouldn’t we take them all?” Catie asked.

“If we want to develop a truly loyal force, we need to recruit and train them ourselves; that means getting them out of high school and college,” Blake said.  “We need to get them before they’ve established their identity within another military structure.  That’s why we’ve been planning to build an academy.”

“I agree with Blake,” Admiral Michaels said.  “You need to run your officers through your academy and have a real boot camp for the crews.  It takes a lot of effort to instill the loyalty you want, and you want to do it when they’re in their teens or early twenties.”

“Sounds like brainwashing,” Samantha said.

“There’s a little of that, but it’s really about getting them before they’ve built up too many preconceived ideas about what being part of a military organization would be like,” Admiral Michaels said.  “The training and discipline become like muscle memory; we don’t want that memory to point to another armed service besides ours.”

“We need to move fast,” Marc said.  “Select the ones you want to keep and find a way to send the others home without building up any resentment.  Tell them that without the U.S. support, we cannot manage a big force, and that we’ll come back to them once we build up our base infrastructure.”

“Okay, I’ll work with our captains and commanders,” Blake said.  “Captain Clements, Commander Desjardins, Commander Frankham, and Commander Fitzgerald have all asked to stay.”

“Good, so pick the best people and do it by tomorrow.  We don’t want to give the president any ammunition,” Marc said.  “What else do we need to do?”

“Should we cancel the battery and fuel cell shipments to the U.S.?” Samantha asked.

“No, I don’t want to overreact, but I would like to send a message,” Marc said.

“We could advance the delivery of the next three fusion reactors to Japan,” Samantha said.

“I like that, do it!”

“We could also announce the construction of our own aircraft carrier,” Blake suggested.  “I’ve got a design worked out; we could start building within a month.”

“Where would we build it?” Marc asked.

“If the election goes the way we hope, then we could build it in France; if not, then we could build it in Brazil or Argentina.”

“Why, don’t we have a leak about negotiations with Brazil?” Marc asked.

“I’ll take care of the leak,” Samantha said.  “You okay if I let Leslie have the story?”

“Will it mess up your relationship?” Marc asked.

“No, she knows how the game is played.  Besides, the story will be true.”

“What about our new jetliner designs?” Catie asked.

“We’re a long way from them being real,” Marc said.

“Yeah, probably a year, but why not let the president take the blame for us entering the business.”

“Good idea,” Samantha said.  “We were expecting blowback when it became public.  If we have a leak about that as well, and tie it to our need to become more independent due to the continued animosity from the U.S., it’ll allow us to redirect some of the heat next year.”

“Okay, Kal, you and Blake work out how to start recruiting and training people in a more structured way.  Get your academy up and running, and expand your training facilities to handle bigger groups.”

“I’ll organize it,” Kal said.  “Blake, I’ll pull you in when I need help, keep you in the loop, but it looks like you’re going to be busy.”

“Okay, make it happen,” Marc said as he stood up, announcing the end of the meeting.

“Uncle Blake, will you have dinner with me on Friday?” Catie asked as they were walking out of the room.

“Sure, any special reason?” Blake asked.

“No, just wanted to spend some time together.  We haven’t been able to be seen in public since I started my undercover work.”

“Where?”

“Deogene’s,” Catie said.

“Fancy, I’ll have to dress up,” Blake teased.

“No shorts.”

“Then, you have to wear a dress.”

“Deal.”

Chapter 16

Blind Date

Catie met Jackie at the city airport on Thursday morning when she arrived on the Lynx flight from LA.  It had taken just over two hours for the flight, an unheard-of performance before MacKenzie Discoveries had introduced the supersonic Lynx.

“Jackie!” Catie yelled to get Jackie’s attention as she deplaned.

Jackie did a double-take, “Catie?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Catie said.  “I’ve been in disguise for the last month.”

“The weight?”

“Mostly water, I’m starting to lose it now.  Should be gone by next week,” Catie said.  “My skin will take a few weeks to get back to my normal color; well, actually close to it, I’m going to keep a bit of color to protect me from the sun.”

“You look good, just not what I expected,” Jackie said as she gave Catie a hug.

“Do you have luggage?” Catie asked.

“No, just my carry-on,” Jackie said.  “I have a friend subleasing my condo.  I’ll have her ship my stuff once I know what I want.”

“You can go shopping today if you want.  We have a kick-off meeting tomorrow morning.  I’ll take you to your condo and help get you settled in,” Catie said.

Catie led Jackie outside to the golf cart she had reserved.

“Oh, you did mention there were no cars,” Jackie said.  “I’ll have to get used to that.”

“We have these hop-on hop-off trolleys running down the main streets now,” Catie said.  “They’re pretty convenient.  I prefer them to the subway, but walking is pretty easy, you’re never that far from anyplace.  The city is only three miles by three miles right now.”

“Here, I’ll take care of that for you, Ma’am,” Morgan said when Jackie started to lift her bag to put it in the golf cart.

“Oh, Jackie, this is Morgan; she’s my bodyguard,” Catie said.

“I guess having a bodyguard makes sense with you being the princess and all,” Jackie said.

“I guess,” Catie said.  “At least I’m down to one now.”

Morgan tried to suppress a snicker.

“Yeah, I know about the two shadows,” Catie said, “but I can ignore them.”

“I guess it would get old, having to have someone with you all the time,” Jackie said.

“Morgan’s cool,” Catie said.  “She gives me plenty of space.  Sometimes I even forget she’s there.”

Morgan gave Catie a light slap on the back of her head.

“She doesn’t like being ignored,” Catie laughed.  “We do our Krav Maga workout together sometimes; it gives her a chance to work out her frustrations.  Unfortunately, I don’t get much of a chance to work mine out.”

“Well, she is a lot bigger than you,” Jackie said.

“And heavier,” Catie said.

“We’re working out again tomorrow,” Morgan threatened.

“Liz is going to be there, so you can take your frustrations out on her.”

“As if.”

“This is the building your condo is in,” Catie said.  “It’s close to the airport, but it’s walking distance to where we’ll be working for the next few months.  If you don’t like it, we can find you another one.  We’re going to be shutting the city airport down next month, so I think this is going to become a prime location.”

“Why are you shutting the airport down?” Jackie asked.  She was shocked at the thought of no airport for Delphi City.

“Oh, we’re moving the big airport closer to the city; we’re going to connect it with a bridge.  With it accessible like that, we won’t need the small airport.”

“You can just move the airport?”

“Yep, it’s floating like the city, so you can drive it to wherever you want, just not very fast.  We’ve been moving it for over a week, but it won’t get here until the end of next week.”

Jackie followed Catie into the building with Morgan bringing up the rear, pulling Jackie’s bag.  The two shadows had taken up position on either side of the entrance.

“This is nice,” Jackie said as she looked around the entry to the building.

“I think they all are,” Catie said.  “All the condo buildings have an inside courtyard with a swimming pool.  This one’s pretty new, so not that many people are living here yet.  You’re supposed to have a roommate, but now that our housing shortage is over, you only have to pay a fifty percent premium and you can have the unit to yourself.”

“Oh, I kind of like having a roommate,” Jackie said.  “Then you have someone to take care of your plants when you’re away, and the company is nice.  Do I get to pick the person?”

“You fill out a profile of what you want, then they match you up.  You get to review the choices and pick one before they move in.  You can ask for a different one if things don’t work out.”

“That sounds good.”

“I’ve already registered your Comm with the door,” Catie said.  “It’ll open up automatically whenever you’re next to it.”

“That doesn’t sound very secure,” Jackie said.

“Oh, it won’t open the door if you’re under stress; you have to enter a code then.  By then, your Comm will have alerted security unless you’ve reset the stress level.  You wouldn’t want security to show up just because you were having a fight with your roommate,” Catie said.

“That sounds better.  . . . Oh, this is nice,” Jackie said as she entered the condo.  “And I have an ocean view.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Catie said.  “We’re having dinner tomorrow night with Uncle Blake, so you might want to go shopping.”

“I thought he might meet me at the airport,” Jackie said.

“He doesn’t know you’re coming,” Catie said.  “I want it to be a surprise.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie sent Morgan to give Jackie a lift to the meeting.  Liz had worked out with her, so she volunteered to be Catie’s bodyguard until they met up with Morgan at the meeting.  Besides, Liz was interested in how Catie was organizing the design of the new jetliner.

Catie and Liz entered the warehouse together.  Catie waved to Dennis Hoffman, the guy that would be handling all the construction and manufacturing for their prototype efforts.

“Hi, Dennis.”

“Hey Cat,” Dennis said, waving back.  He liked to use her call sign since he’d been on her support crew aboard the DSS Enterprise back in the war.

Jackie and Morgan were standing at the table in the corner of the room.  The rest of the team waited with them.

As soon as they reached the table, one of the men came forward and extended his hand to Liz.  “Commander Farmer, I’m excited to meet you.  I didn’t know you were running this project.  I’m sure with you in charge, we’ll nail this thing.”

“I’m not in charge,” Liz said.  “I was just curious to see how Catie’s going to run this program.  She’s your boss.”  Liz pointed at Catie.

“You’re kidding me, she’s what, eighteen?” the man said.

“I’ll be fifteen next month,” Catie said.  “Hello, I’m Catie McCormack.  You’re Scottie Murphy, if I remember correctly.”

“Yes, that’s me,” Scottie said skeptically.  “You are pulling my leg, right?  I know you’re the princess and all, but this is a complex design project.”

“No, I’m not pulling your leg,” Catie said.  “If working for me will be a problem, we’ll pay for you to return to Seattle.  But why don’t you give me a chance first?”

“Sure,” Scottie said, still sounding skeptical.

“Great.  Let’s start with introductions.  As you’ve just heard, this is Scottie Murphy; he’s going to run the design team for all the internal mechanical and electrical design.”  Scottie nodded to everyone.

“And this is Jackie Drummond; she’s going to be our manager of cabin operations.  She’s here to make sure we design the cabin so that her people can work efficiently.”  Jackie said hello to everyone.

“This is Pierre Voclain; he will be managing the design of the avionics.  We probably won’t see much of him.  He’s got two simulators over on the other side there.  He’ll be replacing their parts and code with whatever he designs.  I don’t think he cares much about what’s not in the cockpit,” Catie said.

“I do care about the engines and the sensors,” Pierre said.

“Of course.  Now that’s something else we’re going to do.  All the sensors will be in triplets; two of them must agree before the computers do anything related to flying the jet.  If just one of them is reading an issue, it will produce a yellow alert so the pilot can assess whether it is something he should be concerned with.  I want all of us to be looking at each system and deciding if it needs backup.  Anything critical will be triplets,” Catie said.

“I’m loving working for you already,” Scottie said.

Catie laughed at him.  “And last but not least, this is Francisco Muñoz; he will be responsible for making sure that any necessary maintenance can be performed efficiently and quickly.  He’ll let us know where crews have noticed issues that are hard to spot, or easy to overlook.  We want to make it so that any problems are easy to detect and see.  The jets will have standard preventive maintenance, but we want the crews to be able to spot unusual wear.  As we build the planes, he’ll be conducting maintenance on them to verify that we’ve left enough room for his crew to actually do the work.”

“Can you explain this virtual reality thing better?” Scottie asked.

“As we design the plane, the plans will go into the computer.  It will produce a virtual image of the plane that will be displayed in your HUD,” Catie explained.  “Everyone will then be responsible for walking through the prototype, performing their task list as though they were actually doing the job in a real aircraft.  You’ll note any issues, and bring them up at the next design review.  We’ll modify the design or procedure to resolve the issues and then move on.  As we finalize the design, Dennis will make prototype components to install into the planes.  Alpha will only have confirmed designs added to it.  Beta will be built over there.  When we are working on a design, Dennis will prototype it and put it in Beta.  We’ll conduct our walkthroughs to discover any issues.  Beta might have several prototype components in it at the same time, even conflicting ones if we’re making an A-B comparison.  Generally, those will be foam mock-ups or whatever Dennis can put together quickly.  When we’re ready to commit, Dennis will make a production-quality prototype that we’ll install in both Alpha and Beta.  We’ll use the virtual reality to iterate options quickly, test them in Beta, then build them out.”

“I like it,” Scottie said.

“Good, I want to be flying a prototype in six months,” Catie said.

Everyone guffawed at her.

“Hey, we built the Oryx in less than three months,” Catie said.  “And we didn’t have nearly this good a team working on it.  Try to organize your teams into shifts so they can work around the clock – at least two shifts.  Second shift gets a fifteen percent bonus.  Any questions?”

“Can I work on second shift?” Pierre asked.

“You already get the bonus,” Catie said.  “We’re assuming you’re on call for both shifts.  Work whatever hours you want.”

“Chouette!”  Everyone’s Comm translated that as ‘cool.’

“Now our first decision is how wide to make the plane,” Catie said.  “We can make it up to 6.5 meters in width without impacting the top speed or fuel usage.  The 777 is 5.78 meters wide; the Airbus 340 is almost 3.5 meters.  I’m inclined to go for the extra width.  We are going to want our passengers to be comfortable.”

“That extra two feet will come in handy when you’ve got the three-four-three or the three-three-three configuration going,” Scottie said.

“I don’t think we’ll be using that configuration,” Catie said.  “I like the two-four-two configuration for economy; that way, you only have to get by one person to get to your seat.  Most people travel in pairs, so it’s a better configuration for seating.  Of course, Jackie gets the final say on that.”

“I agree with you, people like the two-four-two best,” Jackie said.  “And it’s easier to service the customers too.”

“We’re going to be a fast service, and we’ll be charging a premium for it.  Even if the width doesn’t matter, the weight will, so we want to optimize for comfort, fuel efficiency, and speed.  That includes boarding and deplaning,” Catie added.

“How long is it going to be?” Jackie asked.

“We’re going to make it seventy meters; that’s the max length we can have before we have to slow it down,” Catie said.  “Everyone, spend some time with Dennis and get your office space laid out for your teams.  There’s office space around the edge of the warehouse, two floors worth.  Pick out which one you want for your team, and Dennis will build it out to your specifications.

“Jackie we’re planning to have an onsite team of six designers for the cabin.  If you need more, I was thinking we’d subcontract offsite.  But if you think you need a bigger team, let me know.”

“I’m sure that’s plenty,” Jackie replied.  “A lot of what we’ll be using should be standard parts; it’s really about how you arrange them that counts.”

“Okay, I’ve got another meeting to go to.  I’ll see you at eight?”

“I won’t be late.  Morgan showed me where the restaurant is on the way over,” Jackie said.

“Bye.”

“Girl, you were a badass in there,” Liz whispered to Catie as they left.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, you had them eating out of your hand, trying to keep up with you.  Reminds me of someone.”

“You mean Daddy?”

“No, your Uncle Blake,” Liz said.  “He’s like a machine gun when he’s giving orders.”

“You’re right,” Morgan said.

“Thanks.”

“You up for doing a workout on Monday, now that you’re not working at the plant?”

“Sure, see you at six,” Catie said as she and Liz parted ways.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hi, Dr. Metra.”

“Hello, Catie.  Are you ready for another session?”

“Yes.”

“How are you doing with the sensors?” Dr. Metra asked.

“I think I’m doing pretty good.  I’m just starting to use them to type,” Catie said, “but it’s pretty slow.”

“Well, let’s see what we can do about that.  Jump up on the table and lie down.  I’ll program the stimulator, and we’ll get your brain excited about working those nerves.”

“It sure feels good when it does,” Catie said.

“Well, after today, you’re going to have to generate your own sense of joy since I’ll be turning the endorphin kicker off,” Dr. Metra said.

“Do you have to?”

“Yes, you need to stop getting a kick every time you simply stimulate the nerve; otherwise, you’ll never learn to type.  You’ll have to rely on a sense of reward when you get a word right.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie’s next stop was with the design team that was working on the probes she was having designed.

“Hello, Ajda,” Catie said as she greeted her design lead.

“Hello, Catie,” Ajda said.  “I was wondering when you’d stop by to check on us.”

“It’s been a busy week,” Catie said.  “Tell me where we are.”

“The solar explorer is ready to test.  We just needed to upgrade the sensor package from the ones we used on your test probes.  We’ve upgraded the optics so we can get a better image of the planets in the solar system from the sixty AU perimeter the explorer will be popping in at.  We’ve added reaction mass so you can push into the system for a closer look if you want.  Because weight isn’t a problem, we’re using tungsten since it’s relatively plentiful and one of the densest elements.  It will allow you to go into a system far enough to engage the gravity drives and then get you back out once you’re in; of course, you can just let your momentum get you out if you have the time.”

“How much reaction mass are you giving me?”

“We have enough room for one-tenth of a cubic meter of reaction mass; that gives you a little over two kilotons of mass to play with.  You should be able to go in and out of several systems with that.”

“That’s good; we probably won’t be going into that many systems,” Catie said.  “Our primary goal is to find systems with green planets that don’t have a sentient species.  Since you have to actually catalog the dominant species on the planet to determine if there’s sentience, the probes won’t help.  You have to land on the surface and travel around.”

“Okay, so what are you going to do with the ones that have a civilization on them?”

“Catalog them, determine if they’re space-faring.”

“Like the Paraxeans were doing here?” Ajda asked.

“Not exactly.  We’re just going to record the images of the planet and any signals they’re transmitting so we can study them,” Catie said.  “We don’t need to get that close since we don’t need to spend decades getting to the system.  Once we have a good catalog of what’s around us, we’ll decide who we should visit.”

“Okay, sounds like we designed it right.”

“How many sequential jumps can it make?”

“If you have the capacitors fully charged, you can make two to four jumps depending on how big they are.  It takes eight hours to recharge the caps if you draw them completely down.”

“Okay, plan on making eight probes, we’ll divide this section of the galaxy into eight quadrants and send one into each,” Catie said.  “Now, how about my asteroid prospecting probes?”

“We just started on them, although they should be easy,” Ajda said.  “We assume you only need gravity drives since they’re going to be working inside the asteroid belt.”

“That’s right,” Catie said.

“Good, we plan to put the standard sensor package in them.  My Paraxean partner tells me that they will be able to detect an asteroid’s metal content from two hundred meters.  They will need to circle the bigger ones to get a complete reading.  I assume we’re not going to include quantum couples since you’re going to be about six light-minutes away,” Ajda said.

“That’s perfect.  How long before I can have four of them?”

“One week,” Ajda said.  “I assume you’re going to have them hauled into place, they’re pretty slow.”

“Yeah,” Catie laughed.  “We’ll have someone place them using an Oryx.  Thanks for the update.  Is there anything you need?”

“Just the authorization to pull the material to build them.”

“You’ll have it within the hour,” Catie said.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie spent the rest of the day working with her team on the new jetliner.  She was so engrossed with the work that she was surprised when it was suddenly time for Jackie and her to leave so they could get changed for their dinner date with Blake.

“How am I supposed to get to the restaurant wearing heels,” Jackie asked Catie as they left the warehouse.

“Oh, I’ve booked a taxi for you,” Catie said.  “It’s just a covered golf cart, but it will keep your hair from getting blown out of shape.”

“That’s nice; you didn’t tell me that you had taxis,” Jackie said.

“I think the only ones who use them are the really old folks and women with heels.  And most women wear sneakers to where they’re going and then change to heels.  They even sell these slippers that are good for walking, but don’t take up much room in your bag.”

“I’ll have to check them out,” Jackie said.  “I’ll see you at the restaurant in ninety minutes.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Morgan alerted Catie that Blake was approaching her condo.  Catie slipped on her heels and exited the condo, meeting Blake in the hallway.

“Wow, you really clean up nice,” Blake said.

Catie did a spin so he could get a full view of her red skater dress.  The skirt flared out as she spun on the toes of her red high heels.

“Does your father know you have that dress?” Blake asked.

“I just bought it this week, especially for this date,” Catie said.

“Well, I’ll just say it’s a good thing you have a bodyguard.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep the boys away by myself,” Blake said as he smiled at Morgan.

Catie snorted.  “I never had any boy problems.”

“Yeah, but that was before you bought that dress,” Blake said.  “Just promise me you’ll wear it to your birthday party; I want to see your father’s expression when he sees you in it.”

As they started down the hallway toward the elevator, Catie stumbled a little.  Blake caught her by the arm to steady her.

“Take smaller steps,” Morgan said.  “Make that man slow down for you.”

“Oh, that is better,” Catie said as she shortened her stride.

“And pretend you’re walking on a line, put the heel down right in line with your other toe.”

Catie let go of Blake’s arm and walked out in front for a few steps.

“I don’t think you should have told her that,” Blake whispered to Morgan as he watched his niece’s hips sway as she walked.

“She needs a few boys chasing her,” Morgan whispered back.  “That girl works too hard.”

“I agree about the working too hard; I’m not sure her father’s going to agree about the boys chasing her.”

Catie bounced a few steps as she walked back to Blake.  “Thanks, Morgan, I’ve never worn such tall heels before.”

“Oh, those are baby heels,” Morgan said.  “Two and a half inches are nothing, wait until you try walking in five-inch heels.”

“Not helping,” Blake whispered.  “Now let’s go, your chariot awaits.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Morgan already had agents stationed in the restaurant and on both ends of the block, so when they arrived at Deogene’s, she just stood to the side while Blake helped Catie out of the cart and escorted her into the restaurant.

They were immediately met by the Maître D'.  “Your Highness, welcome to Deogene’s; we’re so pleased that you selected us for your evening out.”  He clearly meant the introduction to be for Catie, even though Blake was also a royal.

“Thank you, Kenyon,” Catie said.  “Is everything ready?”

“Of course, Your Highness.  Just follow me,” Kenyon said.  He led them to the back corner of the restaurant.  The best location, since it was away from the kitchen and the front door.

Blake was immediately confused; it was obvious which table was to be theirs, but a woman was already sitting at the table with her back to them.  He waited for Kenyon to take care of the problem, feeling sorry for the woman who’d managed to get seated at the wrong table.

“Uncle Blake, have a seat,” Catie said, indicating the seat opposite the woman.

“But . . .”

“Just have a seat.”

As Blake walked around the table, he finally got a look at the woman’s face.

“Jackie, my god!”

“Hi, Blake,” Jackie said.

“You imp!” Blake said as he turned to Catie.

“I needed some help, and Jackie came to mind,” Catie said.  “Now, you two have a nice evening.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m having dinner with Sophia,” Catie said.  She leaned down and kissed Jackie on the cheek.  “Have fun.”  Catie walked across the restaurant to the table where Sophia was waiting for her.

“Wow, I love that dress,” Sophia said.

“Thanks,” Catie said as she gave the dress another twirl before she sat down.

“So, do I get to write an exclusive, Princess Catie paints the town in a red dress?”

“Not unless you want to lose your inside source,” Catie said.

“Come on, it can just be a little blurb, Princess Catie debuts red dress at Deogene’s.  It’ll be innocent, and Kenyon will love it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Hey, who’s the chick with your uncle?”

“That’s Jackie,” Catie said.  “They dated for a couple of weeks when we were in Hawaii.  They really clicked, but then she had to go back to work, and we were off to the Caribbean after that.”

“Yeah, then the Azores where you guys found the Cinque Chagas,” Sophia said.  “I would really like to get the inside story about that; Dad always acted skeptical whenever there was anything about it on the news.”

“That was when your father was spying on us,” Catie said.

“He was just doing his job.”

“We know, no hard feelings; after all, we did make him our minister of defense,” Catie said.

“That’s true,” Sophia said.  “Hey, looks like your uncle and Jackie are getting along pretty well.”

Catie turned to look at Blake and Jackie.  She had been checking up on them using her specs, but looking directly always gave a more complete picture.  “They sure do.”

“Is he holding her hand?”

“I think so.  . . . Oops, Uncle Blake says if we don’t quit staring at them, he’s going to come over here and slap us on the back of our heads.”

“How dare he threaten us; he’s just saying that because we’re girls,” Sophia said with maximum indignation.

“If we were guys, he would have threatened to punch us in the nose.”

“Oh, I guess treating us like girls isn’t so bad,” Sophia said with a giggle.

“By the way, how’s your mom doing?” Catie asked.  Both girls made a show of repositioning themselves so that they couldn’t see Blake and Jackie.

“She’s great; she’s up on the space station right now.  She loves the job of growing all that food.  And she won’t admit it, but she loves wearing a shipsuit.”

“So, are you ready for your exclusive?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Sophia said.  “What’s going on?  You already gave me the one about the U.S. pulling all their people back from the Alliance.”

“This is a local story.  We’ve discovered that some of the managers for MacKenzie Discoveries’ businesses here in Delphi City are stealing from the company.”

“What, why would anyone do that?  You guys pay top dollar, why would they risk it?”

“Greed, I guess.  They’re getting kickbacks on the meals.  They’ve lowered the quality to save money and are splitting it between the vendor and themselves.”

“How many are involved?” Sophia asked.

“We’ve been able to determine that about five of the top HR managers are involved, and then about fifteen of the supervisors.  It looks like they’ve even gone so far as to torpedo any suggestions about efficiency, preferring more employees, so there’s more money to steal.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“We’re going to have the top dogs arrested for embezzlement, and probably fire the rest of them.”

“And how did you discover this?”

“We had someone go undercover working in one of the plants.  They were just characterizing how the employees felt about working for MacKenzie Discoveries, but then they stumbled across this.  The employees were all griping about the poor food quality.”

“So, when can I run the story?”

“Any time after eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Good,” Sophia said.  “Now, do you want to share the Jamaican Jerk Chicken?”

“No.  I’m having it, but I’m not sharing,” Catie said.

“How can you eat so much?”

“I run five to seven miles per day,” Catie said.  “Plus, I do my martial arts workout whenever I can find a partner.”

“Okay, I’ll take my leftovers home, David will eat them for a snack.”

When the girls left the restaurant, Blake and Jackie were just starting their dessert.

◆ ◆ ◆

The next morning the whole community was abuzz with the news of the arrest of ten people who were employed by MacKenzie Discoveries and the firing of eight others; the charge was embezzlement.  It was the first time anyone from the company was ever arrested, if you discounted the occasional drunk construction worker who had to spend the night at the clinic while detoxing.  The owner of a restaurant was also arrested on charges of grand theft.

Sophia got her exclusive, but a BBC crew, Leslie, and four other reporters from other news outlets were there by midday.  Sophia was in the front row of the press conference held by Kal later that day.  The press conference didn’t start until after the other reporters had arrived, much to Sophia’s chagrin.

“If everyone will be seated, we’ll begin,” Kal announced.  It took a couple of minutes for the reporters to be seated and a few more minutes before the large local crowd settled down.

“I have with me Chief Nawal Salib, the head of the Delphi city police force.  I have a brief announcement, after which we’ll take your questions.

“This morning at six a.m., the Delphi City Police arrested eleven people on charges of embezzlement and theft.  Ten of them worked for MacKenzie Discoveries; the eleventh was an accomplice who owns a restaurant that was being used to steal from MacKenzie Discoveries.  They were involved in a scheme where they received kickbacks for the charges to MacKenzie Discoveries for employee meals.  They systematically lowered the cost and the quality of the meals in order to defraud both the company and the employees of the quality meals that were specified in their employment packages, serving substandard fare instead.  Eight other supervisors were fired from MacKenzies due to their knowledge of the crime; however, we found no evidence that they directly participated or benefitted from it.

“We’ll now take your questions,” Kal said.

“How did you discover the crime?” Leslie asked.

“MacKenzies placed an undercover investigator in one of its plants.  That operator noticed the poor quality of food right away.  They reported it, tracked down all the evidence, and submitted a final report yesterday,” Kal said.

“Were they looking for criminal activity?” Leslie asked as a follow-up question.

“No, they weren’t.  The purpose of the investigation was to measure the quality of employee satisfaction with their work, as well as to explore ways to improve conditions and to determine what types of opportunities MacKenzies should be providing to its employees,” Kal answered.

“What is the process from here?” the BBC reporter asked.

Kal nodded to Chief Nawal to indicate she should answer.

“We have frozen the accounts and assets of those arrested.  They will be detained in our jail until they are arraigned in two days.  During the arraignment, they will be represented by legal counsel.  After that, they will be released on their own recognizance until the trial.”

“How will you stop them from running away?” the reporter asked.

“Nobody comes or goes from Delphi City without our knowledge and permission,” Chief Nawal answered.

“What kind of penalty is being sought?” Sophia asked after getting Kal’s attention.

“MacKenzies is seeking the return of all the money that was embezzled as well as a sentence of two years,” Kal answered.

“What will MacKenzies do with the money?” Sophia asked; this was the question she and Catie had decided Sophia should be sure to ask.

“The money was supposed to be spent on the employees, providing high-quality meals; therefore, MacKenzies plans to award the money to the employees that were affected based on the number of inferior meals they were forced to consume.  MacKenzies will also provide a bonus to all employees equal to one month of their salary as a way to compensate for our lax oversight of their wellbeing as well as their having to endure the substandard meals,” Kal answered.

“If those arrested are convicted, how will they have to spend their time?” another reporter asked.

“If convicted, they will have to live in a bunkhouse during their sentence.  They will be given various jobs like cleaning the streets or maintaining the parks.  Once they’ve completed their sentence, they’ll be free to decide what they want to do,” Chief Nawal answered.

“What will they do when they’re not working?” the reporter asked.

“They have to adhere to a curfew that requires them to be in the bunkhouse for ten hours each night,” Chief Nawal said.  “But other than that, they can spend their free time however they wish.”

“What about the employees you fired?” another reporter asked.

“They’re free to look for other employment.  I doubt that MacKenzies will hire them in any position involving the oversight of people or operations,” Kal said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Wei, I wanted to let you know I’m moving out.  I’m paid up for three months, so you can have the place to yourself until then,” Catie said.

“Why are you moving?”

“I got a new job on the space station.  I don’t really like it up there, but the money is too good to turn down.”

“Good for you.  I’ll miss you; you’re a nice roommate.”

“Thanks.  Hey, you’re robostep should be here soon.  They’re going to give it to you for free since you’re the first one who’s ordered one for residential use.  You just have to agree to fill out a questionnaire after you’ve had it for two months.”

“That’s really nice of them.  I can defiantly fill out a questionnaire.”

“Do you want to go out for dinner, since this is my last day?”

“Sure.”

Chapter 17

Cabinet Meeting – Oct 26th

Marc called the Cabinet meeting a week early; everyone assumed he was being cautious given the impending U.S. election coming up on the following Tuesday.

Catie and Samantha were the first to arrive; they’d had breakfast together in the building’s cafeteria.  Samantha was helping Catie with a paper for the international relations class she was taking for college credit.  Catie was writing a paper on how knowing there were other civilizations among the stars would affect relationships between nations on Earth.

“Hey, Catie, you’re looking good,” Fred said when he arrived just after them.  “You’re almost back to normal.  How did you like being a woman of color?”

“I didn’t have any issues,” Catie said, “but I only had a little color, which is pretty common around here.”

“Are you still whitening up?” Fred asked since Catie was still quite a bit darker than her normal coloring.

“I’m going to keep this color,” Catie said.  “Dr. Metra says it will protect my skin from the sun.”

“My mamma always said, ‘black don’t crack;’ I guess brown doesn’t either,” Fred said.

“I wonder how people being able to change their coloring will affect race relations,” Samantha mused.

“It will have to be a lot more widely available to have any effect,” Marc said as he came into the room, followed by Nikola.  “Right now, nobody knows it can be done except Catie’s closest friends.”

“That’s just you guys on the board,” Catie said.  “I stayed out of sight and used my avatar over the Comm.”

“By the way, good job on the undercover report,” Marc said.

“We’ll have to use her as an investigator more often,” Kal said.  He’d slipped into the room right behind Marc.

“I don’t think so,” Catie said. Throwing the attention back on Kal, she added, “I loved your press conference.”

“Yes, you did an exceptional job,” Marc said.

“Thank you, and no!  I will not be your press agent; you have to do your own press conferences,” Kal said.

“Hey, it would mean a big raise,” Marc said.

“You can’t pay me enough to let those reporters eye me for dinner again.”

“How did you think Sophia did?” Catie asked.

“She did a good job,” Kal said.  “Very professional.  Of course, I think she had a bit more time to prepare than the others.”

“Hi guys,” Liz said as she entered.  “Anyone know where Blake is?”

“He’s been on the Mea Huli,” Admiral Michaels said as he followed Liz in.  “He messaged me that he was taking the weekend off.  I’d have found something for him to do if I’d known he was taking the Mea Huli for the entire time.  I was planning to go fishing.”  The Mea Huli was the McCormacks’ thirty-five-meter yacht.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” Blake said as he came through the door.

“Hey, you could have told me you were going to be gone,” Liz said.

“I wanted to get some work out of you,” Blake said.  “I assume I at least got Saturday.”

“You owe me,” Liz said, but decided not to add any extra comments since Blake was her boss, sort of.

“You’re looking very relaxed,” Samantha said.  “Time on the water must have agreed with you.”

Catie tried to suppress a snort, but was unsuccessful, garnering her a hard glare from Blake.  She stuck her tongue out at him but decided not to out him for spending the weekend with Jackie.

“Sorry, we’re late,” Dr. Metra said as she and Herr Hausmann came in.  “We were finishing up Cer Hausmann’s treatment, but an emergency delayed me a bit.”

“Not a problem,” Marc said.  “Blake just arrived, so you didn’t delay anything.  But now that everybody’s here, let’s get started.  I assume everyone has surmised that I’ve called this meeting early to allow us to prepare for any last-minute maneuvering by the president before the U.S. elections next week.”

“I don’t think there’s going to be a problem,” Admiral Michaels said.  “My contacts tell me the president is delighted by his recent surge in the polls after the force recall.  He is hoping to ride the wave to re-election.”

“Don’t tell me he’s going to get re-elected,” Catie groaned.

“Very doubtful,” Samantha said.  “His surge in the polls is due to his party’s core constituents, who had abandoned him after the debacle on the eve of war, switching back to him after recall notice.  Apparently, they decided that he wasn’t as bad as they thought.  He’s still projected to lose most states.”

“Good,” Catie said.

“What is our force status?” Marc asked.  “That is, if you had time to review it before the meeting.”

Blake laughed at Marc’s dig.  “I did review it.  We’ve adjusted the flight rotations, so only our most trusted pilots are flying for the next week.  The rest of the pilots are doing simulator training or going through Kal’s new combat training.”

Marc looked at Kal, his face indicating he would like an answer to the obvious question.

“Blake and I reviewed all the after-action reports from the war.  Then we had a team go through possible scenarios and create discrepancy reports based on what our capabilities were and what we would have needed in that case.  We determined that we need the pilots to have training in survival, ship boarding actions, and commando raids.  The reasons are that they could be wrecked in a desolate location, wrecked next to an enemy ship in space, or we might need to draw from the pool of pilots to meet the workforce requirements for a critical mission,” Kal explained.

“I like that reasoning,” Marc said.  He turned to Catie and gave her a smile.

“What?!  I’ve already done all that training,” Catie said.

“We’ve scheduled you and Liz to go through the training with a small group of people, like Jason, Casper, and Natalia.  That way, you can still maintain your mystique with the rest of the pilots,” Blake said.  “Kal will be running all the crew members through the same training.”

“What about you?” Catie demanded.

“Kal’s going to be running me through a private session,” Blake said.  “It wouldn’t do for the troops to see their commander as anything less than a god.”

Catie snorted at that, “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, you guys can work out those details later,” Marc said.  “Have you taken care of the selection process for who we’re keeping?”

“Yes, we’ve made offers to the twelve hundred we had identified before.  We’ve gotten acceptances from one hundred thirty pilots, eighteen ship officers, and seven hundred crew,” Blake said.  “That gives us a good base to build on.”

“Good, what about Earth-side resources,” Marc asked.

“We’ve got one hundred eighty Delphi Marines trained and ready to go,” Kal said.  “I’m reluctant to expand too much more; these soldiers want action, and until we have more extensive training facilities, we need to go slow.  They didn’t see any action in the war except security patrols after the Paraxean surrender.”

“How much space do you need?” Marc asked.

“It would take an entire section to do it right,” Kal said.  “It would be better if we could come up with a big area on land, a few square miles would be perfect.”

“Maybe we can get Morocco to give us the space,” Samantha suggested.  “They certainly could spare a few square miles of desert.”

“Or Algeria,” Liz suggested.

Marc eyed Samantha.

“I’ll have Margaret check on it,” Samantha said.

“What else?” Marc asked Kal.

“We purchased four frigates from Naval Group at Lorient, France.  The president did us a favor when he canceled the U.S. order.  He said he wanted all U.S. warships to be U.S. designed and built,” Kal said.

“Well, he pissed off some people in Wisconsin when he canceled the order.  They were supposed to build most of it,” Samantha said.

“Just chalk it up to his tweet first, think later policy,” Blake said.

“We’re refitting them with fusion reactors and plasma cannons,” Kal continued.  “We should be able to launch them by the end of the year.”

“What good will a frigate do?” Catie asked.

“It’s about projection of force.  With a modification to the rear deck, they’ll each be able to carry a pair of Foxes, Lynxes, or a combo.  It gives us a way to have a small base close to one of our offshore clinics or manufacturing plants,” Kal explained.

“What we need is an aircraft carrier or two,” Liz said.

“We can’t find one for sale,” Blake said.  “We’re looking into building our own, but that takes a long time.”

“Just buy a container ship,” Catie said.  “With VTO, you can get a bunch of Foxes and or Lynxes on one.  You could even add a couple of stories to the deck so you could carry more.”

“That’s a great idea,” Blake said.

“Yeah, but it will take time to get one built for us,” Marc said.

“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 any 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.”

“On it, boss.  We’ll be there in five and make a sitrep in ten,” Jones said.

“Kal, we have armed intruders in the hospital and outside,” Barry reported to Kal, who was back in Delphi City.  “I’m transmitting my Comm log now.”

Kal was just finishing lunch when he got the call.  He quickly reviewed the Comm logs before replying to Barry.  “You’re doing the right thing.  Keep us apprised of developments, and we’ll come up with a plan.”

“You got it,” Barry said.  “Damn hospitals!” he hissed.

“We’ve got a problem,” Kal messaged Marc.  “I’ll be in your office in five.”

“Just what I need, an unspecified problem and five minutes to wonder what it is,” Marc thought.  “ADI, do you know what Kal’s problem is?”

“I cannot be certain,” ADI said.  “But I believe it is the fact that our new clinic in Guatemala has just been taken over by armed men.”

“And you didn’t think to mention it to me?”

“Kal was handling the situation,” ADI said.

“Blake, meet Kal and me in my office,” Marc messaged his brother.

“What’s up?  I was just heading out for dinner,” Blake said.

“Well, you might want to let Jackie know that you’ll be late,” Marc said.

Blake started to make a wisecrack, but seeing the deadly serious expression on Marc’s face, he decided to just sit down instead.

“Hey guys,” Samantha said as she walked into Marc’s office.  “ADI suggested you might need me.”

“Thanks, ADI,” Marc said.  “We’ll probably need some help.  I assume ADI filled you in on what we know.”

“Yes, she did.”

“We should move to the Cabinet Chamber,” Marc said, including Kal via Comm.

The three of them walked across the hall to the Cabinet Chamber.  Samantha waved at Kal, who was just coming down the hall.

“Okay, now that we’re all here, Kal, review the situation for us,” Marc said.

“In Guatemala, a small army has taken over the hospital where we have our clinic.  They’ve spread out and taken control of the neighborhood where the hospital is.  Our recon shows that there are over one hundred armed combatants in the area.  They seem to be very organized,” Kal reported.

“Any idea what their goal is?” Marc asked.

“Other than taking over the hospital, no.”

“We have to assume the clinic is their target,” Blake said.

“That’s likely, but it is the largest hospital in Guatemala City,” Samantha said.  “Kal, have they entered the clinic?”

“No, they have people on the roof and the ground floor.  They’re preventing anyone from leaving the hospital without being searched first,” Kal said.  “Other than that, they haven’t interfered with the operation of the hospital.  Sergeant Knox, my lead in Guatemala, says there have been two emergencies handled by the hospital staff without interference since the takeover.  Our doctors and nurses haven’t tried to leave.”

“What about the off-duty staff?” Samantha asked.

“They’re inside the perimeter that the Tangos have established,” Kal replied.

“How are your people positioned?” Blake asked.

“We have two inside the hospital, including Knox.  Both have stashed their weapons and are blending in with the rest of the staff.  There is one scout inside the perimeter and five scouts outside the perimeter,” Kal said.

“What do you propose?” Marc asked.

“We need to wait to see who’s actually in charge of this and what they want.  The local authorities should be aware of it by now, so we’ll want their take on the situation.  Meanwhile, I want to put at least fifty of my people on the ground in Guatemala City in preparation for plans to retake the hospital,” Kal said.

“What about air support?” Blake asked.

“We should put some Foxes in the area, but we’re going to have to take the hospital by hand, preferably by stealth.  If shooting starts, our doctors and nurses will be in the line of fire.”

“Okay, you two take care of that,” Marc said.  “Sam, reach out to the Guatemalan authorities and see what they know.  Let’s meet again at seventeen hundred hours to review.  In the meantime, keep everyone updated on changes, and don’t hesitate to pull us together early if you feel the need.”

Tues Nov 10th – 1200 CST

Barry borrowed a pack of cigarettes from one of the nurses and headed for the roof.  Exiting the stairwell, he made a point of looking for a match.  “Tienes luz?” he asked one of the men guarding the roof.

“Vete!” the guard said.  “Go away,” Barry’s Comm translated.

Barry held the pack of cigarettes out to the guard and asked for a light again, “Tienes luz?”

The guard eyed the cigarettes for exactly one second before he took one and produced a lighter.  Lighting his cigarette first, he then handed the lighter to Barry.

“Gracias,” Barry said.  “Hace frío.”  Barry shivered to add emphasis.

“Sí,” the guard said.

The guard wasn’t very communicative, which suited Barry just fine.  It took Barry two minutes to assess the situation, four guards on the roof, well-armed, not very diligent, and amateur placement.  Time to head inside.  He carefully snuffed out the cigarette and stuck it behind his ear.  “Para luego,” he said, then he made his way back to the stairway to report to Kal.

Tues Nov 10th – 1300 CST

Cristina Castro walked down the street toward the hospital.  She was wearing a loose dress and heels, her Berretta was strapped to her thigh hidden by the dress, and she had two knives hidden in discreet locations on her body.  She flirted with any good-looking guy she saw.  As she approached and crossed the street that led to the hospital, she immediately noted the location of the perimeter guards.  She walked up to one of the guards.  Unlike Barry, her Spanish was flawless; in fact, she had immigrated to Delphi City from Guatemala.

“Do you have a cigarette?” she asked the guard.  She hadn’t smoked since she moved to Delphi City, so she felt like she was being naughty.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” the guard said.

“Why not, it’s boring at my house,” Cristina said.  “My parents don’t let me smoke in the house.”  Although she was twenty, Cristina could easily pass for sixteen.  She looked innocent, and she was, except for the gun, knives, and her lethal skill with them.

She continued to chat with the guard and his two companions for a few minutes, carefully noting that they used a cellphone to check-in and that they were sloppy with their AK-47s, shifting them around as the weight became uncomfortable.  She was able to identify the location of two other guard posts while she was leaning up against the wall, letting one or the other guard look down her dress.

She made two more forays along the perimeter before heading back to the base camp they had set up in an apartment just outside the perimeter controlled by the enemy force.

Tues Nov 10th – 1350 CST

Emilio scouted the area outside the hospital.  Although the people who had invaded the hospital were organized, they were not particularly observant.  He quickly determined that they had established four posts to cover the approaches to the hospital.  They had a five-man team posted at the entrance to Emergency, and two-man teams at each of the other access points to the hospital.  The guards were bored and quickly became sloppy, sitting, or leaning against the wall while on duty.

Tue Nov 11th – 1800 CST

“Okay, what’s the situation?” Marc asked as he reconvened the meeting.

“We’ve got troop strength numbers and a first assessment of their processes and readiness,” Kal said.  “Still no response from the locals.  We also don’t have any idea why they’re there.  It looks like they’re waiting on someone.”

“The locals are aware of the situation, but are holding back on any response,” Samantha said.  “They’d like to avoid bloodshed.  Plus, I’m pretty sure they’re overwhelmed by the size of the force.”

“What’s your plan?” Marc asked.

“I think we still wait.  We need to know what it’s about.  Also, the longer those guys are on guard duty, the sloppier they’ll get.  We need them to be complacent.”

“We’ve sent the eight Hover-Foxes we have to Guatemala,” Blake said.  “We can transport Kal’s team there whenever he’s ready.”

“I want a Hover-Lynx if we have one,” Kal said.  “We might need it for a sniper platform.”

“Is it stable enough?” Blake asked.

“It’s not great, but it may be the best we have,” Kal replied.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Catie demanded as she cut into everyone’s Comm.

“Catie, we’re having an important meeting!” Marc chided her.

“I know, but Liz and I might be able to help,” Catie said.  “ADI gave us a brief on what’s going on.”

“I assume she had a good reason to bring you in,” Marc said somewhat testily.

“We’re dumping our last probe now,” Catie said.  “It will take it a few extra weeks to get into place, but we’ll be home by Thursday.”

“I don’t think we need extra pilots right now,” Marc said.

“I’m sure you don’t, but I think Kal’s going to want to use this Oryx.  It has oversized gravity drives in it.  It will make a rock-solid platform for him,” Catie said.

“I didn’t know we had a Hover-Oryx,” Blake said.

“We didn’t.  I had this one converted for this mission; I didn’t want to go two weeks with gravity out of whack,” Catie said.  “But the point is, we do have one, and it will be perfect for what Kal wants.”

Marc looked at Kal.

“I don’t think we’ll be making any moves before Thursday, and an Oryx would be a great sniper platform as well as a good command post.”

“Also, send someone to my condo.  There’s a box in my desk marked Pong Surveillance Probes; you should check it out.  I made them for our next paintball match; your guys are getting too good, so I wanted an edge.  I think you’ll be able to use them.”

“What are they?” Kal asked.

“They’re a minimal surveillance probe fitted into a shell that’s the size of a ping-pong ball.  They have an ion engine that pumps air through them so that they’ll float.  You can get good sound from them, and they have two video cameras you can use,” Catie said.  “Spoils my surprise, but this is too big a deal to leave anything on the table.”

“We’ll check them out,” Kal said.

“Okay, we adjourn for the day.  I want to meet at seventeen hundred each day until this is resolved, more often as necessary.  Constant updates from everyone to everyone, although it seems ADI is taking care of that.  Sam, tell the Guatemalans that we don’t want them doing something rash and getting our people killed,” Marc said.

“I will,” Samantha said.  “I might need to tell the president that we’re planning to do something.”

“Hold off on that as long as you can,” Marc said.  “Okay, everyone, get some rest.  And ADI, thank you for anticipating our needs.”

“My pleasure, Captain,” ADI replied.

Chapter 20

The Situation

Wed Nov 11th – 1000 CST

Barry had only gotten four hours of sleep last night.  Now he was up and heading to the hospital cafeteria for some chow.  Just before he got to the serving line, there was a commotion outside.  “No fair!” he hissed as he surrendered his tray and headed out to see what was happening.

“Emilio, you up?” Barry asked via their Comms.

“Yep, we’ve got lots of activity out here.  An extra ten Tangos have assembled on the main road.  It looks like they’re expecting someone important,” Emilio reported.

Barry pinged Kal, “Looks like the boss might be arriving,” he said.

“Roger that,” Kal said as he rolled out of bed.  “Oh-five-hundred, couldn’t the SOB wait another thirty minutes to make his appearance.”  He decided not to wake Marc.  Everything would be recorded by the cameras they’d installed in the hospital when they opened the clinic.  Marc and company could review it later.  No reason to start the day out by putting Marc into a bad mood.  “ADI, can you do facial recognition on whoever is showing up in Guatemala?”

“Yes, Cer Kal.  I’ll provide up-to-date analysis on any new faces, prioritizing the ones that look like important people,” ADI said.  “I haven’t gotten any interesting results from the analysis of the other faces.  Several are known criminals, but no pattern has emerged.”

“Thanks,” Kal said.

“Here he comes,” Barry said as two black Ford Excursions came up the street.  They pulled into the hospital area, and a very big Guatemalan got out of the first vehicle, followed by several others, all of them carrying AK-47s.  After they had checked out the area, the big guy went to the second vehicle and opened the back door.  A well-dressed man got out of the vehicle, acting like he owned the place.

“That is Victor Sorcaño, he is the head of the Sorcaño Organization.  They control all the area south of Guatemala City to the coast,” ADI said.  “Guatemala City is fifty kilometers north of their known territory.”

“Whose territory is Guatemala City in?”

“It is loosely considered part of the Lorezana’s territory, but there is not a lot of activity reported in that area,” ADI said.

After walking around for a few minutes and speaking to a few of the better-kitted guards, Victor motioned to the big guy, Gordo, as Barry had nicknamed him.  Gordo went back to the second vehicle and opened the door again.  A young boy got out of the truck; Barry figured he was about nine or ten years old.  The boy had braces on each of his legs.  One of the other men went to the back of the vehicle and got a wheelchair.  Once the boy was situated in the chair, Victor and Gordo escorted the boy into the hospital.  One of the other guards pushed the chair.

“You cannot be serious,” Barry muttered.  “This cannot just be about getting his son treated.”

Victor and company marched straight to the elevator, which was being held by one of the inside guards.  They’d prevented anyone else from boarding.  Once Victor and company were on the elevator, the guard released the door, and the elevator started up.  Barry was pretty sure it was going to be stopping on the third floor, so he went to the staircase and ran up the four flights of stairs to get to the third floor.  As he came out of the stairwell, he could hear Victor demanding to see the head doctor.

“Señor Sorcaño, Dra. Martog is not here,” the nurse told him.  “But, Dra. Balag will be happy to see your son.”

“I want Dra. Martog,” Victor said.  “Now, somebody go and get him.”

“I will call her,” the nurse said.  “She usually starts her shift at ten o’clock.  If you wish, this nurse can take you and your son to an examination room and start the examination.”

The second nurse, a Paraxean, led Victor and his son into the examination room.  “Yo solo hablo un poco de español,” the nurse said.

“I speak English,” Victor said.

“Oh, good.  That will be easier.  Now can you tell me what is wrong with your son?”

“He has that brittle bone disease,” Victor said.  “Osteogenesis something.”

“Osteogenesis Imperfecta,” the nurse replied.  “Let us get a few tests going.  I need to take a blood sample from him.”

“It’s okay,” the boy said.

“Oh, you speak English too,” the nurse said.  “I’m Nurse Catara.”

“I’m Enrique,” the boy introduced himself.

“Okay, I just need to make a small prick to get the sample I need,” Nurse Catara said.  “It shouldn’t hurt too much.”

“You don’t need to take a whole vial?” Enrique asked.

“Oh, we’re beyond that now.  We just need this small sample, then our machine will analyze everything we need to know,” Nurse Catara said.  “I see you have braces on your legs, are there any broken bones?”

“Not recent ones,” Enrique said.  “The braces are so I can walk and not break them.”

“I see,” Nurse Catara said.  “Now just lie back on the table, and I’ll get a scan.  That way, the doctor will have everything she needs when she arrives.”

The nurse pulled the scanner out from the wall and set it up.  It did a slow traversal of Enrique from top to bottom and then returned to the docked position on the wall.

“That’s it.  Now we just need to wait for the doctor.”

Victor smiled at her, but his body language showed that he was not used to waiting for anyone.  Barry was observing what was going on via the hidden cameras.  They were there to protect the doctors and nurses in case some nutjob decided to attack the aliens.  They were hooked to one of the advanced Comm units, which would alert Barry or one of his people if anything strange happened in the room.  There were scanners in the door which alerted them if the patient was carrying weapons.  Of course, that alarm went off as soon as Victor and Gordo stepped off the elevator.  And every time Gordo walked by one of the treatment rooms, he triggered its alarm.  Barry finally decided to silence those alarms, since they were kind of irrelevant right now.

Dra. Martog got off the elevator, and after a quick chat with the receptionist, she headed to the treatment room.

She knocked on the door, then entered the room.  “Hello, I’m Dra. Martog,” she said.

“About time,” Victor said.

“I got here as fast as I could.  If you would have made an appointment, I could have been waiting for you,” Dra. Martog said.

“I’m sure you would,” Victor said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Enrique, how are you feeling?” Dra. Martog asked.

“Crappy, like normal,” Enrique said.

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” Dra. Martog said.  She tapped her HUD into the diagnostic system and read the results of the test and scan.  “I see, uh huh.”

“What?” Victor demanded.

“He has several small fractures, a cracked rib, and a couple of broken bones in his left foot.  That would explain the crappy feeling,” she said.  “We can take care of that right now.”  She nodded at the nurse, who immediately exited the exam room.

Nurse Catara walked down the hall to the medication closet and collected the two syringe cartridges that were just coming out of the machine there.  She grabbed an IV bag and a PVC before heading back to the exam room.

Nurse Catara knocked before entering the room.  “That was fast,” Dra. Martog said.

“We don’t have very many patients,” Nurse Catara said, giving Victor a glare.

“Enrique, we need to put this PVC in, I’m sure you’ve had one before,” Dra. Martog said.

“Yes, a peripheral venous catheter,” Enrique said.  “This is my best vein.”  Enrique pointed to his left arm just above the elbow.

“Okay, we’ll use that one then.  You’re going to have to sit here for about two hours, so do you need to use the facilities first?”

“No, I went before we got here,” Enrique said.

Nurse Catara inserted the PVC, hung the IV bag, and connected the drip.  Once that was done, Dra. Martog took one of the syringes and injected using the catheter.  “This will take care of your pain and prepare you for the treatment,” she said.

Then the doctor injected the second syringe into the IV bag.  “This second shot will start fixing those fractures you have,” she said.

“Do you want something to read?” Nurse Catara asked.  “Or we can bring a small pad in so you can watch a video if you want.”

“I have my iPad with me,” Enrique said.  Victor immediately went to the door, opened it and summoned Gordo.  Gordo immediately produced an iPad from inside a bag he was carrying and presented it to Victor, who, in turn, handed it to Enrique.

“We’ll be back to check on you after a while,” Dra. Martog said.

“If you need anything, just press this,” Nurse Catara said as she handed Enrique a wired push-button switch.

Dra. Martog nodded to Victor as she left the room, indicating that he should follow.  Surprisingly he did.  He followed her down the hall to her office with Gordo on their heels.

Once they were both in her office and the door closed, the doctor turned on Victor.  “You do know that we would have treated your son without all of these theatrics!”

“I’m sure you would have,” Victor said.  “But I also have another agenda.”

“What?!”

“Later, now tell me about my son,” Victor demanded.

“You are correct, he has Osteogenesis Imperfecta,” Dra. Martog said.  “I’ve cured the disease, and I am treating the fractures that he has.  I’ll give him a third shot before you leave that will help to strengthen his bones until his body can do that itself.”

“Can’t you do more?”

“We can, but in order to fully treat him, we would need to send him up to Delphi Station.  He would need to stay there for six weeks to complete the treatment.”

“I’m not giving you people my son!”

“Nobody would use a child as leverage in whatever agenda you have planned,” Dra. Martog said.  “But unless he goes to Delphi Station, all we can do is make him less susceptible to breaks during the year it will take his body to strengthen his bones by itself.  But he’ll still have the deformities from the past breaks that haven’t set correctly.”

“And if he goes to Delphi Station?”

“On the station, they would be able to rebuild all his bones back to what they would originally be at this point in his life; it would be as if he never had the disease.”

“And what would this cost?” Victor asked.

“I don’t know, you obviously have money, so we wouldn’t do it for free,” Dra. Martog said.  “And I suspect you wouldn’t have any good records of your income for us to determine the correct fee.”

“Why do you need to know my income?”

“We charge based on the patient’s ability to pay.  Here most of our patients are treated for free, but of course, the upper-class clients pay a fee.  This treatment could cost as much as one hundred thousand U.S. dollars.”

“I will think about sending my son to the station.  But for now, you are to only treat patients that I approve,” Victor said.

“No!”

“What do you mean, no?”

“Just that, we will treat the patients that need to be treated,” Dra. Martog said.

“It’s simple then, only patients that I want to be treated will be allowed into the hospital.”

“Then we won’t treat them,” Dra. Martog said.

“Why not?!”

“Because we are here to treat the people that need treatment.  Mostly children, like your son.  We’re not here to follow your orders or to treat your friends for whatever problems they’ve acquired.”

“That’s what I want you to do,” Victor said.  “It is just that I will be setting the fee for the treatment.”

“So, you’ll leave the poor to suffer!”

“No, we’ll have a sliding scale just as you do,” Victor said.  “I will need you to expand your facilities so that you can treat more patients.  I’ll bring them to you.”

“You do realize that we cannot continue our work here without the consent of MacKenzie Discoveries in Delphi City,” Dra. Martog said.

“I’m sure that they can be made to understand reason.”

“I don’t think they’ll allow you to blackmail them,” Dra. Martog said.

“If they don’t agree, we will start killing people,” Victor said.

“Wouldn’t that be counterproductive?  Eventually, you will run out of doctors and nurses to treat your special patients.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t kill you or your Paraxean colleagues,” Victor said.  “But that receptionist; I think you would be just as effective with a new receptionist.  And I see you have several local nurses helping out.  They can be easily replaced.”

“You’re a brutal animal!” Dra. Martog snapped.

“I like to think of myself as extremely persuasive,” Victor replied.

Wed Nov 11th – 1300 CST

“Kal, are you ready to give an update?” Marc asked as they gathered again to review the Guatemalan situation.

“Ready,” Kal said.  He took a sip of water, took a deep breath then plunged ahead.

“The invasion force is the Sorcaño organization, which is headed by Victor Sorcaño.  He mainly traffics in cocaine but has recently branched out to growing opium and making heroin for export to the U.S.  Guatemala City is about fifty kilometers north of his usual territory.  He has made it clear that he is expanding.  He informed our managing director of the clinic, Dra. Martog, that she was to only handle patients that he approves.”

“Yes, she sent me a message to that effect.  I watched the video of her with Señor Sorcaño.  I told her to just follow his directions and that we would resolve the situation as soon as possible,” Marc said.

“What are you going to do about his son?” Samantha asked.

“If he allows it, we’ll send him to Delphi Station to be treated,” Marc said.

“And after the treatment?”

“We’ll return him to his family.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it remains to be seen whether Victor Sorcaño will be available after the treatment to act as Enrique’s father, but he does have a mother,” Marc said.  “Kal, please continue.”

“They have approximately two hundred armed personnel in the area of the hospital.  Based on data from the local authorities, Victor Sorcaño commands over five hundred soldiers.

“We have the layout of their force placement and are continuing to monitor their routines and habits.  We need to wait for this situation with his son to play out.  I would prefer he was either on Delphi Station or back home before we move.  It would be nice if Victor were to return home before then, too.  The soldiers are being much more vigilant while he’s around.  But we only have one day’s data on that,” Kal said.

“Okay.  Ideally, when would you like to make your move?” Marc asked.

“Monday or Tuesday,” Kal answered.  “They should be nice and bored by then.  And given their history, overconfident.  Those are also the days when we have an early moonset, so we’ll have a nice dark night.”

“Why do you say, overconfident?” Blake asked.

“They’ve never come up against professionals,” Kal said.  “They’re used to fighting off a few federales or local cops.  Occasionally there’s a gun battle between them and one of the neighboring organizations, but none of those people are trained like ours are.”

“What kind of casualties do you expect?” Blake asked.

“On their side, I would expect fifty to eighty percent,” Kal said.  “Our side, ten percent.”

“How many fatalities?” Samantha asked.

“I assume you’re worried about our people,” Kal said.  “I would like to say zero, but we’re likely to lose two or three people.  You just can’t plan for every possibility.”

“Those are pretty confident numbers,” Blake said.

“Well, our armor has built-in nanite injectors, we all carry med patches in our kits, and the armor will stop an AK-47 round.  So, we’re as fortified as one can get.”

“How will you deal with the guards in the hospital?” Marc asked.

“We plan to kill them all,” Kal said.

Samantha sucked in her breath.  “All of them?”

“We won’t have time to try and disable them.  We need to put them out of action as fast as possible to avoid them raising the alarm.  Dead is the easiest way to assure that.”

“Okay, then start working your people up for the mission,” Marc said.

“Already doing it,” Kal replied.

“Sam, we need to make the appropriate noise to the Guatemalans about the situation,” Marc said.  “We don’t want them to know we’re coming.”

“Except for the president, I’ve been screaming at every official I know.  My Spanish cursing is getting much better,” Samantha said.  “We’ve already informed the president that we plan to handle it ourselves, and he’s agreed to look the other way.  Although he has said that you need to expect a lot of complaints and accusations afterward.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Marc said.  “People, let’s get to it.”

Fri Nov 13th – 0400 CST

Catie and crew arrived home from their mission to deploy the Asteroid Explorer probes on Friday at eight o’clock in the morning.  After dropping the twins off at Dr. Sharmila’s, everyone headed to their condos for a long soak in a tub.  Catie messaged Kal that she would be available to introduce his team to the Hover Oryx at 1100 hours.  Marc allowed her to sneak into her condo without telling him, although ADI had apprised him of her landing time.

Chapter 21

The Kealoha Solution

Fri Nov 13th – 1100 CST

“How do you like the Pong Surveillance probes?” Catie asked as she met Kal and eight members of his team by the Oryx.  She’d landed it on the city runway since it could do a VTO, and it was now sitting in the hangar by the runway.

“I like them,” Kal said.  “I think they’re going to be useful during our mission.  Being able to just throw them close to where you want them to be, and then fly them around the corner or whatnot, is pretty sweet.”

“Glad you like them,” Catie said, feeling proud of herself.  She’d designed them for paintball, but paintball was what they did to train for serious missions, so it made sense that they would be useful.

“These are my best snipers,” Kal said, pointing to five of the eight people with him.  “And these three crazies want to see how well they can rappel down from this baby when it’s hovering.”

“Do you want to go up now?”

“You bet,” Kal said.  “We’ve got targets set up over on warehouse number six on the airport.  That’s also where these guys will rappel down.”

Catie used her Comm to drop the cargo door for the Oryx, “Load up!  And we’ll be off.”

The three rappelers gathered up several huge coils of rope and headed into the back of the Oryx while the five snipers just carried their packs and strode right in and sat down, totally relaxed.

It only took five minutes to taxi out of the hangar and do a VTO with the Oryx; Catie kept the jet engines off.  The gravity drives were just powerful enough to lift the Oryx against gravity, but couldn’t give it much acceleration while inside the Earth’s gravity well; no matter, they were only going one kilometer away.

“Okay, there’s your warehouse,” Catie said.  “What do you want me to do?”

“Move half a kilometer off to the north, set up a rock-solid hover at two thousand meters, and then open the cargo doors,” Kal said.  “We’ll know in a few minutes if this has a chance to work.”

“Cargo doors opening,” Catie announced after she had moved the Oryx and set up the hover.  She had it dialed in to maintain its position within one cm.  Ridiculously tight parameters, but unless there was a big wind gust, the gravity drives should have enough power to handle it.

“Boring!” Catie heard over the shared Comm channel.

“What?” Catie asked.

“Ramsey is just commenting on how steady your hover is,” Kal said.  “Go ahead and move over the warehouse.  Hover at four hundred meters.”

“Four hundred meters!  Those guys really are crazy.”

“Hey, they’ve done El Capitan, that’s over eight hundred meters,” Kal replied.

“Like I said, crazy.  . . . Okay, we’re set,” Catie announced.

Two minutes later, Kal said, “Take us home.”

“That was fast,” Catie said.

“We’re on the clock,” Kal replied.

Catie landed the Oryx at the main airport and taxied into a hangar.  “What now?”

“I’ll see you at the meeting,” Kal said as he and the five snipers headed off.

Fri Nov 13th – 17:00 CST

“Kal, do you have a plan?” Marc asked as he opened the meeting.  It was Friday, three days after the clinic had been taken over.

“We do, the team is rehearsing as we speak,” Kal said.

“Please share,” Blake said.

“As you know, everything is subject to change as we learn more about the enemy,” Kal said.  “But based on what we now know, here’s our plan.”

Kal brought up a map of the area around the hospital on the display.

“The enemy force was still controlling access to the neighborhood.  They have checkpoints here, here, here, and here.”  Red dots appeared on the display marking the checkpoints.  “People pass freely through the checkpoint after a cursory search.  The Paraxeans are escorted to and from their apartments; they’re not allowed to go anywhere else; they either eat at the hospital or have food brought in.  There are guards on the roof of the apartments and at both entrances to the building.  The building is inside the zone they control.  They’ve also co-opted all the other apartments in the complex for their people.  At the hospital, they have guards on the roof, on the floor where the clinic is located, and in the lobby and emergency room on the ground floor.  They have guards posted at each of the other entrances to the hospital.  They also maintain a contingent of ten guards in the immediate area of the hospital.

“They maintain roving patrols on the streets in the neighborhood and two patrols along the border with the jungle.  Victor and his son are still staying close by.  They’ve taken over a nice house in the area,” Kal explained.

“Our plan is to take over the hospital first, followed shortly by the apartment building.  We’re going to use Catie’s Oryx to take out the guards on the roof using our snipers; then the team will rappel down to the roof and take over the building.”

“How are you going to avoid somebody seeing that big airplane?” Blake asked.

“We’re going to have it hover at four hundred fifty meters; there won’t be a moon, and at that height and with its light-absorbing properties, it should be virtually invisible.”

“Isn’t it going to be a problem rappelling that distance?”

“No, we have a special harness with a controlled brake,” Kal said.  “Each team member will free fall down the line for 6.5 seconds, falling two hundred meters.  The brake will then engage and decelerate them at 1.5G of deceleration for four seconds.  It will then disengage and allow them to complete the descent under their own control.  We’ll drop four lines and send six Marines down each line.”

“I sure hope that brake doesn’t fail,” Blake said.

“So do we all,” Kal replied.  “Once on the roof, the team will travel down the stairwell to the clinic where they will take out the guards there.  Barry, the NCOIC, will head to the roof for a smoke break; he’s been doing this every evening.  He’s shifted his schedule, so it overlaps our targeted infiltration time.  He’ll trigger the start of the operation with a code word; he’ll take care of the guard next to him since we cannot get a line of sight on all four guards.  Snipers will take out the other three.  Once the team is down, the snipers will take up position on the roof, and the Oryx will move to the next target.

“Barry will lead the team back down the stairwell to the clinic.  They will be expecting him to return, so that will provide cover.  He and the team will take out the four guards in the clinic; at night, they’re usually watching TV together or playing cards.  The team will then go to the bottom floor and take out the guards there.

“At the same time, Barry’s team on the ground will move to take control of any outside guards or will mark them for the snipers.  We will follow essentially the same pattern at the apartment building.  We will get the Paraxeans out of the apartments; exfiltrating them via the roof to the Oryx.  Once the Paraxeans are safe, the team will move to take out any enemy combatants located in the other apartments.  When both hospital and the apartment building are secure, the Oryx will move to a position to allow the snipers still on board to start taking out the enemy checkpoints.  Barry’s team will mark them for the snipers.  Then we will begin mop-up operations, taking out the roving patrols and any other enemy combatants in the area.”

“What do you need?” Marc asked.

“We have it,” Kal said.  “We’ve set up mockups of the hospital floors and the apartment layout in a warehouse on the airport.  We’ll be practicing the maneuver six times a day until we deploy.  As I’ve said, anything you can do to get Victor out of the area would be appreciated.  He’s brought in thirty extra men with him; we hope they go with him when he leaves.”

Marc looked at Catie and shook his head, “Kal assures me that the Oryx will be safe, so you can fly it.  But I want you to install lasers on it before you do.  I don’t want to find out that Victor has a shoulder-mounted, anti-aircraft missile launcher that we haven’t heard about.”

Catie nodded her appreciation to her father but decided not to push her luck by saying anything.

“Blake, any comments?” Marc asked.

“I’ll watch the rehearsals,” Blake said, “but Kal’s the expert here.  We have to follow his lead.”

“Kal, keep us informed.  Call a meeting if you need to, but you’re in charge from here on out.”

◆ ◆ ◆

On Sunday, Victor agreed to send his son to Delphi Station; he made it clear that he would start a personal war against Delphi if anything happened to the boy.  Liz flew to Guatemala City in a Lynx to pick Enrique up and take him to the station.  After they left, Victor headed back to his ranch outside of Escuintla.  With that out of the way, Kal set the date for the mission for Wednesday at 0300, two hours after the moon set for the night.

Tue Nov 17th – 2300 CST

Cristina was getting cold.  It was late, and she still had two checkpoints to tag.  “Hola Fernando, tienes luz?” she called out as she approached the guard, brandishing a cigarette in need of a light.

“Si, Cristina, I always have one for you,” Fernando called back as he pulled out his lighter and flicked it on.

“Gracias,” Cristina leaned in to let him light the cigarette and get a nice look down the front of her blouse.  She leaned against the wall while she smoked.  As usual, Fernando took up position next to her, where he could continue to sneak peeks down her blouse while they smoked.  “You’re a good friend,” Cristina said as she patted Fernando on the shoulder, surreptitiously placing a beacon on his shirt; it would allow the snipers to locate him quickly once they started to take out the checkpoints.

The other two guards soon drifted over to get a light, and a quick peek; Cristina had no problem placing beacons on them.  “Adiós amigos.”  Cristina waved goodbye as she moved toward her last checkpoint “Dios mío, I can’t wait until we start shooting these pendejos.  I’m tired of being eye candy,” Cristina said to herself.

Wed Nov 18th – 0350 CST

“Hace frío,” Barry said as he walked onto the roof.  He walked over to the alcove where he usually smoked; there he found Jacobo hanging out.  It was the one location on the roof that provided some shelter from the wind.  There wasn’t much wind, but at 0400, it didn’t take much wind to chill you.  Unfortunately, not only did it provide shelter from the wind, it blocked any line of sight for the snipers.

“Un cigarro?” Jacobo asked, bumming a cigarette off of Barry like he usually did.

“Sí,” Barry said.  As he was lighting their cigarettes, José walked over.

“Un cigarro?”

“Sí,” Barry said as he produced another cigarette.  “Shit, what is he doing over here.  Did he and Jacobo make up?”  Barry thought.

Barry waited while José smoked his cigarette; he assumed that once he finished the cigarette, he would head back over to his position on the other side of the roof.  No such luck.  It seemed that he and Jacobo had become best of buddies.  They were talking about a señorita they had met the other day in the local cantina.  Each was assuring the other that the señorita would be warming their bed in just a couple more days.

“This was supposed to be easy, just knife one idiot and let the snipers take care of the others,” Barry thought.  “Well, time’s a wasting.”  Barry flicked his knife down from the sheath on his wrist; the black polysteel blade didn’t reflect any light, making it almost invisible.  “Good thing I borrowed Graciela’s toy, even if she said I’d be singing soprano if I didn’t give it back to her.”

Barry leaned over toward Jacobo as if to tell him something, “Aloha,” he said as he plunged the knife under Jacobo’s ribcage, up into his heart while extending his other hand behind Jacobo’s back.  He fired Graciela’s silenced .22, hitting José right in his temple.

“That’s the signal,” Kal announced.  He needn’t have bothered.  As soon as Barry said aloha, the two snipers who had targets, had fired and killed the other two guards on the roof.

“We’re good!” Ramsey announced.

Catie immediately shifted the Oryx over until it was hovering over the roof of the hospital.

Kal watched as the team of rappelers tossed the ropes out of the back of the Oryx; they were fastened to the top of the cargo hatch.  Then four by four, they snapped onto the lines and jumped out of the cargo hold – each group giving the previous one five seconds.  Ten seconds after the last group jumped, he got the all-clear from the team.

“Time to head to the apartments,” he announced to Catie while the next team was pulling the lines back into the hold.

Barry gave a quick nod to the team leader and took the silenced .22 being offered.  He wanted to hand Graciela’s back to her at the first possible moment.  He opened the door to the stairwell and headed back down, the team following quietly behind him.  Each of them was watching the video feed from the clinic via their HUD.  As he exited the stairwell, he saw Graciela positioned next to the receptionist.  Barry nodded at her, and she grabbed the receptionist, placing a hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream, and injected her with a fast-acting sedative.  Barry returned her .22, “Thanks for the loan.”

“No problem,” Graciela whispered as she followed Barry toward the waiting room.  As usual, the four guards were watching TV in there.  Barry and Graciela started chatting, Graciela doing most of the talking as they continued to approach.  Two of the commandos were creeping along the wall, one on each side of the door.  As Barry and Graciela entered the room, they waved at the guards watching TV.  Barry used his HUD to switch the TV off.  The guards cursed, trying to turn the TV back on with the remote.  When that didn’t work, one of them got up to figure out what was wrong with it.  Graciela quietly put a bullet into the back of the head of the guard closest to her, then calmly leaned down to whisper something to another guard as she shot him.  Barry quickly dispatched the third guard, then walked over toward the TV and shot the guard who was still standing there, examining the power cord.

Barry used his HUD to inform the four Paraxean nurses who were staffing the clinic for the night that the guards were taken care of.  He let them know that they should avoid the waiting room, and just keep their patients quiet and comfortable until the morning.  “Leave two Marines here to cover for the staircase.  Graciela and I will take the elevator down; have your teams take the two stairwells,” he instructed the team leader.

He and Graciela entered the elevator after checking each other for any signs of blood.  When the elevator reached the ground floor, Graciela was screaming at Barry – yelling that the place where he had taken her to dinner was a dump and that he needed to make up for it if he ever wanted her to sleep with him again.  As per the plan, the altercation got the two guards to start laughing at Barry’s plight and move toward them to get a better view of the fight.  They never saw the .22s in Barry’s and Graciela’s hands, two shots into each of their heads made sure they would never see anything again.  Barry and Graciela changed the clips in their guns, while Graciela continued to harangue Barry.  They started to make their way toward the emergency room.

The Delphinean commandos reached the ground floor via the two stairwells.  They could hear Graciela screaming at Barry.  They started laughing under their breaths as they checked out their HUDs to locate the guards at the outside exit of their stairwell.  On both stairwells, the guards had entered the hospital so they could better hear the fight and were leaning against the wall next to the door to the interior; it was a simple matter to take them out from behind.  At each end, two commandos took up position so they could guard the exterior doors while the others entered the hospital and made their way toward the emergency room where the eight enemy targets were guarding the big entrance.

As the three teams were converging on the emergency room, an ambulance was backing into the dock.  It had just arrived at the hospital with its light and siren blaring.  The back door opened, and the EMT got out and pulled the gurney out of the ambulance.  He turned it and started to push it into the hospital; a woman was lying on the gurney, her face covered in blood.

Immediately three of the guards came over to inspect them, the one who seemed to be in charge signaling the EMT to stop while they searched the gurney.  The EMT reached under the pad on the gurney and pulled a silenced .22 out and shot him in the face.  At the same time, the woman on the gurney pulled out two .22s, one in each hand, and shot the other two.

Barry and Graciela, with Graciela still yelling, shot two guards that were at the intake desk, while the two teams took out the remaining guards.

“Castro, get off your ass,” Barry barked, “we have bad guys to kill.”

“Right behind you, boss,” Cristina said as she hopped off the gurney and holstered one of the .22s.  She took a moment to wipe her face clean, then went to the ambulance and grabbed the body armor; she handed a set each to Barry and Graciela, before she started to put hers on.  After she finished suiting up, the team headed out of the hospital into the night.

Wed Nov 18th – 0420 CST

The Oryx was now hovering off the apartment building to give the snipers an angle on the two guards stationed on its roof.  Unluckily for them, they were both smoking, standing next to each other.  The snipers made quick work of them.  Catie moved the Oryx over the roof so that the insertion team could rappel down.

As soon as the team hit the roof, they ran for the stairway door.  They formed up outside it before opening it and making their way down to the top floor of the apartment building.  It was only two floors; the Paraxeans had most of the apartments on the top floor, so the plan was to move them to the roof as quickly as possible.  They broke up into eight teams of two and proceeded to the apartments occupied by Victor’s men.  Each team had a master key and a handheld laser to cut any security chains, or if necessary, to cut through the door’s hinges.

Timing their entry via their Comms, each team entered the apartment they were targeting at the same time.  In every case, they found Victor’s men asleep in their beds, not always alone.  They quickly dispatched the men, informed the women that if they wanted to live, they needed to be quiet and hang out in the apartment until the next day.  Within ten minutes, the top floor and the roof were secure.  They alerted the Paraxeans, via their HUDs, to wake up and make their way to the roof where they would be met by members of Delphi’s security force and escorted to safety.

Leaving two Marines behind, the rest made their way down to the first floor.  Barry had a team waiting outside to deal with the security around the building once they were in position and could afford the risk of an errant shot giving them away.

“Emilio, you’re good to engage!”

Emilio’s team was waiting; they had already positioned themselves as close to the guard positions as they could risk.  As soon as they got the word, they brought up their M4s equipped with suppressors.  Two shots from each of the six Marines in his team took care of all the outside security in thirty seconds.

“We’re clear out here,” Emilio announced.

“Okay, all’s quiet here, we’re going to clear these last ten rooms, then we’ll join you guys and take out the patrols.”

“Roger that!”

When Catie heard the all-clear, she lowered the Oryx down to the roof.  Kal guided her until the rear door was resting on the roof.  The Paraxeans were just coming out of the stairwell and onto the roof when they set down.  Three crew from the Oryx helped the Paraxeans doctors and nurses onto the Oryx.  In less than thirty minutes from when they started, Catie was climbing back to four hundred meters with the Paraxeans safely inside the Oryx.  The Paraxeans crowded into the crew section in front of the cargo hold, while the snipers took up position on the lowered cargo door.

“Our first checkpoint is five kilometers to the west,” Kal told Catie.  “You should have the exact location on your HUD.”

“Got it,” Catie said.  “Moving into place now.”  She had the Oryx drift over to the location specified.  She stopped it two hundred meters south of the position as they had done in the enumerable drills Kal had put them through.  “In position and holding.”

“Sniper team two, you’re now clear to engage,” Kal informed the team on the hospital roof.

“Clear to engage, roger.”

The snipers on the Oryx quickly located the three men at the checkpoint.  Cristina and the other two women in Barry’s unit had managed to put a beacon on every one of the enemy guards that were currently standing watch at the checkpoints.

“On three, . . . one . . . two . . . three.”  The three snipers fired their rifles within a tenth of a second of each other; the three enemy guards dropped to the ground, a shot through each of their heads.

“Next checkpoint,” Ramsey said.

“Mariana, don’t enjoy yourself too much,” Kal told Ramsey.

“It’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” she replied.  “Not much of a challenge, but I’ll take it.”

Catie flew the Oryx to each of the eight checkpoints; they paused for one minute to allow the snipers to take out the men standing guard before moving on.

It was at the last checkpoint as the snipers were lining up their sights that the first sound of gunfire erupted.  Since all of Kal’s Marines were using suppressors, that meant that Victor’s men had finally realized they were being taken out.  It took another minute before the guards at the last checkpoint settled down long enough for the snipers to take them out.

“Okay, we’re done,” Ramsey said.  “Do you want to take us over by that firefight to see if we can help out?”

“I’ve got it located.  It’s Beta team engaging the first patrol,” Kal said.  “Catie, I’ve sent you the coordinates.”

“On it,” Catie said.  She moved the Oryx toward the coordinates, flying backward so that the cargo door was facing the area where the conflict was going on.

“Move two hundred meters at eighty-five degrees,” Kal ordered.

Catie moved the Oryx as instructed.  “What’s going on?” she asked.

“You fly, we’ll fight,” Kal replied.

Catie was stung by the sharpness of the reply, but bit back her resentment; they had too many things to worry about to keep her updated.  She was cut out of the Comm channel that they were using between teams, only having access to Kal’s Comm.  It made sense, but it also left her feeling isolated.

“Take the easy shots,” Ramsey said.  “They know we’re here, so just knock ‘em down.”

“What’s the situation on the ground?” Kal demanded.

“We’re caught in a crossfire between two of their patrols,” Sergeant Walker replied.  “We came out of the park and engaged the first patrol, but the second one caught us from behind.  We’re pinned down; they’ve got shooters up on a house to our southeast.”

“Not anymore,” Ramsey said.  “We’ve taken out the shooters.”

“You copy that, Walker?” Kal asked.

“Roger, we can now move and cover our flank.  Thanks for the assist.”

“We’ll stick around for a bit and see if we can pick a few more off for you; do you have any locations we should focus on?”

“The main force of the second patrol is one hundred meters to the northeast,” Walker said.

“We see them,” Ramsey said.  “We’ll thin them out for you.”

“Sniper team Alpha, what’s your status?” Kal asked.

“The hospital area is secure; we’re now engaging the patrols when we can see them; it’s a bit of a turkey shoot.”

“They’re running for cover,” Ramsey reported.  “I think Barry’s team is engaging another patrol.  I hear fire coming from the north.”

“Walker, any casualties?” Kal asked.

“We have two down, percussion injuries, they’ll be okay in a day,” Walker reported.  “The rest of us are good.”

“Roger, we’re off then,” Kal said.

“Good hunting.”

Wed Nov 18th – 1000 CST

“What’s your status?” Marc asked Kal.

“We’re still mopping up; mostly body removal, but there are a few of Victor’s men still trying to get out of the area.”

“Casualty report?”

“Eight injured, one fatality, everyone’s tired,” Kal said.

“What caused the fatality?  Did the armor fail?” Marc asked.

“No, got knocked over by enemy fire, hit his head on a wall, and broke his neck,” Kal said.  “Freak series of events.”

“Do you have any prisoners?” Samantha asked.

“Ten,” Kal replied.

“Out of over two hundred combatants, you only captured ten?” Samantha scoffed.

“They’re the only ones that showed up at the hospital with their hands in the air,” Kal said.  “We didn’t spend any time asking people who had weapons if they wanted to surrender.”

“Final count on the enemy?” Blake asked.

“We have one hundred seventy-five confirmed kills,” Kal said.  “We have the ten prisoners, we believe there are approximately twelve in various locations in the city outside our control perimeter, and three holding hostages in a house.  We’ll take care of them tonight.”

“Make sure your people do not identify themselves as from Delphi,” Samantha said.  “I think the President of Guatemala wants to take credit for the action, and we’re happy to give it to him.”

“Do you need anything?” Marc asked.

“We’re good.  The locals are feeding us, we’ve negotiated for a few houses for our people to camp in,” Kal said.  “We brought plenty of ammo.”

“Okay, don’t hesitate to ask,” Marc said.  “Catie, are you good with hanging out there, or do you want us to send another pilot to fly the Oryx?”

“I’m good.  I’m just hanging out at the hospital, and I’m staying in the same apartments with the Paraxeans so Kal can keep an eye on me,” Catie said, giving Kal a glare.  She wasn’t happy about the restrictions on her movements.  She understood the need, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

Chapter 22

The Guatemalan Solution

“I just got off the phone with the President of Guatemala,” Samantha said as she walked into Marc’s office.

Marc nodded his head and waited for her to continue.

“He is asking us to have Kal go down to Victor’s ranch and clean out all his thugs and arrest him,” Samantha said.

“And why would we do that?”

“He says he wants to announce that he has created a special unit of their police to handle these kinds of issues,” Samantha said.  “He wants to take credit for the operation in Guatemala City.”

“I’m still not sure I see a good reason for us to do this,” Marc said.  “Let’s get Kal on the line and get his input.”

“What’s up?” Kal asked as he linked into the video conference that Marc set up.

“Sam has a request from the President of Guatemala,” Marc said.

“What does he want?” Kal asked.

“He would like you to go to Victor’s ranch and clean house,” Samantha said.

“He would, would he?” Kal said.  “I know my team would love to do it.”

“Why?” Marc asked.

“Hey, about twenty percent are from Guatemala or have relatives here,” Kal said.  “And nobody likes to deal with a snake and leave it with its head still attached.”

“He would also like to claim credit,” Samantha said.

“How’s he going to do that?” Kal asked.

“He’s going to tell the people he’s formed a special squad from the military to deal with the drug cartels,” Samantha said.  “He hinted that he’d like us to help train his people.”

“That would give us the training base we want,” Kal said.  “And a few missions once in a while would be a good way to keep the troops sharp.”

“You two figure out what you want to do,” Marc said.  “I can support either decision.”

“Okay, Sam, I’ll do a recon on the ranch and come up with a plan.  We can review it and decide if we should move forward.”

“Okay, and I’ll chat with the president about a permanent training facility,” Samantha said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Catie, we need to drop a couple of surveillance probes over Victor’s ranch, can you take care of that?” Kal asked.

“Sure,” Catie said.  “I’ll show the pilots how to attach the probes; we should add that to their training.  We haven’t done that since the Carl Vinson thing.”  Catie was referring to the time they had launched probes onto the USS Carl Vinson in order to catch Admiral Morris and the president conspiring to invade Delphi City.

“That’d be great, never pass up a teaching moment,” Kal said.

“After that, would it be okay if I went back to Delphi City?” Catie asked.  “I’ve got a couple of projects that need attention.”

“Not exciting enough for you out here?” Kal asked.

“Not really,” Catie said.  “I can stay if you think I should.”

“You do know that most of our people don’t get to pick their assignments.”

“But I’m a specialist,” Catie said with a bit of consternation.  “I’ve been training Elise on the Oryx; she should be able to handle it now.”

“I’m sure she can,” Kal said.  “What are you working on back at Delphi City?”

“I’m in the middle of the design for the new airliner,” Catie said.  “I’ve been managing it remotely for the last three weeks.”

“Oh, right, you went off to place the Asteroid Explorers.”

“Don’t say it that way!”

“Why not, it’s true,” Kal said.  “You always jump at the chance to be the first to do something.  You gravitate to the exciting jobs.”

“But I help wherever you guys ask me to,” Catie pleaded her case.  She knew Kal was right but didn’t want to admit she was being selfish.

“It’s okay, just wanted to point out that you’re not twelve anymore,” Kal said.  “Everybody expected it of you then; now it might not go over as well.”

“You mean I have to quit playing the little girl card?” Catie said.

“I think so, especially now that it can look like the princess card.”

Catie grimaced at that, “Ohh, I guess that’s right.  Daddy said it was going to mess up my life as much as his.”

“Oh, don’t complain too much, it’s hard for us mere commoners to sympathize,” Kal said while giving Catie a playful thump on the back of her head.  “Oops, sorry, not supposed to touch royalty.”

Catie punched him on the shoulder as hard as she could.  “Don’t you go treating me like a princess!”

“I won’t, now get out there and deploy my probes, I’ve got a mission to plan.”

“Yes, sir!”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Where are we?” Samantha asked Kal after she connected with his Comm.

“I’ve got two surveillance probes over the ranch, and three people in the town collecting intel,” Kal said.  “It seems Victor was shocked at the events here in Guatemala City.  He’s gathered most of his men around him at the ranch, and even recruited more.”

“How many men does he have?”

“He’s got three hundred of his own men that he’s pulled back to the ranch, and he’s recruited another two hundred from the local population.  The logistics of supporting that many men has to be killing him,” Kal answered.

“The president has been leaking that he has a secret army that is going to go after Victor and his crew,” Samantha said.  “He’s holding off from doing a press conference about Guatemala City; he says the rumors will work better.”

“Well, it’s working,” Kal said.  “The president has gotten Victor to gathers all his eggs in one basket.”

“You sound like you’re going to take the mission,” Samantha said.

“I think we should.  Maybe it’ll help establish a more effective rule of law here in Guatemala,” Kal said.  “Right now, the police are just dealing with petty crime, too much of the real crime is entangled with the cartels, and they don’t dare poke that hornet’s nest.”

“Okay, I’ll tell the president.  He’ll need to send someone from the ministry of justice to serve the warrant and arrest Victor,” Samantha said.

“Do you think he plans to go after all the cartels?” Kal asked.

“No, but he needs them to know he can go after them.  He can’t afford the level of lawlessness that would result from having no organization controlling the crime.  But he needs them to rein in their own people,” Samantha explained.

“The only real solution is to legalize opium,” Kal said.  “With the land down here yielding four harvests a year, there’s too much money involved.  Someone is going to find a way to cash in.”

“I’m not sure he’s willing to go that far,” Samantha said.

“Why not?  The treatment that Dr. Metra has come up with cures the addiction in three days.”

“But some people don’t want to be cured, and you still have deaths that occur before they have a chance to come to their senses.”

“I’ll get things ready here,” Kal said.  “We’ll want that warrant in a few days.”

“Okay,” Samantha said.  “One more thing, Kal.  I don’t want Catie directly involved in any killing.  She still too young to carry that burden.”

“She had to carry it against the Paraxeans.”

“It’s different when they’re shooting at you, but flying a jet against targets on the ground is too much.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be flying my command post,” Kal said.  “She’s still our little girl, and we’ll both be back in time for her birthday party.”

Friday, Nov 20th – 0800 GMT

“Are we ready?” Kal asked.

“Yes, sir,” Catie replied.  Her spirits seemed to be improved from the day before.

“Do you think they know we’re coming?” Barry asked.

“After Catie blew up their helicopter this morning, I certainly hope so,” Kal said.

“They shot at us after the minister’s guy demanded Victor’s surrender,” Catie said.  Catie had hovered the Fox, she had borrowed for the mission, over the ranch house while the representative of the public prosecutor’s office used the PA system on the Fox to read the warrant for Victor Sorcaño’s arrest.

“That wasn’t very nice of them.  Did the helicopter make a nice fireball?” Barry asked.

“Yes, it must have had a full load of fuel,” Catie said.  “It went up like a Roman torch.”

As a concession to Catie having to fly the Oryx during the assault on Victor’s ranch, Kal had let her fly the mission to take out Victor’s helicopter.  He’d found that blowing something up would always raise the spirits of any soldier when they were frustrated at not being allowed on the front line.

“Then let’s go give them something else to think about,” Kal said.

Catie flew them to the south road behind the ranch, where they made a very visible show of disembarking fifty Marines.  They then flew to the north, where they made an equally obvious show of landing another fifty Marines.  This effectively isolated the ranch since it was in a valley with very rough terrain for sides.

“Okay, now let’s go shoot up some cars,” Kal said.  He had Ramsey and three other snipers on the now virtually empty Oryx.

“Oorah,” Ramsey said as she carried her sniper rifle to the back end of the Oryx.

Catie left the cargo gate down as she lifted the Oryx back into the sky.  They were headed to a field just east of the main house where there were about forty trucks and SUVs parked.

“Catie, go ahead and link in with Ramsey so she can tell you how she wants the Oryx positioned.  Also, tie into the camera feed from the back; you can use that to line her team up with the trucks,” Kal instructed.

“Why do I get to tie into the feeds this time?” Catie asked.  It was a big change from the mission over Guatemala City, where he only let her tie into his channel.

“No friendlies on the ground.  We probably won’t even get any return fire, so less potential confusion,” Kal said.  “And I know you like a good show.”

“Thanks.  We’re lined up west of the field now,” Catie said.  “Ramsey, is the altitude good?”

“I like it, one-thousand-meter shots, just perfect,” Mariana Ramsey said.  “Are we weapons-free?”

“You’re weapons-free,” Kal said.  “Light ‘em up!”

For the next twenty minutes, Catie enjoyed the fireworks as Ramsey and her team targeted the gas tanks of the vehicles with incendiary rounds from their M40 sniper rifles.

“Sit rep,” Kal barked over the shared Comm channel.

“We’ve got approximately thirty hostiles here at the front gate,” Barry reported.  “They’ve got six vehicles we’d like you to take care of.”

“Wilco,” Kal said.  “Emilio?”

“We have approximately forty hostiles back here.  They have eight vehicles, so when you get done up there, you could come on back here and punch ‘em out.”

“Wilco, Emilio, we’ll take care of you first,” Kal said.

Catie was already heading to the back gate of the ranch by the time Kal had finished his call.  She could see the vehicles spread out along a three-hundred-meter stretch of flat open land that bordered the fence, about six hundred meters back from it.

“Catie, line us up on the center group,” Kal ordered.

“Wilco,” Catie replied as she turned the Oryx around so that its cargo door faced the center group and the Oryx was lined up with the dirt road that went toward the ranch house.  There were three large SUVs forming a wedge across the road, blocking anyone from traveling down it.

“Perfect, hold there,” Ramsey said.

“Roger,” Catie replied.  She watched as Ramsey and her team quickly took out the three vehicles.  The incendiary rounds punctured the vehicles’ gas tanks, causing them to explode.

“Hold here and just rotate us to the right,” Ramsey said.

Catie saw three more SUVs in a loose group.  The men who had been sitting in or standing around the vehicles were running away, creating as much distance as they could between them and the vehicles.  Ramsey’s team made quick work of the vehicles.

“Kal, do you want us to take out the hostiles?” Ramsey asked.

“No,” Kal replied.  “Let’s give them a chance to surrender or run away before we start shooting them.  No reason to get their dander up yet.”

“Roger, Catie, rotate us to the left; line up on that last group,” Ramsey ordered.

“Roger,” Catie said as she started rotating the Oryx to the left.

“Hold,” Ramsey ordered, and two more explosions rocked the area as Ramsey’s team took out the last two SUVs.

They moved to the north and the main entrance and quickly took out the six vehicles there.  The surveillance drones had observed each of the entrances being reinforced after Catie blew up the helicopter.  Apparently, Victor didn’t want to turn himself in.

Friday, Nov 20th – 1000 CST

“We have vehicles coming up the road,” Emilio reported.

“They’re the Guatemalan National Police,” Kal said.  “They should be coming up the front side as well.”

“Yes, we see them as well,” Barry reported.  “They’re bringing quite a few vans.  They must be assuming we’ll be taking prisoners.”

“We should,” Kal said.  “Especially the recent hires from the local area.  They’re not looking at that much prison time.”

“Here they come,” Ramsey said.

Catie and Kal immediately looked at the display from the drone over the ranch house.  Four Humvees were exiting the big barn behind the house.

“Damn, they have M2s mounted on those things,” Ramsey said.

“Only the best from U.S. foreign aid,” Barry said.  “How many men are coming with them?”

“We see about fifteen men with each vehicle,” Ramsey said.  “You can view it on channel four on your HUD.”

“Where are the rest of their men?” Catie asked.  “I thought he had over five hundred up here.”

“There are about one hundred in that barn and another one hundred in a bunker behind the house,” Kal said.  “It looks like there are about twenty in the house; I think the others are spread out over the ranch.”

“They’re setting up about one hundred meters from the house,” Ramsey reported.  “One Humvee on each corner.”

“Let’s give them some more time, maybe they’ll bunch up for us,” Kal said.

“Catie, how would you suggest we take out those Humvees?” Kal asked.  “I really don’t want to dedicate four Foxes.”

“Are you trying to take them out simultaneously?” Catie asked.  “One Fox could easily handle them otherwise.”

“As close to simultaneous as possible.”

“Then use two Foxes; each one can take out two; just do a straight run across the corner, getting the two that line up,” Catie said.

“I concur,” Commander Vislosky said.  He was the Lt. Commander in charge of the Foxes and didn’t seem too pleased that Kal was consulting Catie instead of him.

“Thank you, Commander,” Kal said.  “Then you have one Fox left for each of the ranch entrances where they’ve stationed their men.”

“Correct, we can time it to hit all those targets at the same time.  Plasma cannons will make short work of them.  We’ll then come to a hover to support your men as they infiltrate the ranch.”

“Okay, plan on executing that in one hour,” Kal said.

“Wilco,” the commander replied.

Friday, Nov 20th – 1100 CST

“Commander Vislosky, you are clear to engage,” Kal announced.

Catie watched as four Foxes streaked across the sky.  The Oryx was positioned above and to the south of the ranch house.  Two Foxes cut a path across two Humvees each, and the associated hostiles camped out next to them.  The pilots slowed to approximately one hundred kph, using their VTO capability to slow below stall speed in order to maximize their time over the target.  They engaged their plasma cannons and swept an area thirty meters wide, vaporizing everything in their path.  After they flew off, there was only a twenty-meter trench where the Humvees and men had been.  Catie had to swallow the bile that filled her throat as she realized what had happened to over eighty hostiles in a matter of seconds.

The other two Foxes had wreaked the same destruction at the two gates to the ranch eliminating over one hundred additional hostiles that had taken up position to counter the impending incursion by Kal’s men and the Guatemalan National Police.

“We’re clear,” Commander Vislosky announced.

“Thank you,” Kal said.  “Teams Bravo and Delta, advance!”

Barry and his team advanced from the front gate, covered by one of Commander Vislosky’s Foxes while a second Fox hovered over the remainder of his platoon that was still holding position at the gate.

Emilio’s team advanced from the rear gate, very happy to see the Fox hovering over them as they moved.  They had a surveillance drone on each flank to provide coverage, while the Fox streamed video of the forward view.  All the men had donned full battle armor, with motorcycle-like helmets that protected their heads.  The armor was heavy, not as heavy as what most of them had worn in Iraq or Afghanistan, but when it could stop a bullet from an M4 or AK47, you didn’t complain about the weight.  A small respirator circulated air through the helmet, while superconductors carried the heat of their bodies out to the exterior of the suit, where it radiated into the surrounding air keeping them cool as they climbed the road toward the ranch house.

“Grenade!” the alarm sounded in each Marine’s HUD, as the AI monitoring the surveillance feed detected a grenade launched from the enemy position.  Everyone hit the dirt, putting their hands and M4 beneath their body armor to protect them.  The grenade exploded, showering everyone with dirt and shrapnel.

“I got him,” Ramsey announced.  As soon as the AI had detected the grenade, it projected its arc and angle back to the point of origin, highlighting the hostile who had fired it.  She shot him dead before the grenade landed and before he could reload and launch a second one.

“Hey, Takurō, is your leg still attached?” someone yelled out.

“Yes, but that damn thing landed within one meter of me!  What is it with me and grenades?” Takurō yelled.  He had lost his leg in Iraq due to a grenade, and the leg had to be replaced again after he covered a grenade in Delphi City, protecting some teenagers.

“Hey, Sarge, we should put Takurō out on the flank to draw the enemy fire away from the rest of us!” the same guy shouted.

During this time, the sergeant’s HUD had been taking a roll call of all his men, identifying any injuries.

“Jefferies, since you’re not injured, get your ass off the ground with the rest of us and move out!” the sergeant yelled.  “Miller, are you okay?  I’ve got an alert on you.”

“I’m good, just got a little something in one of my seams, didn’t break the surface, so just bruised.”

Those Marines who hadn’t already gotten off the dirt stood up and got into formation; then, the platoon started forward again.

The Fox zeroed in on the same highlighted hostile that Ramsey had shot.  Seeing more heat signatures in the area, it blasted it with its plasma cannon.  Whatever had been there was now vaporized.

Barry’s platoon reached the ranch house before Emilio’s since they only had to travel half the distance.  Barry crouched down next to Cpl. Vargas, “I want you to take a couple of Marines and scout the bunkhouse; we still don’t know where the rest of his men are.”

“Got it, Sarge,” Cpl. Vargas said.  He stood up a little.  CRACK!  A shot rang out, and Cpl. Vargas was thrown to the ground.  A laser from the Fox above them pulsed, followed by the sound of a rifle clattering to the ground.

“Sorry, guys.  He was hidden under a cover,” Commander Vislosky said.

Barry ran over to Cpl. Vargas.  The breastplate of his armor had a dent in it.  “You still with us?” Barry asked.

“Damn,” Cpl. Vargas said as he coughed.

“That’s going to hurt,” Barry said.  “I’m sending you back to the road, your armor is compromised.  Send Cpl. Olivarez back.”

“That had to be an M1,” Cpl. Vargas said.

“Probably, and you took the hit straight on, too.  Going to be a nice bruise to show the señoritas,” Barry said.  “Cpl. Cueva, I’m sending Vargas to the rear, his armor took a hit.  I need you to take two Marines and scout out the bunkhouse.”

“On it, Sarge,” Cpl. Cueva said.

“Don’t get shot!” Barry shouted.

“Oh, so you do care,” Cpl. Cueva said.  “People will think we’re dating.”

“Move it, Marine!” Barry barked.

Friday, Nov 20th – 1800 CST

“Victor doesn’t look too happy,” Barry said to Kal as they watched Victor being shoved into the SUV driven by the National Police.

“No, he doesn’t,” Kal said.  “I suspect he’s not too happy with the accommodations that await him when he gets back to Guatemala City.  It won’t be anything like that house he appropriated.”

“What now?”

“I’m leaving the two platoons here under Lieutenant Teodoro and Sergeant Emilio,” Kal said.  Everyone called Sergeant Emilio López by his first name since there were always at least two or three Lópezes in any unit he was in.  “We’ll drop you and your four guys back at the hospital, then Catie and I are heading back to Delphi City.”

“You’re leaving that Oryx here, aren’t you?” Barry asked.

“Yeah, I think Catie wants to take it home so she can steal the grav drives out of it, but it’s just too valuable not to keep.”

“I’d let Commander Vislosky tell her that,” Barry said.  “She has a habit of getting even if you tick her off.”

Kal chucked at Barry’s comment.  “She does that, but I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“Just saying.”

Chapter 23

Damn that Sam

“Hey, how was Guatemala?” Liz asked as she and Catie were stretching before their workout.

“It was okay,” Catie said.  “Didn’t really get to see much of it.  Kal kept me on a short leash.”

“Well, we can’t have you going off and getting hurt, especially just before your birthday,” Liz said.  “Hey, did you grow into your last shipsuit?”  Liz asked, referring to the time Catie had grown hips and couldn’t fit into her shipsuit.  She’d had Dr. Metra make a series of suits that, based on her DNA, would be the sizes she would need as she grew.

“No, still have one more to go,” Catie said.

“Let me see,” Liz said.

Catie stood up, and Liz stood next to her.  “We’re the same height, one-seventy-seven centimeters; I might be carrying a bit more weight than you are.  Turn around.  What do you weigh?”

“Must be your big butt,” Catie said.

“You’re going to wish you had a big butt when I toss you on yours,” Liz threatened.

“Are you going to take your specs off?” Catie asked.  “Or do you plan to spar virtually?”

“Oh, smart mouth on you; you are really asking to have a bruised butt today,” Liz said as she removed her specs, but not before she sent Samantha the two scans she’d made of Catie.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie arrived at the hangar early.  Today would be the first design review of the new jetliner where she would be physically present.  And it was the big one; everything was in place to define the airframe and weight.  If things went well, she would order a prototype built that they would be able to test in the wind tunnel.

“Hi, Catie,” Jackie said as she walked into the hangar.  “And happy birthday.”

“Thanks, are you coming to the party tonight?”

“Yes, Blake has invited me and given me special instructions on what to wear,” Jackie said.

“Special instructions?”

“Oops!” Jackie gasped to herself.  “Oh, apparently, your great grandparents think women should wear dresses.”  Jackie hoped she hadn’t let the cat out of the bag.

“They are pretty picky about that,” Catie said.  “I’m glad you’ll be there.”

Catie and Jackie chatted while the rest of the team trickled in.  Finally, everyone was in place so they could begin the walkthrough.

“Hello, everyone,” Catie said.  “I’m sorry I haven’t been here in person for the previous walkthroughs.  Now, you are aware that I hope we can sign off on the airframe design after today.  There is still a lot of flexibility inside the cabin, but we need to finalize the control runs, weight distribution, and placement of the security panels.  This is Carsten Friedman, some of you have met him as we’ve worked through the design.  For the rest of you, he’s the engineer responsible for the engines and airframe design.”

Everyone nodded their heads, and Catie led the team into the Alpha model.

“As discussed, we’re putting security panels in three locations across the aircraft.  The first: the entrance to the cockpit as every airliner has; the second: at thirty percent of the length: and the third at sixty percent.  These panels will allow the plane to be divided into three secure sections in case of any problems.  But their locations will tend to define the separation between first, business, and economy classes.  Each section will have a separate air handling system to refresh the oxygen in it.  If it becomes necessary to isolate a section, the panels will keep the air in it completely separate from the other air on the aircraft.”

“Aren’t we being a bit paranoid?” Scottie asked.

“We believe in being prepared for the unexpected,” Catie said.

“No skin off my nose,” Scottie said.

“No, but you have to make sure that the power for the air handlers and lighting are isolated,” Catie said.

“They are; it was rather simple.  A bit overpowered in the forward section if you cut back the seating to make it first class, but I suspect that Jackie will find a use for the extra power,” Scottie added.

“I’m sure I will,” Jackie said.

“Francisco, are the openings in the panels wide enough to allow your crews to reconfigure the seating and do the necessary maintenance?”

“Of course they are.  I was the one who specified the width,” Francisco said.  “Jackie will want them to be partially closed during normal operation to provide more isolation, but when they’re fully open, the crews will have no problem moving around.”

Slowly they walked through the entire aircraft, verifying each specification that needed to be locked down before Catie had the prototype airframe built – finally concluding with the engines.

“They’re small, but we have four of them,” Carsten said.  “With them, she’ll do Mach 3.5.  If there’s a problem, she will be able to do Mach 0.9 on three and Mach 0.5 on two if they’re on opposite sides.  If she loses both on one side, she’ll be able to stay in the air until she reaches an airfield.”

“Good,” Catie said.  “So, are you happy with the walkthrough?”

“If you’re not going to change anything, I am.”

“Then you’re cleared to build the prototype airframe,” Catie said.

“Glad to,” Carsten said.  “I’m looking forward to getting it into that air tunnel.”

“So am I.”

◆ ◆ ◆

When Catie returned to her condo at four o’clock, she was shocked at the number of people inside.  “Liz, are you having some kind of party?”

“No, but we have to get you ready for your party,” Liz said.

“I don’t underst . . . Sam!  ADI, where is Sam?” Catie asked.

“I’m right behind you,” Samantha said.  She’d entered the condo right after Catie did, having been alerted by Liz that she was now home.

“What are you up to?  You already ruined my life with the homecoming party!”

“Catie, we have to make a good impression on the world, and right now, you’re our best commodity.  We have to take advantage of all that goodwill you generated during the war.”

“But I’m just now able to get around without being accosted,” Catie said.

“See, I told you it would wear off.  So, will this one,” Samantha said.

“This what?”

“Your birthday party,” Samantha said with a big smile.

“My nice quiet birthday party at Giorgio’s with my family and close friends!”

“We had to change the venue,” Samantha said.

“To where?”

“The Grand Ballroom at the Four Seasons.  And we changed the dress code to formal.  So, you need to go take your shower so we can have your hair done and your dress fitted.  It won’t take too long.”

Catie turned to Liz, “And you knew about this!”

“Of course; someone had to make sure you were going to be available.”

“And verify my size!”

“Yes, we didn’t want the seamstress to have to do too much work.”

“I hate both of you!”

“Oh, pish, quit being a baby; you can use it as an excuse to get your father to let you go off and do something fun,” Samantha said.  “Kal said you didn’t have much fun in Guatemala.  He told me he had to let you blow up a helicopter so that you would quit pouting.”

“I’m going to get even!”

“I’m sure you will, now hush and go get your shower so we can get your hair done,” Samantha said.  She laughed as Catie stomped off to her room.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Still not very hot?” Catie said to Samantha as she examined herself in the mirror.  Her dress was burgundy with a not-too-daring, vee-necked bodice.  “At least the train doesn’t drag on the floor,” Catie thought.

“Still going for the fairy tale look,” Samantha replied.

“Not a tiara again,” Catie complained as the dresser brought a pillow with a diamond tiara, earrings, and a necklace on it.

“You’re a princess,” Samantha said as she put the necklace around Catie’s neck.  “Can we adjust the length?  I want the tip to be above the vee in the bodice.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the dresser said.  “It will only take a moment.”

Samantha handed the necklace to the dresser who took it over to the side of the room where a jeweler was standing by to deal with any issues.

“You brought a jeweler!” Catie whispered.

“Of course, we want everything to be perfect,” Samantha said.  “Now here’s your dance card, I’ve already filled it out.”

“What?!”

“You don’t get to hide tonight; the party is in your honor after all.  Don’t worry, I’ve only picked your friends.”

“What if I want to dance with someone else?” Catie asked.

“You’re free to change it around, I’ve told everyone that you might.  But now you have a perfect excuse to say no to anyone you don’t want to dance with, so you won’t need ADI to help you duck them.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“This way,” Samantha said.  “We’re having a private reception before the big party.  That way you’ll get a chance to spend some time with the special guests.”

“Like that’s going to be fun,” Catie said.  “The Prime Minister of Austria is bound to be a load of laughs.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” Samantha said.  “I’ve invited some people whom I think you’ll enjoy meeting.  Right in here.”

There were eight security guards taking up station outside the ballroom.  “Enough security?” Catie quipped.

“Some of our guests have their own.  It’s nice that they’re willing to have them wait out here.”

Surveying the room as they entered, Catie spied several clusters of teenagers in different spots.  “They’re appointing younger prime ministers these days.”

“They’re royals,” Samantha explained.  “I thought you’d like to meet some people in the same boat you’re in.”

“I’m sure, we can compare notes about our security,” Catie said.

“Now, all the young people are royals,” Samantha said.  “So, you guys can relax with each other.  I’ll come by and get you to introduce you to the other guests in about thirty minutes.”

“I’m soooo looking forward to that.”

“Scoot.”

Catie walked over to the first group of teenagers, “Hello, I’m Catie,” she said.

“Hi, I’m Emmanuel, this is Ingrid, and that’s Sofia,” the boy in the group said.  ADI immediately identified them as Prince Emmanuel of Belgium, 15 years old; Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 17 years old; and Princess Sofia of Spain, 15 years old.

“I’m pleased to meet you, and welcome to Delphi City,” Catie said.

“We were hoping that this would be on Delphi Station,” Ingrid said.

“We’re not really set up to host functions like this up there,” Catie said.  “Maybe next year.”

“Oh, pish.”

“We can arrange a tour up there for you if your parents are okay with it, and your bodyguards,” Catie said.  “I always have more trouble with my bodyguards than my parents.”

“Oh, I’m very good at ducking mine,” Sophia said.

“I tried that once, I didn’t get more than a hundred meters before they caught me,” Catie said.  “I really paid for that.”

“How?” Sophia asked.  “Surely they’re not allowed to hit you?”

“I practice martial arts with four of them, so they kind of are allowed to hit me,” Catie said.  “Liz is one of my best friends as well, and she really took it out on me.”

“That sounds cruel,” Ingrid said.

“Are you any good at fighting?” Emmanuel asked.

“I’m pretty good,” Catie said.  “I’m really good in microgravity.”

“You learn to fight in microgravity?”

“Yes, all of our key people train at the space station.  We have an obstacle course up there and a dojo as well,” Catie said.  “It came in handy when we had some bad guys try to take over the station.  We stopped its rotation so that the whole place was in microgravity, so we had the edge.”

“Did you get to fight anyone?”

“Yes, but he gave up too soon,” Catie said.  “But it was fun.”

“Cool,” Sophia said.  “And you get to fly spaceplanes.  All I get to do is ride horses.”

“I rode a pony once.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hello, Princess Catherine,” a teenage boy said as Catie approached a second group of teenagers.

“Hello, call me Catie, and welcome to Delphi City.”

“I’m Christian, these are Gabriel, Elisabeth, and Alexia,” Christian said.  ADI added the titles, Prince Christian of Denmark, 15 years old; Prince Gabriel of Belgium, 17 years old; Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, 19 years old; and Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, 15 years old.

“Hi,” Elisabeth said.  “This is an interesting city.  It actually floats?”

“Yes,” Catie said.  “We’ve moved it a couple of times.  And we just moved the airport so it’s closer to the city.  That way we don’t have to have an active airport on the city itself.”

“But won’t a big wave damage the city?” Elisabeth asked.

“The city is ten meters above the water, so most waves don’t cause a problem.  We have sensors that detect when a bigger wave is coming, and there are thrusters on the pontoons that then compensate for the wave action.  In deep water, there usually aren’t very big waves,” Catie explained.

“What about a tsunami?”

“Oh, they’re only a few feet high in deep water, the thrusters can handle that.  Tsunamis don’t get big until they get close to shore and ride up the offshore slope.”

“Interesting,” Elisabeth said.  “Do you get involved with the government?  I understand that your father actually runs the government.”

“I do some projects, but mostly for MacKenzie Discoveries,” Catie said.  “I do get to sit in on the Cabinet Meetings.”

“Elisabeth, we’re not here to talk about boring stuff,” Alexia said.  “Catie, tell us, are there any dreamy pilots in there?”  Alexia pointed toward the other ballroom.

“A few,” Catie said.  “I’ve got a dance card full of them.”

“Ohh, I’ve only got princes on mine,” Alexia said.  “Let’s trade some.”

“Yes, let’s do some trading,” Elisabeth said as she waved Ingrid over.  “Who do you have?”

“I’ve got Kasper, actually David, Kasper is his call sign,” Catie said.  “He’s really nice.”

“But is he good looking?” Alexia asked.

“I think so,” Catie said.

“Good, which dance is he?”

“I’ve got him for the fourth dance.”

“Then I’ll give you Emmanuel for him,” Alexia said.

“Do you have him for another dance?” Elisabeth asked.

“Yes, I’ve got him for the seventh dance,” Catie said.

“Then I’ll trade you Gabriel for him,” Elisabeth said.

“Face it, Gabriel, we’re just meat to them,” Christian said as he and Gabriel left the girls.

“Who else do you have?” Ingrid asked as she and Sophia walked up.

“I’ve got Jason, but he has a girlfriend,” Catie said.

“Then why is he on your dance card?”

“We’re friends.”

“Then we can be friends, give.”

“Tenth dance.”

“I’ve got Emmanuel.”

“Who else?”

“Chaz, how did he get on my card?”

“Who cares, is he dreamy?” Sophia asked.

“Yes, and his girlfriend’s name is Sophia.”

“Prefect, then he won’t be confused.”

◆ ◆ ◆

After the private reception, Samantha led everyone into the main ballroom.  Once they were all there, a huge cake was brought out.

“Is a prince going to jump out of it?” Catie asked in a whisper.

“We’re going for a fairy tale theme, not Chippendale’s,” Samantha whispered back.

After a rendition of Happy Birthday by the lead tenor from the Cambridge Choir of King's College, Catie cut the cake.  With the cake cutting ceremony completed, the dancing began.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Sophia, I’m heading out to deploy these Solar Explorer probes,” Catie said over breakfast the next morning.

“Thanks for letting me know,” Sophia said.  “I’ll note it in the Gazette.  And you’ll give me an interview when you get back, right?”

“Of course,” Catie said.  “I wonder if you would do me a huge favor.”

“Probably, what do you need?” Sophia asked.

“It would make me very happy if the Gazette quoted some unknown source saying that there were rumors that Marc and Sam were talking about getting married.”

“Are they?!”

“I don’t know,” Catie said, “but it would be really, really nice if that quote were to appear in the Gazette today.”

“Well, since you did say it, I could quote you,” Sophia said.  “But I’m not sure I should, journalistic integrity and all that.”

“Come on, they must have at least talked about it,” Catie said.  “I’ve teased Sam about it.  So please!”

“Okay, but you’ll owe me.  I’ll get the third degree from my father.”

“Thanks, and I don’t mind owing you.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Since SETI started listening for signs of life in the universe in nineteen-eighty-four, we think we’re safe in assuming that there are no planets with an advanced civilization within thirty-six light-years of us.  If there were, we’d have heard their radio transmission by now.  I’m setting the search parameters to within fifty light-years since we’re looking for a planet without sentient life on it,” Catie explained.

“How many planets are out there?” the twins asked.

“There are over one thousand stars within fifty light-years of Earth,” Catie said.  “We’re going to have the probes focus on the brighter dwarf planets; there are only one hundred thirty of those.  Then we’ll look at the bigger red dwarfs, and then we’ll expand the search out to one hundred light-years.”

“Wow, how long will it take?”

“We don’t know; when we find a planet that is in the habitable zone, we . . .”

“What’s the habitable zone?”

“We wouldn’t want the Paraxeans to freeze or get too hot, so the planet has to be the right distance from its sun so that it will have temperatures like Earth,” Catie explained.  “That’s easy to determine based on the temperature of its sun and the planet’s distance from it.”

“Cool.”

“We also would prefer a planet with at least one moon, since that means its rotation will be stable, and if it has a tilt like Earth, that would be nice too.”

“Why do we care if it’s tilted?”

“If it’s tilted, then it will have seasons.  That means the plants that the Paraxeans have in their vault will like it better.  But we need the right amount of tilt, around twenty-five degrees; some plants won’t grow unless you have a cold season followed by a warmer season.”

“Oh, this is complicated,” the twins said.  “Can’t we fix the tilt?”

“Planets are pretty big, and where would you hook on?” Catie said, but she did send ADI a message to research how to adjust a planet’s tilt.

“So, how long?” the twins asked again.

“It depends on a lot of things,” Catie said.  “We have to send the probe into the star’s gravity well when we find a good planet.  That way, we can get a better picture of what the planet is like.  And the planet might be on the other side of the solar system from where the probe emerges.  If it is, the probe will have to skip around the solar system to get close to the planet.”

“That won’t take long,” the twins said.  “You just jump and bang you’re there.”

“True, but we have to charge the capacitors before we can jump.  The jump takes way more energy than the fusion reactor can produce at one time, so we have to store up enough to make a jump.  That can take hours, especially after a big jump.”

“Ooh, sounds like math,” the twins said.  “But how long?”

“It might take months, or even years before we find a suitable planet,” Catie said.  “We won’t know until we start getting data on the systems that are out there.”

The twins made a face at Catie and turned to go to the forward cabin.  “Let’s go!”

Catie triggered the cargo door to close and made her way around the probes to follow the twins.  “Liz, are we ready?”

“I’m taxiing now,” Liz replied.  “You have to get up here and finish your preflight.”

“On my way,” Catie said.  “Buckle in,” she told the twins as she passed through the crew cabin.

“We are,” the twins replied.  “Hey, we want to name the probes.”

“You do?  Have you picked out names yet?”

“No, we were waiting to ask you what the rules were, like the ones you gave us for the Asteroid Explorers.”

“Pick a star in the sector they’ll be deployed in and name it after that,” Catie said.

“Okay.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Is this far enough out?” Liz asked as she put the Oryx into orbit around Earth.

“This is fine; we just need to be in orbit and outside the atmosphere,” Catie replied.  “Okay, girls, we’re here,” she announced over the ship’s PA.

Catie crawled out of her seat and expertly pushed off toward the crew cabin, floating gently as she reached the door and transitioned through the airlock.  By the time she made it into the cargo bay, the twins had removed the tie-downs from half of the probes and were working on number five.  Morgan was keeping watch from the front of the bay, floating at the ceiling so she had a good view of the twins as they worked around the two-meter probes.

“You two are sure in a hurry,” Catie said.  “Have you named them yet?”

“Of course!”

“And?”

“Betelgeuse, for sector zero, Ankaa for sector one, Pollux for sector two, Sirius for sector three, Arcturus for sector four, Antares for sector five, Deneb for sector six, and Nunki for sector seven,” the twins recited.

“I have verified their work,” ADI said.

“But three of them start with an A,” Catie complained.

“I told you she wouldn’t like it,” Aalia told her sister.

“We have backup names,” Prisha said.  “Rigel for sector one and Kornephoros for sector four.”

“That’s better.  Why did you pick Nunki?”

“It just sounds cool.”

By this time, the twins had finished removing all the tie-downs.  “Liz, the probes are free, please shift the Oryx one-half meter a-keel,” Catie said.

Liz used the thrusters to move the Oryx half a meter toward its bottom, where the keel on a sailing ship was.  Since the probes were no longer tied to the Oryx, they didn’t move; the result being that the probes now floated one-half meter from the floor of the cargo bay.

“Perfect,” Catie said.  “Now, please open the cargo door.”

“Wilco,” Liz replied.  “Do you need any help back there?”

“I think we have it,” Catie said.

The twins were already pushing on the first probe.  They quickly decided that top and bottom were the best positions; one of them hopped up and flipped over, landing on the ceiling of the cargo bay where she deftly engaged her boots’ magnetic couplings as she bent her knees to absorb her momentum.  Then they both took position exactly opposite each other so that their vertical thrust against the probes would counter each other.

“Do you want any help?” Catie asked.

“We’ve got it,” the twins said as the probe started to move.  They let it go following it to check its vector and ensure it didn’t collide with the sides of the Oryx as it continued floating out of the bay.

Once they were sure that the first one was on its way, the twins worked their way back and started on the second one.

“What happens if they bump into each other?” they asked.

“You mean other than conservation of momentum?” Catie asked.

“Yes,” the twins said in a pained voice.

“They can’t hurt each other unless they’re traveling way faster than you can get them up to.”

The twins then proceeded to push each probe out with enough speed that it would collide with one of the others.  They managed to get a four-probe cascade with the last probe.  They celebrated with a high five as the last ricochet occurred.  They were very pleased with themselves as they made their way back to the crew compartment.

“Ready to go home?” Catie asked.

“Yes,” the twins said wearily.  Moving all that mass had really tired them out.

Catie made her way back into the cockpit as the twins and Morgan strapped in.

“I can’t believe you let those two juvenile delinquents do that,” Liz said when Catie exited the airlock.

“Why not?  There wasn’t any harm in it, and they obviously spent some time planning it.”

“But you’re just encouraging them to come up with more crazy ideas.”

“Like you wouldn’t have wanted to do that if you’d thought of it,” Catie said.

“Sure, but I’m an adult,” Liz said.

“So?”

“It wouldn’t be an act of delinquency if I did it.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Sure, it looked like fun, and I was stuck up here.”

“Well, it wore them out, so we can go home now,” Catie said.

“It must have,” Liz said.  “I assumed they’d want to spend at least an hour playing in the microgravity.”

Chapter 24

Cabinet Meeting – Dec 7th

“How did your mission to deploy our Solar Explorers go?” Samantha asked when she met Catie in the Cabinet Chamber before the Cabinet Meeting.

“It went fine; but don’t you think that gets you off the hook,” Catie said.

“Don’t be that way,” Samantha said.  “You should see all the great press we got from the birthday party.”

“You should have seen the group of yahoos I had to walk around to get here,” Catie shot back.

“I wonder if any of them were the same yahoos I’ve had to dance around for the last few days,” Samantha said.

“Oh, you’re being hounded by the press, whatever for?” Catie asked, feigning intense interest.

“Apparently someone leaked to the press that your father and I were discussing marriage,” Samantha said.

“Oh, I saw that in the Gazette,” Catie said.  “I thought it was a joke.”

“It might have been, but the press is taking it seriously.  Or at least, they’re using it as a pretense to generate ink about us.”

“Well, you know that a royal wedding would be a fantastic way to garner all that wonderful press and goodwill you keep mentioning.”

“It might, but it’s not going to be happening anytime soon,” Samantha said.  “And I do think we’re even.”

“What?  You can’t think I had anything to do with that rumor.”

“I do.  I can’t prove it.  But I know, so you’d better be careful, or I might mention it to your father.”

“Even-Steven,” Catie whispered.

“Even-Steven,” Samantha whispered back.  “You know that was kind of mean.”

“I’m sorry, I was just so mad,” Catie said.

“We all have to do things we’re not happy with.  That comes with the position.  We’re in positions of influence, so with that comes a lot of responsibility.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Marc entered the room and smiled at his daughter, “Have fun?”

“It was fun.  The twins decided to play pool with the probes, so they definitely had fun,” Catie said.

“Pool?” Marc shook his head, deciding to ignore it.  “I believe everyone is here, so let’s get started.”

Marc waited a few minutes while all the side conversations finished up before starting the meeting.  “Samantha, what’s the word from the Guatemalan President?”

“He is delighted with the results from last month’s activities.  We’ve finalized the deal to use Victor’s ranch as a training site for his new special forces team as well as Kal’s Marines,” Samantha said.  “They will also have access to the adjacent jungle area and hillsides as long as they don’t do any permanent damage to the area.”

Marc looked over at Kal.

“It’s perfect,” Kal said.  “The team loves the location.  The locals are friendly.”

“Good,” Marc said.  “And the other cartels?”

“The president has made it clear that this is a new era.  The cartels have been put on notice that violence will be met with swift reprisals,” Samantha said.  “He’s indicated that as long as they don’t create problems in Guatemala, he’s not going to be particularly aggressive about their transshipment of drugs across the country, or of their poppy-growing activities.”

“You mean he’s going to let them continue to grow opium?” Catie asked.

“It’s impossible to stop,” Samantha said.  “There’s too much money to be made.  So, if he gets rid of the cartels, new ones will just form up.  Right now, he wants to control the violence and the internal drug dealing, to give his people a chance.”

“Catie, people who are addicted to opium or heroin can be cured now, so that means they have a choice.  It’s not ideal, but for the next few years, it’s the best they can do,” Marc said as he patted his daughter’s hand.

“I guess,” Catie said.

“Kal, how are things on the ground there?”

“The area around the hospital is back to normal.  We’re keeping active checkpoints into the neighborhood while the government looks the other way.  And as I said earlier, the team loves the new training facility.”

“What happened to Victor’s kid?” Catie asked.

“We brought him out of stasis two days ago,” Dr. Metra said.  “A representative from the Guatemalan government met with him to discuss his situation.  All he asked for was that his grandmother and his nanny be allowed to join him on Delphi Station.  He said he wanted nothing to do with his mother or his father.”

“But what will he do, he won’t have anything?” Catie asked.

“I’ve set up a fund to support him, his grandmother, and the nanny.  It will take care of them until he’s had a chance to finish school.  We’ll pay for him to go anywhere he wants; of course, Delphi City is our preference,” Marc said.  “He’s still got a few weeks of treatment to go through before he and his grandmother need to decide.  Until then, they’re with him on the station.”

“Okay.”

“I notice that most of the charity and aid work you do is through MacKenzie Discoveries, not the government here,” Herr Hausmann said.

“That is correct,” Marc said.  “Until parliament gets fully established, I don’t think I should be deciding how the Government of Delphi spends its foreign aid.”

“Very magnanimous for an absolute monarch,” Herr Hausmann said.

“We try,” Marc replied with a smile.  “And I’m not an absolute monarch.”

“Not quite, but pretty close,” Herr Hausmann said.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m benevolent.  Since you’re talking, would you mind reporting on the state of our treasury?”

“Of course.  Currently, there is a large surplus in the treasury, and the government is running an annual surplus.  It will start to balance out as you shift more of the responsibility for health care to the government, but we’ll still manage a surplus,” Herr Hausmann said.

“Of course, the government was already responsible for all the citizens in Delphi who don’t work for MacKenzie Discoveries, so the change won’t be too drastic.  Your population is now two hundred twenty-five thousand people and continues to grow.  Employment stands at ninety-eight percent; the two percent unemployed are mostly in transition between jobs, or have recently suffered a medical issue and are recovering.

“Your balance of trade is astronomically in your favor, varying between three hundred and four hundred billion dollars per year.  You really should start your own currency.  We’re spreading that around in bonds from the various western governments that we deem safe investments.  The sales of Vancouver Integrated’s new quantum computer chips are exceptionally strong and boosting your trade balance,” Herr Hausmann continued.

“That has really sent the president over the top,” Samantha said.  “He called it a direct assault on U.S. industry.”

“Not much we can do about that,” Marc said.  “The chips have to be made in space, and the U.S. is still denying direct imports from Delphi Station.”

“Hopefully, that will change when President-Elect Novak takes office.”

“We can only hope she’ll be more open-minded than their current president,” Marc said.  “Do we have anything to worry about, Admiral?”

“I don’t think so,” Admiral Michaels said.  “From what I hear, the transition team has taken over much of what goes on; the president seems to have withdrawn, and except for the occasional outburst, is not involved in much.”

“That surprises me.  I never viewed him as a quitter,” Marc said.

“I don’t think he’s quit; but there isn’t much he can do right now.  His cabinet is actively working with Novak’s people and is blocking any of his usual moves,” the admiral said.  “He’s only got six and a half weeks left in office, and the country is clearly behind Novak, so he doesn’t have many options.”

“I think that’s good,” Blake said.  “We’ve had enough excitement from him.”

“I agree,” Marc said.  “So, what’s the status of our aircraft carriers?”

“Catie was right; it’s easy to modify the cargo ships to accommodate our needs.  Since all our Foxes have VTO capability now, we only need to put in the maintenance facilities and expand the crew quarters,” Blake said.  “We should have our first carrier ready by March.”

“What about pilots and crew?” Marc asked.

“We’ve retained a large percentage of the pilots and crew from the UK and France.  They played it close to the vest until after the election, but right now, they’ve switched their stance and support their people staying with us.  That frees up enough of our pilots to allow us to deploy one carrier.  Of course, the pilots and flight crews can be moved to whichever carrier we want, so we’ll be able to quickly project force in any region as necessary.  I’m working with Admiral Michaels and Captain Clark on how to increase our recruitment.”

“Good, good,” Marc said.  “And the airport change?”

“We’ve repositioned the airport so it’s northeast of the city.  We’re constructing the bridge to reach it.  It will have its own terminal at the end supported by three pontoons.  Then there will be overlapping plates to allow access to the airport itself.  Studies show that it can withstand typhoon level winds without damage, although there will likely be a separation between the airport and terminal.  That can be quickly corrected, and we will have procedures in place that will stop traffic over the joining plates whenever there is a shift, or we have a prediction of bad weather,” Blake explained.  “It’s a rather elaborate design with lots of failsafes in it.”

“Excellent,” Marc said.  “So, when do we shut down the Delphi City airport?”

“We’re not going to completely shut it down,” Blake said.  “We’re going to restrict it to VTO only aircraft, and minimal traffic at that.  We’ll start expanding the university area into the old runway.”

“There’s going to be a clamor for the condos next to the airport now that the noise won’t be an issue,” Liz said.

“I’m sure there will be; how should we manage that?” Marc asked.

“I think you should charge anyone one month’s rent to change condos,” Liz said.  “We have enough new people coming in to fill the ones that are vacant.  Why shouldn’t they get the nice views?”

“I agree,” Marc said.  “Now Catie, what’s the status of our probes?”

“The Asteroid Explorers have only been deployed for about four weeks.  The reports coming back are showing lots of iron, methane, ice, and rock asteroids, but we’re not seeing any with significant deposits of the platinum group metals that we’re looking for.  But it has only been four weeks; it will take two years to survey the belt, so it’s early.  We just sent out the Solar Explorers twelve days ago; they haven’t even made it out of the solar system yet,” Catie said.

“I thought they had space drives,” Samantha said.

“They do, but we don’t want to burn up their reaction mass; we’re going to need it to go in and peek at planets we find interesting,” Catie explained.  “They should be ready for their first jump in another two weeks.”

“What about the new jetliner?” Marc asked.

“We’ve started to build the airframe,” Catie said.  “It should be completed in three weeks; then we’ll have to do stress tests on it for a couple of weeks, after which we’ll be able to put it in the wind tunnel to do the final check.  I would expect at least one redesign before we’re ready to put one in the air.”

“And our Oryxes?” Blake asked.  “How many can we convert to VTO?”

“Grr,” Catie groaned.  “I had one more made last week by stealing the last two grav drives from the Scout project.  We have enough material to make four more drive sets, and then we’re going to have to ration the rhenium.  And some of the other rare elements are right on the edge of needing to be rationed as well.”

“Do we have a projection on the supply?” Marc asked.

“I do,” Fred replied.  “Here you go,” he said as he flipped the report to each of their HUDs and put it up on the display.

“This is getting pretty critical,” Marc said.

“It is.  Prices have gone through the roof, and some countries are hoarding what they have.  They don’t know why we’re buying them, but they’ve decided to keep what they have until they know,” Fred added.

“If we have to, we can mine it from the asteroids we’ve found,” Catie said.  “It’s just not very efficient to mine a whole asteroid for a few kilos of metal.”

“What’s the distribution of the metals we’ve found?” Marc asked.

Catie's eyes went up to her HUD, and she hummed for a minute while she composed the report.  Then she sent it to everyone, columnated and cross-referenced.

“How did you do that?” Samantha demanded.

“Do what?” Catie asked, looking as innocent as she could.

“You just typed up a two-page summary in almost no time, and you did not move your fingers.  And there is no way you can type that fast with your eyes.  And don’t tell me ADI did it, because even if she did, the instructions you would have needed to give her would be more than a few blinks.”

“You’re right,” Liz said.  “And where is your Comm unit?  I haven’t seen you carry one for two weeks.”

“I made a smaller unit,” Catie said.  She removed the gold bracelet that was on her upper arm.  The part of it that had been turned toward her body was a 3 cm by 3 cm Comm.  “Since I always use my specs to interface to the Comm, there’s no reason to have such a big display.”

“That looks like a watch,” Liz said.

“You can use it like one,” Catie said.  “But it’s too big for me to wear that way, so I came up with an arm bracelet.  The display is just black and white, so it uses almost no power.  That way it lasts as long between charges as the regular Comm even though it only has one fourth the battery.”

“My Marines could really use these,” Kal said.  “They would be easier to conceal, or they could wear them as a watch.  It would be a lot handier in the field than a regular Comm.”

“I think that would also be true for the pilots and crew on the ships,” Blake said.  “It would be easier to carry around.”

“I want one,” Samantha said.

“I want a couple hundred,” Kal said.

“How big a hurry are you in?” Catie asked.  “I can print them right away, or you can wait four or five weeks, and we can have Vancouver Integrated make them.”

“I’ll take one hundred now, and wait on the rest,” Kal said.

“Make it a full run; I’ll take the extra,” Blake said.  “We’ll let the pilots order them as they go.  Also, we can have our people carry an extra one in a shielded case and powered down; that way, if an EMP takes theirs out, they can replace it right away.”

“Wait, I get mine first,” Samantha said.  “And don’t think you’ve distracted me; I want to know how you typed that up so fast.”

“I wagged my tail,” Catie said with a giggle.

“I’m going to close this meeting,” Marc said.  “It will take some time to digest this report.  You guys can torture the secret out of her on your own time.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Everyone left the meeting except Samantha, Liz, Blake, and Kal.  Of course, there was no way Catie was getting away.  Dr. Metra ducked out right away, waving at Catie as she left.

“Now spill,” Samantha demanded.

“I went to Dr. Metra to ask about adding some implants in my fingers to allow me to type without using a surface,” Catie explained.  “After talking about it, she came up with a better way.  She put implants around my coccyx and connected them to the nerve endings that used to control our tails before evolution got rid of them.”

“Where is Dr. Metra?” Liz asked.

“She ran for the hills as soon as Daddy closed the meeting.”

“So?  Go on,” Samantha encouraged Catie.

“It took me about six weeks to finally be able to use them well enough that I could skip using my fingers,” Catie said.  “I keep practicing and getting better every day.”

“How fast can you type?” Liz asked.

“Two hundred fifty words a minute,” Catie said.  “I’m still getting faster, but now I’m having to teach myself to type a word as a single thought.  I’m starting with all the common ones, like the, and, or, you, he, she, cer, then, there, etc.”

“What about capitalization?” Liz asked.

“I mostly let my Comm autocorrect that.  I have a shift key, but it slows me down.”

“Are the implants noticeable?” Kal asked.

“No.”

“What about EMP?” Blake asked.

“They’re hardened, and they’re so small that they’re not affected by it much anyway,” Catie said.  “If they get burned out, I would need to have the nerve repaired and a new set of implants.”

“What …”

“Hey, talk to Dr. Metra,” Catie said.  “She’s the one who understands it, I’m just the guinea pig.”

Chapter 25

Asteroid Mission Prep

“These are the best burgers ever,” Catie told her Uncle Blake as she bit into hers.  They were having lunch at Ruth’s diner in Delphi City.

“They are good.  But don’t tell your mother I brought you here.”

“She knows I come here.”

“But she doesn’t know I bring you here, better safe than sorry.”

“Cer Catie, Mowgli has reported that it has found an asteroid fitting your target parameters,” ADI said.

“Alright!” Catie cheered.

“What’s up?” Blake asked.

“We found an asteroid,” Catie said.

“Tell your father, he’ll want us to finalize plans to get out there,” Blake said.

“Hey, Daddy, we found an asteroid,” Catie messaged her father.

“Good, let’s meet at fifteen hundred to go over plans.  I’ll call your uncle.”

“No need, he’s sitting right here, we’ll see you in two hours.”

“Bye.”

“Are you planning to go out with the team?” Blake asked.

“Not sure.  It might be fun, but it really sounds like it will just be a bunch of coordination work.”

“You can’t get away with only picking the fun assignments.”

“You and Kal, what’s with you two?” Catie asked.  “I’ll do whatever needs to be done.”

“Good, just checking that you haven’t let that princess thing go to your head.”

Catie threw a French fry at her uncle.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie and Blake walked into the Cabinet Chamber to find her father, Jimmy Gaines, the lead miner, and Nolan Bishop, the construction lead, waiting on them.

“So, we finally found one,” Jimmy said.

“Yep, and it’s a rich one,” Catie said.  “There’s at least a month, maybe two, worth of mining on this one.”

“Good, send me the assay report,” Jimmy said.

“Where’s Paul?” Catie asked.

“Working,” Jimmy said.

“Show us the plans for the Sakira,” Marc said, looking at Blake.

Blake pointed to Catie as she flicked the plans up on the main display.

“Why does Catie have the plans?” Marc asked, a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“She does ships,” Blake said, giving Marc a shrug.

Marc shook his head and then turned his attention to the display.

“We don’t need much of a crew,” Catie said.  “I think we need to take twenty-four plus a doctor and two nurses if we can spare them.  That means we have cabin space for one hundred twenty people.”

“I want you to take the miners out right away.  We’re low on material, and there’s no reason to wait for them to start mining,” Marc said.

“Okay, Jimmy, how many miners do you want to take?” Catie asked.

“Can they take their families?” Jimmy asked.

“Let’s assume so,” Catie said.  “We can adjust the numbers later.”

“We’ve got plenty of miners,” Jimmy said.  “We’ve been recruiting for six months, and we’ve done real well.  Now, do we want to run three shifts?”

“Why don’t we start with two shifts until we get the station built,” Marc said, “and no weekends.  We don’t want to overtax the Sakira, and it will be complex enough managing things with the construction crew working at the same time.”

“What about my crew?” Nolan asked.  “Do you want a twenty-four-seven schedule?”

“Maybe only two shifts, but seven days,” Marc said.  “We want to get things established out there as soon as possible.  I don’t like tying up a starship as a base station for the miners.”

“Since time don’t mean nothin’ up there, why don’t I run five ten-hour days with one day off until we’re finished.  That means I only need two crews,” Nolan said.  “It’s only for about six months for us, so we can do it.  But they’ll want to bring their families up unless you want to rotate them from here every three weeks.”

“We’re going to have enough families with the miners; why don’t we rotate the construction crews and pay a bigger bonus for the separation,” Catie said.  “It’ll make things easier.  It’s only a ten-day flight on an Oryx.”

“Why don’t we start that way and figure out what works best once things settle down,” Nolan suggested.

“So how many people do you need?” Catie asked.

“I’ll stick with the twenty I already told you,” Nolan said.

“Okay, miners?”

“You’ll need four miners plus two to work the smelter on each shift.  So that’s twelve.  Then let’s add two more of each to cover downtime, injuries, and such,” Jimmy said.  “That means sixteen plus families.  Count on fifty people.”

“We need to add ten people for cooks and ship management, and ten for maintenance and flight crews,” Catie said.  “That brings us to ninety people.  As I said, we’ve got space for another one ten, so I think we’ll be fine.”

“What about recreation space?” Blake asked.

“The Sakira already has a rec space,” Catie said.

“But you’ve got families now, you’ll need to add a different space for that; and I’d suggest you add a bar and a lounge area,” Blake said.  “That will give people a place to gather when they’re off duty.  You’ll also need to bring some security people along.”

“Security people?”

“Miners plus construction crew plus alcohol plus opposite sex hanging around means you’re going to have some fights up there,” Blake said.  “You’ll want at least twenty security people to be able to have someone on duty any time of day.”

“So, one ten people.”

“Plus family.”

“Okay, one hundred twenty,” Catie said.  “We can add some rec space in Flight Bay One, and we can also add some more cabins.  Nolan’s team can add more if we find we need them.”

“Sounds good,” Marc said.  “When will the Sakira be ready to go?”

“Nolan, how long to add this?” Catie asked as she flicked him the sketch of the new spaces they’d just added.

“Two weeks,” Nolan said.  “There’s ten days before Christmas, then another week ‘til New Year’s.  We can be ready to go after the first of the year.”

“Good,” Marc said.  “Now, command staff?”

“Who do you want to send?” Blake asked.  “I’m willing to go.”

“No, you’re needed here,” Marc said.  “Catie, are you willing to go?”

“If I need to,” Catie said.  “You don’t have anyone else?”

“We’re working on this defense plan,” Marc said, “and it really needs to be a member of the MacKenzie board.”

“Oh,” Catie said.  “I guess that narrows the choices down.  Sure, I’ll go.  The jetliner is going well; it’s really the airframe engineer’s project until we’ve verified the airframe.  I can handle the logistics for ordering the components remotely.”

“Good, it’ll only be for the first three months.  Once everything is up and running, we should be able to send someone else out to run the space station.  Go ahead and figure out how you want to fill all your slots and review with Blake,” Marc said.  “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure,” Catie said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Dr. Metra,” Catie said as she pinged Dr. Metra on her Comm.

“Hello, Catie, what can I do for you?”

“We need medical staff for the asteroid mission,” Catie said.

“How many people?” Dr. Metra asked.

“We should plan for one hundred fifty, including children.”

“You’re going to have families out there?”

“Yes, it’s a long way from home,” Catie said.

“Then you’ll need at least two nurses.  Will you be running a night shift?”

“Eventually.”

“Then four nurses,” Dr. Metra said.  “And one doctor.  What’s the pay?”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.  Let’s say a twenty percent bonus for being that far away; we pay ten percent for the space station.”

“That sounds fair.  I’ll check around to see who’s interested and have them contact you.”

“Thank you,” Catie said.  “Would you skip asking my mom?”

Dr. Metra snorted a laugh, “Of course,” she said.

“Bye.”

Next, she called her uncle, “Uncle Blake.”

“What do you need?” Blake replied.

“For the security, should we use constables or some of Kal’s people?”

“You’re going to have Morgan with you, so I’d have her pick three more from Kal’s team.  Then use constables for the rest.”

“What about a first mate?”

“I’ll find you one,” Blake said.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.  Hey, are you okay with going?”

“Sure,” Catie said.  “It’ll be fun, or at least interesting.”

“Good attitude.  See you later.”

“Bye,” Catie said.  “Morgan.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Morgan replied.

“Call me Catie.”

“Sorry, Catie, just an automatic response,” Morgan said.  “What do you need?”

“Can you pick out three Marines from the security service to bring with us on the asteroid mission?  Families can come, and it includes a twenty percent deployment bonus.”

“Sure thing.  Hey, do I get the bonus too?”

“Of course, you do.”

“Alright!”

“And would you work with Constable Chief Nawal to come up with sixteen constables to come also?  I think we can have half of them be trainees.”

“On it, boss.”

Catie sent a memo to Dr. Metra asking her to recommend which Paraxeans she should choose for the crew.  Then she sat back and looked at her list.  She had to find four pilots to handle the shuttling activities as well as to provide security in case of some issues.  They would carry two Lynxes and five Foxes on the mission.

“Well, start with who you know,” Catie thought.  She sent messages to Jason, Kasper, Lieutenant Kay Owens, and Lieutenant Mariam Beaulieu, asking if they were interested in the assignment.  It would be a six-month rotating assignment, just like the medical staff.  She copied Blake on the messages.  Blake sent an immediate response nixing Kasper’s name from the list; he said he had him assigned to another task.

“Call Mrs. Kaanapu,” Catie instructed her Comm.  Mrs. Kaanapu was the principal for the Delphi City school system.

“Hello, Cer Catie,” Mrs. Kaanapu said.  “What can I do for you?”

“I need two teachers to go to the asteroid belt.  We’re taking a ship there, but eventually, we’ll have a small space station.  We’ll rotate staff every six months, and there is a twenty percent bonus for being off-world.”

“Oh, I might be interested in doing that,” Mrs. Kaanapu said.  “I’ll ask around and get back to you.”

“Who else do I need?” Catie thought.  She’d asked Chief Hopkins to fill out the crew requests.  She trusted his judgment and hoped that he might actually go as the ship’s Master Chief.  “Of course, if I miss adding someone, either Uncle Blake will take care of it, or I can have them sent out on one of the supply Oryxes.  But that would be embarrassing.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“What’s with this?” Catie yelped.

“What happened?” Blake asked.

“Yes, what’s the problem?” Samantha asked.  “You sounded like someone took your Christmas candy.”

“You shouldn’t be checking your messages at the dinner table,” Marc scolded.

“Look who’s talking,” Samantha said.

Catie sat there while everyone got their licks in.  Finally, she could get a word in.  “How did I get assigned a flight on Christmas?”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound fair,” Samantha said.

“Did you block Christmas out as one of your holidays?” Blake asked.

“No, why should I have to?” Catie asked.

“Our employees practice a lot of different religions,” Marc said.  “The only way to be fair to everyone is to have the employees designate the days they want as a holiday at the first of the year.  That way, the schedulers can balance the work schedule.”

“Oh, I guess I missed that memo,” Catie said.  “Now what do I do?”

“Someone will be happy to take it for a small consideration,” Blake said.

“You mean I have to pay someone to take it?”

“Sure, back when I was a lowly ensign, I used to make extra money doing other officers’ holiday duty,” Blake said.

“How do I find someone?” Catie asked.

“There must be a bulletin board that the pilots use for messages.  Post on it; in fact, someone might have posted an offer to do Christmas duty,” Blake said.

“Darn it,” Catie said.

“Oh, come on.  You guys act like you’re paupers, and each one of you is worth a few billion dollars,” Samantha said.

“ADI scolds me when I waste money,” Catie said.

“I won’t this time,” ADI said.  “I should have made sure you blocked out your holidays.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hi, Catie,” Sophia said as she slid in next to Catie at Ruth’s diner.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I hear you’re going to the asteroid belt.”

“Sure, I gave you a blurb about it for the Gazette, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but I also hear that families are going along.”

“Oh yeah, I guess I didn’t update you after we decided that.”

“No, you didn’t,” Sophia scolded.  “And I hear that Artie is going.”

“I haven’t heard that,” Catie said.

“Well, apparently, his parents are going as the teachers, and he’s going to go with them.”

“Cool,” Catie said.  “Then, I’ll have at least one friend on the ship.”

“That’s nice,” Sophia said.  “Now, I wonder why you haven’t invited a member of the press to come along and document this historic event.”

“Does that mean you want to come?”

“Yes.  I am a member of the press, after all.”

“You’re welcome to come.  Are your parents okay with it?”

“Hey, I’m almost seventeen, I should be able to go if I want to.”

“Then you’re officially invited.  We plan to leave on January second.  Let me know if you need any help convincing your parents.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Sophia said.  “Now, this is going to be so much fun.  Maybe I’ll win an award; I’ll be the first journalist to report outside of Earth’s orbit.”

“And I thought you just wanted to keep me company,” Catie teased.  “What about Chaz?”

“A journalist has to suffer for her art,” Sophia said.  “It’s only six months, he’ll survive.”

“Now I’m going to have lots of friends on the mission,” Catie said.  “Here comes our waiter, have you decided what you want?”

“I always get the same thing,” Sophia said.  “A half turkey sandwich and a salad.”

“I’ll have a cheeseburger with guacamole and fries,” Catie told the waiter.

“And to drink?”

“Just water for me,” Catie replied.

“I’ll have a Diet Coke.”

“Be right up.”

“So, have you managed to get any dreamy guys to be on the crew?” Sophia asked.

“Other than Jason, I’m not sure who’s going to be on the crew yet.  I’m still looking for a fourth pilot.  Kay Owens and Mariam Beaulieu are the other two.”

“You’re not going about this right,” Sophia said.  “You don’t need two female pilots.  You could have filled those slots with dreamy guys.”

“I’m the mission leader; I can’t let things like that sway my choice.  I need to have people I can trust.”

“Pooh, you’re no fun.”

“Sorry, you’ve got journalistic integrity, I’ve got command integrity.”

“How many people are going?”

“We’re going to have over one hundred twenty Earthlings and twenty-four Paraxeans.”

“Oh, so I’ll get to meet some Paraxeans,” Sophia said.  “I didn’t get to interview any of the scientists, and haven’t managed an interview with any of the prisoners you brought back.”

“But, you know …” Catie said then stopped.  She almost said that Sophia knew Dr. Metra, but the fact that Dr. Metra was a Paraxean was a well-kept secret.  As far as Earth knew, the Sakira was a shipwreck, and that there were no Paraxeans onboard her.  All of the crew had been brought to Earth under the guise of being captured on Ganymede.

“What?” Sophia asked.

“You know you can get my help to schedule an interview with one of the Paraxeans.  You should go to one of the clinics we’ve set up.  You could interview the doctors and nurses.”

“Where do you have them?” Sophia asked.  “I don’t want to go to Guatemala; it sounds too dangerous.”

“It shouldn’t be now,” Catie said.  “They’ve taken care of the cartel that was trying to take over the clinic.”

“Still, there must be one in someplace exotic.”

“We have a clinic in Morocco,” Catie said.  “There’s one in France, Canada, Germany, and we’re opening one in England.”

“Oh, Morocco sounds exotic.  Could you take me there?  We could go for Christmas.”

“I’m not sure I can go.  I’ve got all this mission prep to do.”

“Oh, pish, you know you can work remotely.  Don’t be a baby, let’s go.  Besides, you’re the only one with enough money to take me.”

“So, that’s the only reason you like me, my money!” Catie hissed, giving Sophia a hard time.

“It wouldn’t hurt, but you’d need to start spending some of it on me before it would affect my opinion.”

Catie and Sophia laughed.  “Okay, I’ll ask Daddy if we can go.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Daddy, Sophia and I want to go to Morocco for Christmas,” Catie said after she entered her father’s condo.

“Why Morocco?”

“Sophia wants to interview the doctors at the clinic, and me, well I’ve never been—unless you call being kidnapped and forced to stay on the boat a vacation there.”

“We’ll have to see if Kal has enough people available to provide security,” Marc said, ignoring her sarcasm.  “Do you want to stay in Casablanca?”

“That’s what we were thinking,” Catie said.

“Might be tough getting a hotel room that time of year.”

“But we know people in Morocco, won’t they be able to help?”

“Let’s check with Kal first.  Call Kal,” Marc instructed his Comm.

“Hey, Marc, what’s up?”

“Catie wants to go to Morocco for Christmas; do you have a team available for security?”

“Sure; we’re getting ready to change over the security at the clinic; we can send the team out early with Catie, then they can stay after.”

“Great, let me see if we can find accommodations for them before you make any changes.”

“No problem, just let me know.”

“Later.  Call Ayyour Dahmani,” Marc instructed.  “Sayid Dahmani, how are you doing?”

“I am well, and you, my friend?”

“I am well also.  I have a favor to ask.  My daughter wants to visit Casablanca next week.  I was hoping you could recommend a hotel where we could get a block of rooms,” Marc said.

“Nonsense, my friend.  I have a villa just outside of Casablanca.  She will stay there,” Sayid Dahmani said.

“We wouldn’t want to impose on you,” Marc said.

“It would be no imposition.  Nobody is there except the staff.  I am in Rabat for this month so she would have the villa all to herself.  I will of course meet her when she arrives and introduce her to the staff.”

“That would be most generous of you.  Is there anything she could bring you?”

“I have all that I need,” Sayid Dahmani said.  “Will you be accompanying her?”

“I’m not sure yet, I am not planning to.  Perhaps her uncle will want to go with her.”

“Very good.  I look forward to meeting her.”

While Marc finished up the call with Sayid Dahmani, Catie called Blake.

“Uncle Blake, I’m going to Casablanca for Christmas.  We’re staying at a villa; do you and Jackie want to come?”

“This is kind of sudden,” Blake said.

“I was having lunch with Sophia, and she thought it up,” Catie said.

“I’ll check with Jackie and get back with you.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Hi, Catie, to what do we owe the honor?” Samantha said as she came in.

“I was asking Daddy if Sophia and I could go to Morocco next week.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“Sophia.”

“Hi, Sam,” Marc said as he got up and walked over to kiss her hello.  “You wouldn’t want to go, would you?  Catie’s going to have a villa.”

“I do need to talk to the king about docking rights for our new carrier,” Samantha said.  “And Morocco is just a short hop from Paris.”

“So, we’re in,” Marc said.  “Is that okay with you?” Marc asked Catie.

“Sure, we just want to check out the city, do a camel ride in the desert, that kind of thing,” Catie said.  She quickly messaged Sophia about the additional guests on their adventure.

Chapter 26

Taking Command

“How was your Christmas break?” Blake asked Catie.  They were meeting over lunch to review the asteroid mission.

“It was fun,” Catie said.  “Too bad you and Jackie decided not to go.  Sayid Dahmani met us at the airport and took us to his villa.  Boy, is that place nice!  It has a private swimming pool that’s enclosed so that even his guards can’t see in.”

“That makes sense, given the culture,” Blake said.

“That night, he took us to Casablanca for dinner at one of the best restaurants.  The next day we loaned him the Lynx so he could fly back to Rabat.”

“The least you could do.”

“After Christmas, we took a camel ride into the desert for a camping trip.  Daddy and Sam went to Paris instead.”

“Was riding a camel fun?”

“I guess so, they stink and have a bad temper.  But the next day we got to drive the jeeps!  That was really cool!  I’ve never driven anything before.  We had so much fun driving that we stayed another night,” Catie said.

“Oh, I forgot you’ve never driven before,” Blake said.  “We should start teaching you how to drive; might come in handy one day.”

“Like Kal will ever let me drive.”

“Probably not.  So, how’s your mission prep going?”

“It’s going well,” Catie said.  “We’re still on track to launch on Saturday.  Is that why you wanted to have lunch?”

“Not really.  I want to give a few more details on your mission parameters,” Blake said.

“Sure.”

“The Sakira, although a MacKenzie vessel, is part of the Reserve Fleet.  So, you’ll have to be both her Captain, appointed by MacKenzie Discoveries, as well as her Commander appointed by the Defense Ministry, specifically me,” Blake said.

“Oh, I was wondering how that would work out,” Catie said.  “Am I going to stay on active duty?”

“No, we’re changing the way we do that.  As of yesterday, you are on reserve duty, so you’re available to command a commercial mission on behalf of MacKenzies.  But you will have a military contingent on the ship.  You’ll be their de facto commander since you’ll be the captain of the ship.”

“Yeah,” Catie said, clearly implying that this was old hat.

“As their leader, you need to project authority, maintain discipline, and set an example.”

“Okay.”

“So, while on the mission, you’ll need to wear a uniform when on duty.  You will also need to follow certain decorum when interacting with the crew.  You are their captain; their fate, and possibly their very lives, will be in your hands.”

“Ah, I guess I knew that,” Catie said, suddenly a lot more interested and more serious.

“And by uniform, I do not mean your ship suit,” Blake said.

“That’s the only uniform I have.”

“That means you need to get some made,” Blake said.  “Here’s the list of approved uniforms for the various occasions you’ll be expected to be in.”  Blake flicked Catie the list.  “Have a couple of each made; I’d recommend three or four of the day uniform.  Also, have a few of the military uniforms made as well.  They’re almost the same.”

“Oh, I see.”

“You know how to address your commanding officer from experience, but now you need to know what to expect and demand from your crew,” Blake explained.  “I know you’ll have friends in the crew, your crew will know you have friends in the crew, but you must be careful not to show any favoritism or even a hint of preference.  You can joke with your friends in private, but not in public.  In public, they’re your subordinates, your crew, and you need to treat them like that.”

“You mean I can’t tell a joke to lighten the mood, or tease someone?” Catie asked.

“You can tell a joke, but you have to be careful.  Teasing is a dangerous thing to do in public.  As the captain, it can be taken as veiled criticism or even a reprimand.  I generally prefer to avoid that.  When it’s a small team, four or five people, you can get away with it.  But when you have a crew of over fifty, it generally causes problems.  You’ve mostly been in command of small teams, which is why we’re having this conversation.  You have to up your game.”

“Ohhh, I see,” Catie said.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Blake said.  “But you have to think about it, keep it in the front of your mind at all times.  Here’s a short list of books you should read.”

“Why didn’t you give me these before now?”

“Hey, I know you read like six thousand words a minute, why mess with your Christmas break.  You’ve had enough to do getting the mission ready.  Read Leaders Eat Last first; that’ll set the tone for you.  We’ll talk about this again before you launch.”

“Thank you, sir,” Catie said.

“Hey, when we’re alone, it’s still Uncle Blake.”

“Your father is taking me to dinner for my birthday,” Blake added.

“That’s nice.  Is Jackie going with you?”

“She’s in Wellington with her girlfriend.”

“That’s too bad.”

“What are you giving me for my birthday?”

“A card, like usual,” Catie said.

“You could be my date.”

“Sure.”

“If you wear that red dress, that would count as my birthday present.”

“Ohh, you still want to see if it’ll shock Daddy.”

“It’ll shock him; I just want to see how he tries to hide it,” Blake said.

“Okay.  Where are we going?”

“To that new Moroccan restaurant.  Marc thought he’d treat me since I stayed here and held down the fort while you guys went off and played.”

“Then he should be taking you to a French restaurant, like he and Sam went to in Paris.”

“I like the idea of the Moroccan place better.  I’ll pick you up at seven.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Do I pass muster?” Catie asked, bouncing on bare feet in her red dress.  She did a quick pirouette to show the dress off.

“The dress is perfect, but there’s still too much little girl,” Blake said.  “Morgan, can you do something with her hair?”

“What are you looking for?” Morgan asked.

“Sex bomb; I really owe Marc one, and this is going to be great!”

“Oh, sounds fun, I’m going to switch with Cassie so I can come in with you; I’ll let her do the outside detail.”

“The hair?”

“Sure, I can fluff it up.  That’ll make her look great.  And I’ll touch up her makeup, too.  Ruby red lips work for you?”

“You’ve got the idea.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Okay, Catie, walk behind Morgan, so your father won’t see you.  I’ll signal when I want Morgan to step back.  Then you step up and give your father a nice sexy smile and say, ‘Hello, Mr. President.”

“You know he’s going to get even with you for this,” Catie said.

“Sure, but it’ll be worth it.  Besides, what can he do that’ll even come close to this?  Ready Morgan?”

“Ready.”

As they approached the table, Morgan’s presence made it obvious that Catie was with Blake.

“Blake, are you having such a hard time with women that you had to bring your niece as your date?  That’s not like you,” Marc said.  “Where is she?”

Blake waited until Marc took a sip of wine, then signaled Morgan.  She stepped to the side and Catie stepped up.

“Hello, Mr. President,” she said, trying her best to sound like Marilyn Monroe.

Marc snorted his wine out his nose and spilled half his glass.  Samantha pushed away from the table to avoid the spray from Marc as well as the sloshing wine.

“Are you okay, Daddy?”

“What the . . . where did you get that dress?”

“I bought it for my birthday,” Catie said, “but Sam messed that up with that ball of hers.”

“Good thing,” Samantha said.  “That is definitely not the look we’re going for.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Blake asked.  “She would make the cover of Vogue.”

“That would be a problem,” Samantha said.  “Who did your hair and makeup?”

“Morgan.”

“Morgan, if you ever do that again without alerting me, I’ll make your life a living hell,” Samantha said.

“I’ll be sure to alert you in the future,” Morgan said with a big grin.

“I think we need them to reset the table for us,” Blake said.  “Someone couldn’t handle his wine.”

“You are going to pay,” Marc promised.

“But the video I have of this is priceless.”

“Blake, you will not share that video with anyone!” Samantha said.

“Just the board members,” Blake said.

“NO!”

“At least Liz and Kal.”

“Only with the caveat that I’ll kill them if it gets any further,” Samantha conceded.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I cannot believe that dress,” Marc said after Blake and Catie left.  He and Samantha were having after-dinner drinks.

“Neither can I,” Samantha said.  “But you do realize that once she got the reaction out of you, she quit caring about how she looked.”

“She did?”

“Yes, she never fiddled with her hair.  She didn’t look around to see if anyone was looking at her, and she sat like a pilot, not a model.  So, you can relax; she’s still your little girl.”

“Sure, but for how long?”

“You do know that she’s still having Dr. Metra control her hormones?”

“I thought she was, but we haven’t discussed it,” Marc said.

“Well, currently they’re targeting a gradual increase until she’s twenty-five,” Samantha said.

“But, how will that change her maturing?  Not that I want to deal with it, but teenage angst is an important part of growing up.”

“There’s plenty of angst about how to fit in, dealing with the changes in your body, and just coming to terms with responsibility,” Samantha said.  “Not having to worry about sex on top of that gives them a chance to figure the rest of it out before they do something stupid.”

“That’s a relief; at least I think it is.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie went to get her new uniforms made the next morning.  The dress uniform was a dark blue jacket with a stand-up collar.  It allowed a bit of flare at the hips on the women’s jacket.  Their concession to style.  The pants were the same color and were tear-away.

“Thank god for that,” Catie thought.  You wouldn’t want to be having to sit down to pull off your pants so you could put on your exosuit.  Emergencies didn’t care about formal events.

The day uniform was a black and gray camo shirt and pants or skirt with the same fast-change considerations.  As the captain, she was entitled to wear a white beret or a ballcap with both uniforms.  Everything had been designed to take into account that she would be wearing a shipsuit under it.  There were skirts available for women, but to Catie, that didn’t make sense with a shipsuit on, although she guessed that some might view it as just leggings.  The shipboots could be ankle-high or calf-high for both men and women.  As she flipped the pages, she saw that both men and women were given the option of wearing a kilt.  She had to laugh at that; she wasn’t sure if she was willing to try it.  She decided she’d have to talk to Liz and Sophia about the styles and how they would go with the black, gray, or white shipsuits.  The dinner jacket was a simple tuxedo jacket with a faux shirt attached, leaving her with only one thing to take off during an emergency.

For now, she decided to stay with trousers for all three uniform types.  She’d experiment with skirts or kilts later.  She sent in her order, and while she was at it, she had shipsuits made for her in the white and black styles; she had only worn the slate gray ones so far.

◆ ◆ ◆

On Friday, Catie reported to Blake wearing the military dress uniform she would wear for the ship launch ceremony.

“Reporting as ordered,” Catie announced as she entered Blake’s office.

“Have a seat,” Blake ordered.  “You look nice in that uniform.  I like the beret.”

“Thank you.”

“So, what did you learn?”

“I read all the books you suggested,” Catie said.  “I guess they were good, most of it seemed kind of obvious.”

“That’s because you naturally do most of it.  Your father could have written any of those books.  He’s a natural leader.  But tell me the key points.”

“There really is only one,” Catie said.  “Your people come first.”

“Break it down a little for me.”

“You have to earn their loyalty and trust.  You do that by listening to them, even when you don’t like what they’re saying.  You have to figure out why they’re saying it because unless they’re worthless, there’s something in there that you need to take under consideration or take care of.  Praise in public, scold in private.  One scolding outweighs ten accolades,” Catie said.

“Oh, and you have to protect them from the likes of you,” she teased.

“That’s exactly right.  You’re their boss; you can’t let anyone threaten them or scold them.  Their actions are your responsibility,” Blake said.  “What else?”

“If you trust them, then they’ll start to trust you.  Don’t overmanage them; they’re going to spend a lot more time thinking about their job than you can, so you have to let them do it.  You need to keep on top of what they’re doing, but not to the point of micromanaging them.”

“And?” Blake prompted.

“People want to belong to a team, to be able to contribute to the team’s success.”

“I think you have it.  There isn’t all that much difference between being the ship’s captain and the ship’s commander; you just have a broader responsibility when you’re on active duty.  When you’re just the ship’s captain, your duty is to your crew, then MacKenzies.  Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir,” Catie stammered.

“A little scared?”

“Just a little.”

“That’s good; you wouldn’t be a good leader if the responsibility didn’t scare you,” Blake said.  “So, I’ll see you tomorrow on Delphi Station at o-nine-hundred for the change of command ceremony.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Dismissed.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie woke up at 0400, after tossing and turning the whole night.  She had flown to Delphi Station the night before, so nothing would get in the way of her making it to the change of command ceremony, a good thing since it couldn’t happen without her.

She took her run with Morgan and the ever-present shadows, had a light breakfast, and then finally, it was time to prepare.  She put on her dress uniform, a blue double-breasted jacket with two rows of gold buttons.  She selected the ankle-high boots and the white beret.  She really liked the way it laid over the right side of her head, slightly shadowing her right eye.  Next, her medals; she had tried to get out of having to wear the actual medals, preferring the ribbons instead, but Uncle Blake had overruled her.

First, her marksmanship ribbon; her distinguished service medal, won for the design of the smart missiles and Odin’s Fist; her combat medal, won for participation in the battle against the Paraxean rebels; and her Delphi Cross, won for flying one of Odin’s Fists on the mission that disabled the battle cruisier.

Catie stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror.  She thought she looked smart, a bit dashing, and hopefully ready to take command of the Sakira.  At that moment, she realized that she had been preparing for this moment since that first night in Hawaii when she’d discovered that her father had found a starship.  And she realized how much her father had been preparing her.  “Oh, please let me be ready!”

“Are you ready?” Morgan asked after she rapped on the door to get Catie’s attention.

“I certainly hope so,” Catie said as she opened the door.

“My, don’t you look like the dashing captain,” Morgan said.

“I’m not the captain yet,” Catie replied.

“Oh, but you will be, sir!” Morgan said, giving Catie a smart salute.

“Thanks, Morgan,” Catie said after returning the salute.

◆ ◆ ◆

Until she got underway, the Sakira wouldn’t have any gravity, so in deference to the civilians attending the ceremony, the change of command ceremony was held in the gravity section of the hub on Delphi Station.  Catie arrived precisely ten minutes before the beginning of the ceremony.  She stood to the side while the final preparations were made.

Finally, Blake entered the room to start the ceremony.  “It’s an honor to be able to send one of our starships out on a peaceful mission,” Blake said.  “The Sakira will be going to the asteroid belt to set up a mining operation.  This will provide Delphi Nation with the critical resources we need to continue to grow our Navy and to continue to lead Earth into the age of space travel.”

Catie barely heard the rest of his speech as she nervously waited.  Next, Captain Clark gave a short speech, focusing on the service Sakira made during the war and his honor to have been her captain.

“You’re up,” Morgan said as she elbowed Catie out of her reverie.

Catie approached the podium and removed the fancy scroll from under her arm.  She opened it and read, “Delphi Defense Forces Order Number 3987, to Lieutenant Catherine Alexandra McCormack, on January Second, twenty twenty-one.  Madam, you are hereby directed and required to proceed aboard the DSS Sakira to report to Captain Kevin Clark, Commanding Officer DSS Sakira, for duty as his relief.  Upon assuming command, you will proceed to the asteroid belt where you will oversee and institute mining operations and the construction of a space station, and provide local security in service of the Nation of Delphi.  Signed, Admiral Blake Augustus McCormack,” Catie finished with a flourish.  She then carefully rolled the scroll, turned to Captain Clark, and said, “Sir, you are relieved.”

“I stand relieved,” Captain Clark replied.  He then shook Catie’s hand, stepped back, and saluted her.  “Good luck, Captain.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Catie replied.

Blake stepped to the podium.  “I would like to clarify some things for the members of the press, and some of our less experienced people,” he said.  “Sakira is a private vessel, wholly owned by MacKenzie Discoveries.  However, based on recent events, Delphi Nation has established a policy that all civilian spacecraft are part of our reserve fleet, to be called up to active service should the need arise.  Because of that, we require that every captain of such vessels also be a member of our reserve fleet and be able to step into the role of ship commander.  This ceremony made Lieutenant McCormack the captain of the reserve ship Sakira.  Should the need arise, the Sakira and her captain will be called to active service.  However, as of now, the Sakira is returned to reserve status, and this mission will be conducted under the direction of MacKenzie Discoveries.

“I want to congratulate Captain McCormack on her new appointment in the reserve fleet.”

Catie returned to the podium to give her remarks.  “I am honored to have been selected for this mission.  To be able to carry on the efforts of MacKenzie Discoveries to open the solar system and the galaxy to human exploration and settlement is as exciting as it is humbling.  I look forward to working with my crew and our mission personnel aboard the Sakira to establish MacKenzie Discoveries’ first space station beyond the bounds of our planet.  Please join me in celebrating this occasion.”

Catie stepped back and indicated the reception area and then walked there with as confident a stride as she could muster.

“Congratulations, Captain McCormack.  We’ll see you in your cabin after the ceremony for more appropriate congratulation,” Marc said as he shook Catie’s hand.

All her friends came up to her to salute and call her Captain.  Sophia had Chaz take a picture of Catie with her holding a microphone and asking a question.  Catie couldn’t believe that she’d let Sophia talk her into bringing Chaz along as her cameraman.

“How does it feel to be the first woman to command a starship?” Sophia asked.

“It feels daunting and exhilarating at the same time,” Catie said.  “It is such an honor to have this opportunity, and I want to thank the board of MacKenzies for putting their trust in me to accomplish this mission.”

“Captain,” a young lieutenant said.

Catie instinctively looked for his name tag, but remembered there were no name tags on the dress uniform.  “You have me at a disadvantage, Lieutenant,” she said.

“Lieutenant Derek Payne, reporting for duty, I’m your first mate, and your XO if we’re activated,” Lieutenant Payne said as he saluted.  “We’ve actually met before.”

“We have?” Catie said.  She was surprised; she was usually very good with names and faces.

“We barely got a chance to talk,” Derek said.  “It was at the victory party.  I was a bit messed up then.  I had quite a few burns on my face and neck.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Catie said.  “How did that happen?”

“Got my Hyrax shot out from under me.  The laser pierced the shell, and the slag from it got me in the face.  The pilot capsule ejected, then one of those auto sealers shot off and closed the hole.”

“Glad to hear that.  When did you arrive?” Catie asked.

“I got in last night.  As I’m sure you know, I was serving on the Enterprise until I was picked for this mission.”

“Yes, I know,” Catie said.  Blake had specifically selected Lieutenant Payne, a twenty-eight-year-old graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and one of the men who had opted to resign his commission and stay with Delphi after the president ordered them all home.  She’d reviewed his file, both the U.S. file and the one from Delphi.  He was an exceptional officer, and that scared her a little.

“You were injured in the last battle as I recall,” Catie said.

“Yes, right after you and your team got your Hyraxes blown up on purpose and attacked the battleship,” Lieutenant Payne said.  “It must have taken a lot of courage to do that.  After having it happen to me, I can’t imagine ever willfully letting my jet get blown up on purpose.”

“Courage, I like that word,” Catie said.  “Usually my friends use other words to describe that mission.”

“Such as?”

“Insane, crazy as a loon, around the bend,” Catie recited.

Lieutenant Payne laughed.  “I’ll let you get back to the celebration.  I read all the files on the crew on my way here, so I’ll be ready to get to work as soon as we’re allowed to leave the party.”

“Thank you.  I look forward to working with you.”

“It’s an honor to be able to work for you,” Lieutenant Payne said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Mister Chang, get us underway,” Catie ordered.  She was seated in the captain’s chair on the bridge of the Sakira.  The passive restraints in the chair helped to pin her in place, so she didn’t have to worry about the microgravity.  Lieutenant Payne stood beside her, using the magnetic couplers in his boots to maintain his position.

“Aye, Captain,” Mister Chang said.  He used the Sakira’s thrusters to back her away from Delphi Station.  Catie was impressed with his skill; she could barely feel the maneuvers.

“Captain, we have cleared the safety zone.  Delphi control has given us permission to engage gravity drive,” Mister Blanchet announced from the communications station.

“Set course for point bravo in the asteroid belt,” Catie ordered.

“Course laid in.”

“Ease acceleration to one-G,” Catie ordered.  “Engage.”

“Easing acceleration to one-G, aye,” Mister Chang echoed.

“And we’re off,” Catie whispered.

“Congratulations, Captain,” Lieutenant Payne said.

“Congratulations, yourself,” Catie said.

“You know, I’ve always wondered why these ships are elliptical instead of spherical,” Lieutenant Payne said.

“You know, I never wondered about that until I was designing the Fist,” Catie said.  “It just seemed a natural shape.  But there is a good reason.  The designers chose an elliptical shape because it’s the strongest shape after a spherical shape.”

“But if the spherical shape is strongest, why not choose it?”

“Because they wanted to maximize the surface area for the ship’s size.  When we’re close to the sun, we can absorb a lot of energy and conserve fuel.  That’s why Delphi Station’s rings have an elliptical cross-section.  And when you’re in battle, the ship presents its nose to the enemy, giving the maximum area to take the plasma or laser shot.  That allows the polysteel and superconductors to absorb the energy.”

“Ah, that makes sense; then why did you make the Fist spherical?”

“I needed the maximum internal volume with the smallest profile,” Catie said.  “We were going to be right in the plasma beam from the battleship, so I wanted most of that beam to go around the Fist, so we only had to absorb a small portion of its energy.”

“Thanks for the lesson,” Lieutenant Payne said.  “Do you want me to take the first watch?”

“No, I’ll keep it,” Catie said.  “We’ll spend some time checking on our passengers during the second watch.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lieutenant Payne said.  He then exited the bridge and went to his office, leaving Catie to enjoy the first hours of her new command.

◆ ◆ ◆

That evening, Catie and her first mate walked the ship.  First, they went to the crew mess, where they had a cup of coffee while they wandered from table to table, greeting various members of the crew.  Then, Lieutenant Payne took Catie through engineering, maintenance, and environmental so she could see where the crew worked and ask questions.  The whole purpose of the tour was to re-enforce the chain of command.  The first mate was the direct link between the captain and her crew.  It was his job to handle any issues, but Catie wanted her crew to know she cared and was accessible if necessary.  Lieutenant Payne had spent the first watch and the first two hours of the second watch with each member of the crew.  Catie would have liked to have done that, but she had to respect the first mate’s position and not get between him and the crew.  She only knew two of the pilots, Kay Owens and Mariam Beaulieu, so she would have to rely on him to advise her on how best to staff any missions they conducted.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie was looking forward to the second part of the tour.  Here she would finally get to say hello to the friends who were accompanying her on the mission.  The miners and the construction crew would be critical to their success, and she wanted to make sure their needs were being met.

Their first stop was the mess for the civilians.  It was in what had been Flight Bay One.

“Hello, Jimmy,” Catie said, greeting the leader of the miners.

“Hello, Captain,” Jimmy said.  “Congratulations on your command.”

“Thank you; how are your people settling in?”

“They’re doing well; nice job on the acceleration.  It was so smooth, nobody got sick or even bumped their heads.”

“Yes, our pilot, Mister Chang, did an excellent job,” Catie said.  “Have you met my first mate, Lieutenant Payne?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure,” Jimmy said.  “I’ve been so busy getting people boarded and the supplies loaded.  I mostly dealt with Chief O’Donnell.”

“He’s a good man,” Lieutenant Payne said.  “He was the Master Chief on the Enterprise.  I was happy to see that he was handling logistics for this mission.”

“Well, he’s taken good care of us,” Jimmy said.

“Hello, Jimmy,” an older woman said as she walked by.

Catie did a double-take, “Was that Mrs. Mueller?”

“Yes,” Jimmy said.  “Hey, Margie, come and meet our captain!”

The woman turned and walked back to them.  “Hello, Captain.”  Mrs. Mueller did a double-take herself.  “Is that you, Catie?”

“Of course, it is, Mrs. Mueller,” Catie said.  “Do you know another Catie McCormack?”

“No, but I thought there must be another one when they said she was our captain.  I remember that young girl who helped us with our condos on Delphi City.  You can’t be more than sixteen years old.”

“I’m fifteen,” Catie said, “but don’t tell anyone.”

“How can a fifteen-year-old girl be captain of a starship?” Mrs. Mueller asked.

“Margie, it’s been all over the news.  How she got the asteroids we were mining, and how she won the war with her designs, and by flying that crazy ship,” Jimmy said.

“Jimmy, you know I don’t watch the news,” Mrs. Mueller said.

“Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Mueller.  I’ve got good backup.  You know, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Catie said.

“Oh, because I’m lost all that weight,” Mrs. Mueller said.  “That Dr. Metra of yours really helped me out.  Got rid of my diabetes and then helped me to lose weight.  Said I could weigh anything I wanted.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize she could do that,” Catie said as she looked at Mrs. Mueller, judging her to be what men called pleasingly plump.

“Are you surprised I’m not skinny?” Mrs. Mueller asked.  “I would never want to be skinny like you.  I think a woman should have a little padding.”

“You look just perfect,” Catie said.  “I think everyone should weigh whatever they want.”

“You just wait.  When you get a little older, you’ll realize that having a few pounds of padding makes life a lot easier,” Mrs. Mueller said.  “Now, you come visit, and I’ll make you some chili and cornbread; you see, I’m the official cook for all these miners.  You wouldn’t be getting them all the way out here if they couldn’t get some home cooking.”

“I’ll make a point of coming by for lunch sometime,” Catie said.  “And please let me know if I can do anything to help everyone settle in.”

“Oh, Chief O’Donnell has told us to come to him if we need anything,” Mrs. Mueller said.  “But we’ll come talk to you if he can’t take care of us.”

“Here comes our local journalist,” Lieutenant Payne said.

“Oh, Sophia isn’t so bad,” Catie said.

“Hi, Catie!  Oh, sorry, Captain,” Sophia gushed.

“Hello, Sophia, how are you settling in?” Catie asked.

“I’m doing great.  Thanks for letting me bring Chaz as my cameraman.”

“Hey, as long as you and your mom are okay with it, I’m okay,” Catie said.

“Don’t talk about my mom,” Sophia snorted.  “I had to agree to monitoring by ADI, can you believe that?”

“Knowing your mom, yes I can.  I’m surprised my mom didn’t come up with something like that,” Catie said.

“Um, Cer Catie,” ADI said into Catie’s Comm.  “Your father did.”

Catie laughed out loud.  Lieutenant Payne and Sophia looked at her.  “It’s not that funny,” Sophia said.

“I’m not laughing at you; ADI just told me that she’s monitoring me for Daddy.”

Sophia laughed.  “Do you think your dad’s worried about Artie?”

“Who knows, I’ll have to review the parameters of the surveillance with ADI.  Anyway, have you had a chance to meet my XO, Lieutenant Payne?”

“Not yet, although I have been trying to schedule an interview,” Sophia said.

“I’m pleased to meet you,” Lieutenant Payne said.  “I’ll get with my aide and make sure the interview is scheduled.  Let me know if you need anything.”

“Don’t worry, she will,” Catie said.  “I’m planning to have you and Artie to dinner tomorrow night.  Tonight, I’m having dinner with my officers.”

“Thank you.  Is Chaz invited?”

“Of course,” Catie said.  She moved off toward the back of the room.  “Mr. Bishop, how are you doing?”

“It’s Nolan,” Nolan said.  “I’m doing just fine.  Can’t wait to get there so we can start building that station.”

“It’s just thirteen days until we get there,” Catie said.

“I thought it was only eleven days,” Nolan said.

“We’re taking an extra two days so that we don’t have to flip the ship,” Catie said.  “We’ll just spiral into our final orbit.  That way, the kids don’t have to go through a zero-G transition.”

“I guess that’s worth a few days.  That vomit smell takes forever to go away.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Have a seat,” Catie told Lieutenant Payne as she took a seat at her desk.  They had just entered her day cabin.  “We have a few positions to fill.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What is your recommendation for wing commander?” Catie asked.  “I know we only have the four pilots, but I feel they need a leader, and since they are active military, it should be someone on active duty.”

“I agree,” Lieutenant Payne said.  “I’m familiar with all four of them.  Ensign Harbaugh is too junior, and Lieutenant Girard is too green.  That leaves Lieutenants Owens and Beaulieu.  Either of them could do the job, but I feel Lieutenant Owens has more of a command presence and would serve you better.”

“I agree,” Catie said.  “Why don’t you let her know before dinner tonight.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now for our head of security.  I was wondering if Morgan could fit that position,” Catie said.

“She is certainly qualified,” Lieutenant Payne said, “but she has a close relationship with a member of the team.  She recommended this person for the position, and knew that it would disqualify her from being head of security.”

“Alright, I’ll let you handle that,” Catie said.  “Now, how do you feel about the Paraxeans on the ship?”

“I worked with most of them on the Enterprise.  They’re all good sailors.  I’ll need to keep an eye on the crew to makes sure they meld, but they did fine during the war.”

“Good.”

“You guys didn’t really capture them on Ganymede, did you?”

“Why would you ask a question like that?” Catie asked, keeping her face completely neutral.  She had been surprised by the question, but had kept the surprise out of her face, or at least she hoped she had.

“Well, they’re far too comfortable with the Earth crew, and I don’t remember the hull for this ship being built.  It might have happened while I was out on the Enterprise, but the timeline doesn’t match up.  Also, this ship has stasis chambers; our two carriers don’t.  Add that to the fact that there are minor signs of wear on this ship that would indicate that it is significantly older than six months.”

“Those are some interesting observations,” Catie said.  “I would appreciate it if you could take care of those signs of wear.  We wouldn’t want them having an impact on the ship’s readiness.”

“Yes, ma’am.  I guess that means you’re not going to answer the questions.”

“I’ll bring your points up with Admiral McCormack,” Catie said.

“Thank you, Ma’am.  Is that all?”

“Yes, I’d like a schedule for ship drills as well as a training schedule for everyone.  The end of the week will be fine.”

“Aye, Captain,” Lieutenant Payne said as he stood up.  He did a brisk about-face and exited the cabin.

“Ugh, I feel like such a fraud,” Catie sighed to herself.

“You are doing an excellent job,” ADI said.  “I’ve served with three new captains, and they all felt like frauds for the first month.  And they all turned into fine captains.”

“Thank you, ADI.  Can you get Uncle Blake for me?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Hello, Catie,” Blake said.

“Admiral, my first mate seems to be an excellent officer,” Catie said.

“I thought you’d like him.”

“I do.  He’s also very observant.  He’s noticed the stasis chambers, the discontinuity in the timeline for the Sakira to be commissioned, and some unusual wear about the ship that indicated significantly more age than six months.”

“He has, has he?  Well then, he will definitely make a good first mate and XO.  What did you tell him?”

“I asked him to take care of the signs of wear, as they might affect the ship’s readiness.”

“Good for you.”

“Should I tell him about the Sakira?”

“Sure, but I’d wait on it.  It’ll be good for him to stew a bit, and you can use it as a reward, as a sign that he’s passed muster with you.”

“Thanks, Uncle Blake.”

“No problem.  How’s your first day going?”

“Busy.”

“Busy is good.  Don’t let your nerves get to you.  It’s tough on any new captain.”

“That’s nice to know.”

“Bye, Squirt.”

“Bye, Uncle Blake.”

Chapter 27

Cabinet Meeting – Jan 4th

“Catie, is everything working for you?” Marc asked as everyone assembled for the Cabinet Meeting.  Catie was attending via video conference since she was on the Sakira.

“It’s good on my end,” Catie said.

“Then, I call this meeting to order,” Marc said.  “Sam, you said you had some things to discuss.”

“Yes, Margaret has brought to my attention that Russia has made three complaints to the U.N. about the handling of Russian nationals being held prisoner by Ukraine.  The Ukrainian Ambassador assures her that the claims are false.  I’m concerned that this is a lead-up to something bigger.”

“We have a clinic in Kyiv,” Dr. Metra said.  “Should we consider moving it?”

“I don’t want to start there,” Marc said.  “We put it there to stimulate their economy and to give us leverage with both them and Russia.”

“It’s been clear for years that Russia plans to either annex Ukraine or turn it back into a vassal state, as it used to be under the old USSR,” Admiral Michaels said.

“What is the U.S.’s response?” Marc asked.

“They’re just a few weeks from the inauguration.  Their ambassador is defending Ukraine, but not providing any teeth to back it up.  Russia feels that the president signaled acceptance of their attempts to exert more control over Ukraine last year.  And the fact that nothing has really happened since they annexed Crimea, they’ve started to believe that nobody is willing to stand against them.  Now with the new president having campaigned on less U.S. foreign involvement, they’re getting bolder,” Samantha said.

“Let’s keep a watch on the situation.  Admiral, can you and Samantha work on what options we might have?”

“Yes, sir,” Admiral Michaels said.

“Okay, back to our normal meeting.  Fred, how are the new Oryxes coming along?”

“They’re just waiting for the grav drives,” Fred said.  “Those should be finished and installed by the end of the week.  That will give us a total of four until we have enough material to make more drives.”

“Good,” Marc said.  “Kal, how is our new training facility coming?”

“Great,” Kal said.  “I’ve recruited an old sergeant major of mine.  He’s finishing up his medical treatments this week and will take over running the training.”

“Good move,” Blake said.  “Are you going to run him through your short course on survival?”

“I am, although he might kill me when I tell him he has to take it,” Kal said.  “But he’ll need to be familiar with all of our weapons and equipment.  And having those things change the way you plan a mission, so hopefully, he’ll give me a pass.”

“I’m sure he will,” Marc said.  “Now, how are our carriers coming along?”

“Still on track to have them finished by March.  The first one should be ready on the third,” Blake said.

“And our airport?”

“The causeway is complete, and all traffic has been diverted to it.  Only high priority VTO landings are being made at the city airport as of last week,” Blake reported.

“Sam, what’s the status of our CFO?”

“I have three candidates for you to interview,” Samantha said.  “They’re on your schedule.”

“I have to interview them?” Marc asked.

“It wouldn’t give the proper weight to their position if you didn’t,” Samantha said.  “I’ve only scheduled thirty minutes for each interview.”

“Thank you.  Can you tell us the status of Enrique Sorcaño?”

“He’s completed the treatment,” Samantha said.  “He’s asked us to move him here to Delphi City with his grandmother and nanny.  He has clearly indicated he wants nothing to do with his parents.”

“Good for him,” Blake said.

“Catie, what’s the status of our probes?” Marc asked.

“I assume you’re asking about the Solar Explorers,” Catie said.  “They’ve all completed their first jumps and are moving into their target systems to get a better look at the planets found in them.  None of them has picked up any unexpected signals which would indicate an advanced civilization.  That is true for both the system each is exploring and the general area of space around it.”

“Interesting.  How long before they’re far enough in to get good readings on the planets?” Marc asked.

“One week,” Catie said.  “Then it will be another week to get back out and jump to the next system.”

“Okay.  I guess patience is required here,” Marc said.

Catie stifled a laugh.

“How about our jetliner?” Marc asked.

“It completed its first set of ground tests,” Catie said.  “As expected, there needs to be a few modifications.  That will take two weeks; then they’ll retest.  If things go well, they’ll put it in the wind tunnel.  . . . You know you could probably get better updates from Fred, or you could bring Cer Friedman in.”

“You’re willing to give up control?” Blake asked.

“Everything’s been planned out,” Catie said.  “Someone local could do a better job.”

“Fred, what do you think?” Marc asked.

“I’m already checking in on them,” Fred said.  “It won’t be too much trouble to go ahead and handle coordination and reporting.”

“Then it’s yours,” Marc said.

“Now, how are things going on your mission, Captain?” Marc asked.

“Everyone is settling in.  We’re still over ten days out, so we’re just doing some training and review for now,” Catie said.

“Okay, keep us posted,” Marc said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Sir, the Russian’s have made their third complaint to the U.N. about the treatment of prisoners in Ukraine,” said Janet Palmero, the U.S. Secretary of State.

“What do I care,” the president replied.  “Let Novak deal with it.”

“But if we don’t deal with it, they may escalate before your term ends.”

“They wouldn’t dare.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“EMERGENCY!  EMERGENCY!  HULL BREACH!  PULL UP YOUR EMERGENCY HEADGEAR!  EMERGENCY!” the ship’s address system blared, dragging Catie out of a sound sleep.  She immediately pulled the hood of her shipsuit up and allowed it to seal into a pressurized bubble.  That accomplished, she moved to her locker and extracted her helmet, squeezing it on over the bubble and allowing it to seal to her shipsuit.  Then she pulled out the vest of her exosuit and put it on.  It contained the oxygen canister and the CO_2 scrubbers that would allow her to breathe until the emergency ended.

She slipped on her pants and shipboots and then made her way to the bridge, where she found Lieutenant Payne sitting in the captain’s chair.  It was 0300, three hours before she was to take the bridge for the first watch.

“Situation?” she demanded.

“Just a drill, Ma’am.”

“Of course it is.  What is the response time?”

“Engineering reported ready within ten seconds.  All other stations reported ready within thirty seconds.  We’re now collecting the statistics on the off-duty crew and our civilians.”

This was the seventh drill in as many days; fortunately, it was only the second night drill.  Catie was appalled at the thought of how many days she’d led space missions without conducting any drills.

Three minutes later, the klaxon stopped, and the PA announced, “THIS HAS BEEN A DRILL!  PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR CABINS AND DUTY STATIONS.  THIS HAS BEEN A DRILL!”

“Did we lose anybody?” Catie asked.

“Nope, one hundred percent got the emergency bubble of their shipsuit up in time, and they all managed to get their helmet on without assistance,” Lieutenant Payne said.  “Sorry to disturb your sleep.”

“It’s okay, I’m on duty in three hours.  I’ll get a workout in and relieve you early.”

“That’s not necessary,” Lieutenant Payne said.

“I know, but I’m not going to get back to sleep now.  Besides, maybe you’ll get into a nice sound sleep before the next drill,” Catie said.  She waved off his protest as she left the bridge.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Ma’am, Mr. Gaines is here to see you,” Petty Officer Dubois announced to Catie.

“Show him in,” Catie said as she closed the file she was working on.

“Hello, Captain,” Jimmy said.  “I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Not a problem,” Catie said.

“We miners are feeling kind of antsy with all this waiting, and that got me to thinking.  If we set up one of them Lynxes with some equipment, we could jet out ahead and start mining that asteroid while you guys are still coming up.  We could probably get there four or five days before you,” Jimmy said.  “I don’t know how big a hurry you’re in to get those platinum metals, but just saying.”

“That is an excellent idea,” Catie said.  “ADI?”

“The Lynx would arrive 4.2 days before the Sakira,” ADI responded.

“You have guys willing to live on the Lynx for six days?” Catie asked.

“We sure are.  Them boys are chompin’ at the bit to get off this here ship and do some work.”

“I’ll talk with Lieutenant Payne, and he’ll set things up for you.”

“Should I have gone to him first?” Jimmy asked.

“No, this was completely appropriate to bring to my attention.  I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t think of it myself,” Catie said.

“Well, you’re pretty busy being the captain and all that.  I’ve been sitting around being bored all day.”

“Thank you, Jimmy.  I’m sure everyone is going to be excited to be able to replenish the stock a few days early.  In fact, we’ll send two Lynxes; one can go and find a methane asteroid and an iron one.  That way, we can start construction as soon as we arrive.  Thanks again.”

“Not a problem,” Jimmy said as he got up to leave.

“Petty Officer Dubois, please let the first mate know I’d like to see him when he’s free,” Catie said.  “Also, ask Delphi Station to send our first resupply Oryx out four days early.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Catie was just getting used to having an administrative assistant.  At first, she thought she could send the messages and such just as fast as she could ask her admin to do it.  It took a while for her to realize that by asking her admin, she eliminated all the checking and clarification that some things required.  And the more she asked her admin to cover, the more she knew how Catie would handle different situations.

◆ ◆ ◆

Catie was sitting in her chair on the bridge as the Sakira finally settled in to orbit around the asteroid.  They had already circled it three times as they spiraled into the final orbit that would give one-G of gravity for the occupants of the Sakira.  It had taken one day to complete the spirals, but now they were ready to set up an automated orbit.

“Mister Chang, how’s our orbit shaping up?” Catie asked.

“I’m making the final adjustment now,” Mister Chang replied.

“Debris?”

“Mostly dust,” Second Mate Sutherland said from the sensor station.  “We had to use a plasma cannon on a couple of rocks; otherwise, the only things out here are the four asteroids.”

“Four?”

“Yes, it looks like they brought in an ice one as well as the iron and methane ones.”

“That was nice of them,” Catie said.  “It will be easier than separating the water from the methane asteroid.”

“It looks like Jimmy and his boys have been busy,” Lieutenant Payne said, indicating the stockpile of material that was floating next to the asteroid.

“You know there are a couple of female miners on this mission,” Third Mate Dèng said.

“I know that too, but they aren’t on that Lynx,” Lieutenant Payne said.

“I don’t blame them,” Catie said.  “Men are such pigs.”  Catie gave Third Mate Dèng a smile as the third mate tried to suppress her giggle.

“I’ve never heard that,” Lieutenant Payne deadpanned.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Alright, people, let’s get this equipment out of here,” Nolan Bishop yelled.  He was in the crowded cargo bay of the Sakira.  It had to be emptied out through Flight Bay One, so the pilots had flown all the spaceplanes out of the bay and had them parked next to the asteroid.

Catie walked up beside Nolan, “How’s it going?” she asked.

“You know this would be a lot easier if we didn’t have any gravity,” Nolan said.

“I know, but then you’d have to clean up all the vomit from the kids and greenies,” Catie said.  “Besides, you have powered pallet jacks.”

“I know, Captain.  Just saying it would be easier.  But we’ll have that smelter up and running by tomorrow.”

“Good.  Jimmy has a lot of material stockpiled for you.  And you’re going to need to get the material for the plasma guns if you want to print a few more of them.”

“We definitely want to do that,” Nolan said.  “If we get eight more printed, we’ll be able to start the ring while we’re still extruding the hub.  Then when the hub is done, we can whip out those spokes quick like.”

“I knew you were the right man for this job.”

“Thanks, Captain.  You just remember that case of scotch you promised me if I got it built in six weeks.”

“You get it built in six weeks, and I’ll have your scotch in your cabin before the end of the day,” Catie said.  “Plus, bonuses for the crew.”

“We aim on collecting those bonuses!” Nolan said.  . . . “Now move it to the left and don’t hit the separator coil!” he yelled.

Nolan had his crew stage all the equipment and material he was going to need in the flight bay while it was still pressurized.  It was just easier to work in pressure than in exosuits.  Once everything was staged, he had the bay depressurized, and the doors opened.

“Now, remember, once you’re out of the ship, you’ll keep going straight while the ship curves around that asteroid.  Then you wait five minutes, so the ship is well clear of you before you engage your thrusters,” Nolan instructed everyone.  “And don’t go telling me you’ve worked in microgravity before.  I know you have; I selected every one of you.  But being told twice is a lot less trouble than making a mistake.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Let’s stop in here,” Catie told Morgan.

“Are you sure, Captain?  That’s the bar all the miners and construction crews like to use.  There’s a much nicer bar up one deck,” Morgan said.

“I know, but I’ve never been to this one.  I should be familiar with all the facilities on my ship.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Catie and Morgan made their way into the bar; the noise level dropped precipitously as soon as the various patrons recognized Catie.  Once she was settled at a corner table and mostly out of sight, the noise level climbed back to its previous raucous level.

“What will you have, Captain?” the waiter asked.  It had taken her two minutes to finally make it to Catie’s table.

“What kind of beer do you have?” Catie asked.

“We’ve got a nice stout we brought with us,” the waiter said.  “We’re brewing some, but it won’t be ready to drink for another two weeks.”

“I’ll have the stout,” Catie said.

“Captain, are you allowed to drink beer?” Morgan asked.

“ADI, am I allowed to drink beer?” Catie inquired.

“Yes, Captain, you’re allowed one beer or one glass of wine per day,” ADI replied over both Catie’s and Morgan’s Comms.

“Okay, I’ll have one also,” Morgan said.

“Are you allowed?” Catie asked.

“My backup just showed up,” Morgan said.  “So, I’m officially off duty.”

Catie waved to her new bodyguard for the day.  “When did you call her?”

“As soon as you said we were coming into this bar,” Morgan said.

“Here you go,” the waiter said.  She had made it back with their beers in less than a minute.

“That was fast,” Morgan said.

“Well, I heard that the captain was a big tipper,” the waiter said with a smile.

“She is?  Well, I’ve never noticed,” Morgan said.

“Oh, sure you have,” Catie said.  “I’m always giving you tips when we work out.”

Morgan spewed her beer as she tried to stifle a laugh.  “I guess I do get plenty of tips.”

◆ ◆ ◆

About thirty minutes after they got their drinks, a group of construction workers came in.  Catie recognized one of the security team with them, obviously off duty.  It wasn’t but another ten minutes before an argument broke out between them and a group of miners.  They were all yelling at each other, with a lot of pushing and shoving mixed in.

Then one of the miners grabbed the security woman by the butt.  That was a big mistake.  She hauled off and slugged him in the jaw and then kicked him between the legs.  But apparently, she was still mad, so she started whaling on the miner standing beside him.  Pretty soon, everyone was joining in the fight.

Morgan motioned Catie’s bodyguard to move over close to her charge.  Then she walked over to the fight and started pulling people apart.  If someone didn’t back off when she yanked them apart, Morgan slapped a stun patch on them and moved on.  Finally, she got to the security woman who was making it a point to take on every miner in the joint.  Morgan grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the miner she was pounding on.  The woman turned to Morgan, Morgan said something, and then the woman slugged Morgan.  Morgan gave her a head butt, and then slapped a stun patch on her.  About that time, a few constables showed up to take the miscreants to the brig.

Morgan walked back to the table and downed her drink before sitting down and ordering another one.

“I can’t believe you let that woman hit you,” Catie said.  “You’re usually more aware than that.”

“I can’t believe she hit me,” Morgan said.  “She’s my girlfriend.  I guess she was really pissed.”

“I’d guess so.  Is she going to be mad at you tomorrow?”

“If she is, I’ll put another stun patch on her,” Morgan said with a laugh.  “Damn, I’m going to have a black eye.”

“If you put a med patch on it right away, it won’t be so bad,” Catie said.

“But then I would have to quit drinking,” Morgan said as she accepted her drink from the waiter.

“It’s important to have your priorities straight,” Catie said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Marc, we’ve been invited to one of the inauguration parties,” Samantha told Marc as she sat down next to him on the sofa in their condo.

“We have?”

“Sure, the one with all the dignitaries,” Samantha said.  “President Novak wants to make it clear that the new administration will be taking a different tack with Delphi Nation.”

“I’m glad to hear that.  Do you want to go?” Marc asked.

“As long as we don’t have to go to the inauguration.”

“Call Kal,” Marc ordered his Comm.

“Hello, Marc, what can I do for you?”

“We’re thinking about going to Washington to attend one of the inauguration parties.”

“You’re not serious?” Kal asked.

“Pretty much,” Marc said.  “Can you handle security?”

“Well, other presidents and kings seem to be able to do so,” Kal said.  “Let me check with the Secret Service to confirm things, and I’ll get back to you.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you miss the days when you were just a college professor?” Samantha asked.

“Yes, I definitely do,” Marc said.  “I’m seriously considering having Dr. Metra change my appearance like Catie did.  Then we could take a real vacation.”

“Let’s do it,” Samantha said.  “I could change my looks, and we could do a world tour.  That would be so much fun.”

“When?”

“Paris in the springtime,” Samantha sang.

“So, in May?”

“I’ll get with Dr. Metra and figure out my new look,” Samantha said.  “Do you have any requests?”

“No,” Marc said, shaking his head and looking as innocent as he could.

“Chicken!”

“Bawk, Bawk,” Marc clucked.  “But I will tell Kal about it, the next time we’re on Delphi Station and he’s down here.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Marc and Samantha boarded the Lynx at Delphi City; they then flew directly to College Park Regional Airport in Maryland, just ten miles from where the inaugural ball was being held.  They arrived at seven p.m. and made the thirty-minute drive in armored limousines that Kal had shipped the day before.

“Don’t you think a ten-person security detail is a bit much?” Marc asked.

“No I don’t,” Kal replied.  “Besides, you want to make an impression, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure this is the impression I want to make.”

“Well, you don’t really have a choice.  You definitely don’t want to make an impression on the sidewalk after someone shoots you or knocks you down.”

Marc sighed, “I concede the point.”

The limousines formed up and exited the airport, with the limousine carrying Marc in the middle.

“You know this vest is a bit uncomfortable,” Marc said.

“Don’t complain.  It will stop a bullet; you’ll probably have a few broken ribs, but Dr. Metra can fix those,” Kal said.

“I like mine,” Samantha said, “It takes care of my foundation needs.  Although I am a bit exposed.”

“You’re the one who wanted to wear that off-the-shoulder cross whatever dress,” Kal said.  “I wanted you to wear one with a higher neckline like Queen Elizabeth wears.”

“I’m not ninety years old!” Samantha said.  “And it’s a cross-bodice dress.”

The limousines pulled up to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and were immediately met by a group of reporters and onlookers.  Kal waited as the security detail in the other two limousines exited and set up a perimeter.  Once they had control of the situation, he exited the front of the limo and walked back and opened the door.

Marc exited first, wearing a black tuxedo with a white bowtie.

Samantha stepped out wearing a shimmering blue sapphire gown, with sapphire and diamond earrings and necklace.  Flashes erupted as the photographers all snapped pictures of her; there were far more flashes than there had been when Marc emerged from the limo.

“Did I mention how beautiful you are?” Marc asked.

“Yes, but it’s fine to keep mentioning it,” Samantha said.

Kal’s team formed a wedge and forced their way through the crowd.  Reporters were yelling questions, which Marc and Samantha ignored.  Finally, they reached the safety of the lobby.

Kal’s team checked in with the Secret Service, then took up positions around the lobby.  They were not being allowed into the ball; however, Marc had managed to acquire an extra ticket for Kal.

“Good, we’re in time to see President Novak do the first dance,” Samantha said as she pulled her fan out of her purse.  “It’s a bit warm in here, and we haven’t even danced yet.”

The fan was made of elegant silk that matched her dress.  The spines were made of fine polysteel and were formidable spikes.  It was a weapon, whether folded or not.  Kal had spent a week teaching Samantha how to use it.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Congratulations, Madam President,” Marc said as he was presented to President Novak.

“Thank you, Your Excellency,” President Novak replied.  “Do you have a few moments?”

“Of course.”

The president led Marc to one of the corners where the Secret Service had created a small, private space.

“I wanted to follow up on our discussion about the Russian interference,” the president said.

“Was there interference?” Marc asked.

“The FBI is investigating several incidents; the evidence points that way.”

“I guess we shouldn’t be surprised,” Marc said.  “What are you planning to do about it?”

“We have to wait until the investigation is complete, but I’d like to do more than pile on sanctions.”

“As I said, we can help with that,” Marc said.

“What exactly would you be able to do?”

“We have traced all their hacking attempts against Delphi City’s networks, so we now have a way back into their systems.  We can release a virus that will destroy the computers used in the hacking attempts.  We can probably impact a large percentage of the government computers as well since they apparently are on the same network.”

“And if we find the evidence we’re looking for?”

“Just give me a call.”

“Thank you,” the president said.  “Now, I’ll let you get back to your lovely date.”

Chapter 28

Target Ukraine

January 22nd

“Russia has lodged another protest with the U.N. about prisoners in Ukraine,” Samantha said as she walked into Marc’s office.

“I thought Ukraine released all their prisoners,” Marc said.

“They did.  The Russians are claiming that they held some back because they had tortured them.”

“Admiral Michaels, Blake, my office, please.”

The four gathered around the small table in the corner of the office.  “Admiral, what is your assessment?” Marc asked.

“As I said before, they want to annex all of Ukraine or turn it into a vassal state,” the admiral said.  “Their pulling this stunt two days after the inauguration just reinforces my belief.”

“Do you have any contacts within the new American administration?” Samantha asked.

“A few,” the admiral said.  “They think the same as I do.”

“Do the Americans have a plan?” Samantha asked.  “We haven’t been able to get anything out of their U.N. ambassador.”

“Isn’t he still the same idiot as before?” Blake asked.

“Yes, unfortunately, President Novak hasn’t had time to get her new ambassador through the Senate,” Samantha said.  She turned back to Admiral Michaels, waiting on an answer.

“The previous administration kicked the can down the road.  Some of my contacts believe it was on purpose.  The president wanted to put President Novak in a tough situation.”

“What are the Ukrainians asking for?”

“More weapons, especially tanks,” Admiral Michaels said.  “They say they have intelligence that indicates that the Russians are planning to cross the border, using the problem with the prisoners as an excuse.”

“That seems likely,” Marc said.

“I think we should pull our clinic out,” Samantha said.

“No, I want the leverage their presence provides.  But we’ll have Kal put them on alert for evacuation,” Marc said.  “Does he have someone he can put on the ground to gather intel?”

“That Russian mercenary, Marta something.  She was part of the Russian advance team.  She decided to stay in Delphi City and join Kal’s team,” Blake said.  “She speaks Russian and Ukrainian.”

“Okay, we should call him back from Guatemala,” Marc said.  “I’d like his assessment on the situation.”

“I’ll let him know,” Blake said.  “Until the Russians actually make a move, we’re all guessing.”

“I think they’re making their move,” Admiral Michaels said.

January 26th

“Kal, what’s the assessment?” Marc asked.

“Marta says the Russians are going to invade,” Kal said.

“How can she know that?” Blake asked.  “She’s only been on the ground there for three days.”

“Apparently they aren’t trying to hide it.  The soldiers are all bragging about how they’ll be in Kyiv two days after they cross the border,” Kal explained.  “You can see the tank battalions they’re amassing on the border.”

“Samantha, what is the U.S. response?” Marc asked.

“President Novak is talking about sanctions,” Samantha said.

“Sanctions, like that worked so well when they annexed Crimea!” Blake squawked.

“She steadfastly refuses to have U.S. forces engage,” Samantha said.

“What about aid?”

“At this point, Russia will blockade Ukraine’s ports; heavy stuff like tanks won’t be getting to them,” Admiral Michaels said.

“And our friend, the ex-president, delayed the delivery of tanks last year.  Now it’s too late,” Samantha said.  “The Ukrainian Ambassador has asked us for help.”

“What can we do?” Kal asked.  “This isn’t another Guatemala.”

“No, it’s not.  But this is exactly what we must stop if this planet is ever going to stand a chance to present a united front to the other planets,” Marc said.

“So, sell them a squadron of Foxes,” Blake said.

“What good will that do, they won’t know how to fly them,” Kal said.

“Then we’d better send some pilots as well,” Marc said.  “Blake, can we get enough volunteers?”

“Oh yeah, we’ll have to stop them from fighting each other,” Blake said.  “They’re committed to our mission, and this is right up their alley.”

“You cannot win a ground war with fighters,” Admiral Michaels said.

“That was before we had Foxes,” Blake said.

“My position still stands,” the admiral said.  “With the Russian superiority in tanks, I don’t think Ukraine stands a chance.”

“We need to figure out how to change that,” Marc said.

“I have an acquaintance from the Pentagon who might be able to help,” Admiral Michaels said.

“Who?” Samantha asked.

“General McFarland; he commanded a tank battalion during Desert Storm.  Really knows his stuff,” the admiral said.

“Will he join us?” Marc asked.

“I believe so.  He a big proponent of the carry a big stick style of diplomacy; he’s not too happy with the current administration’s position on not projecting U.S. force abroad.”

“Ask him; do what it takes.”

January 28th

“Why is Delphi Nation selling your advanced fighters to Ukraine?” the reporter asked Samantha.

“Because we believe in the rule of law.  We cannot stand idly by while Russia threatens to invade her neighbor,” Samantha said.

“What good will a squadron of fighters do?” another reporter asked.

“Remember, we are just selling the fighters to augment the existing armed forces in Ukraine.  It is the Ukrainian military that will stop the invasion,” Samantha said.  “We hope our support sends a signal to Russia that the world will not stand idly by while she invades a neighbor.”

“Will you send active forces to aid Ukraine?”

“We do not have enough active forces to impact their situation,” Samantha said.  “We will continue to provide financial aid, advisors, and armaments where we can.”

January 30th

“General, this is our president, Marc McCormack,” Admiral Michaels said, introducing the general to Marc’s security council.  “Marc, this is General Douglas McFarland.”

Marc shook hands with the general then nodded to a seat, indicating he should be seated.  “This is Samantha Newman, our Minister of State; my brother, Admiral Blake McCormack, the head of our Naval forces; General Kal Kealoha, the head of our ground forces; Captain Elizabeth Farmer, one of our top wing commanders; and on the video conference, my daughter, Captain Catherine McCormack, she is our expert on our air and space fleet as well as an excellent strategist.”

The general glanced at Catie’s image, then quickly looked back, giving her a little more scrutiny.  It was obvious to everyone that he was trying to guess her age.

“Kal, why don’t you brief the general on what we know,” Marc said.

Kal shook his head to clear it.  He was still reeling from apparently just being promoted to general.  “Ahem,” he cleared his throat.  “The Russians have amassed twelve tank battalions along the Ukrainian border.  Most of them are concentrated up here by Bryansk, where they’re closest to Kyiv.  The Ukrainians have matched them with their own tank battalions.”

“But most of their tanks are the old T-64s,” General McFarland said.

“Correct.”

“That puts the Ukrainians at a significant disadvantage.”

“Yes, however, as you undoubtedly have heard, we’re sending a squadron of Foxes to Ukraine,” Kal said.

“How are a few jets going to change things?”

“They carry railguns,” Kal said.  “The guns shoot a twenty-five-millimeter iron slug at five kilometers per second.  At that speed, they impact with the energy of two-hundred-fifty kilos of TNT.”

“That should take out one of those T-90 tanks, even with their reactive armor,” the general said with a grimace as he imagined what would happen to a tank hit by one of those slugs.

“I thought they launched the slug faster than that,” Liz said.

“We scaled them back to make them fit the armor vehicles; the rails aren’t as long and the capacitors aren’t as big,” Kal said.

“Oh.”

“What are you going to do to protect those jets?” the general asked.

“The Foxes carry lasers that can take out a missile fired at them as well as a plasma cannon that can vaporize one of those tanks in thirty seconds,” Kal said.

“And when the Russians throw one hundred fighters at your squadron as well as all of their anti-aircraft artillery?”

“The Foxes can do Mach six and still do evasive maneuvers.”

“But then they’re not shooting at tanks,” the general countered.

“You should mount more lasers on a Hover Oryx and have it control the airspace,” Catie said.

“Young lady, we are having an important discussion here,” the general barked.

“Oh, I feel sorry for you, General,” Samantha whispered.

“She’s right,” Blake said.  “If we put an Oryx at twenty thousand feet, it can cover over thirty-five thousand feet in any direction.”

“That’s over ten kilometers,” Catie said in a snippy tone.

“Thank you, Catie,” Samantha said, her tone telling Catie to cool it; she could get even with the general later.

“Will the lasers be effective at that range?” Liz asked.

“Partially, but I’d suggest using a narrow beam and aiming for the missiles they’re carrying.”

“Won’t that Oryx thing be a sitting duck?” the general asked.

“No!” Catie said.  “We can shield it, so it’s almost invisible to radar.  We should put a second Oryx at sixty-thousand feet to provide radar coverage for the area.  It can use a needle signal to feed the data to the first Oryx so that it will have a full view of the area without giving off a radar signature.”

“That’s even better,” Blake said.  “We’re going to need more of them.”

“We’re sending you a load of material tomorrow,” Catie said.  “It should be enough to take care of this and still give you a reserve so you can start production back up.”

“That’s early,” Liz said.

“Jimmy suggested we send the miners ahead so they could get started.  It bought us four days,” Catie explained.  “And this asteroid is really rich.”

“Good,” Blake said.  “I’ll have Fred convert eight Oryxes; we’ll salvage the material from the extra probes we have and replace them when your shipment arrives.  Liz, I want you to take the four Hover Oryxes we have and start an overflight of the Ukrainian border.  We’ve already positioned a satellite over it, but the Oryxes will give us better imagery.”

“Yes, sir,” Liz said.

“Pull whomever you want for crew,” Blake said.

“If you four will spend some time mapping out strategies, Sam can get you in touch with the Ukrainian commander?” Marc said.  “We have to be ready to respond as soon as the Russians cross the border.”

Chapter 29

Cabinet Meeting – Feb 1st

“Let’s review the situation,” Marc said after he opened the meeting.  “Catie, what’s the status of the material we need?”

“It’s on its way.  The Oryx crew agreed to do two-Gs, so it’ll be there in eight days.”

“Their sacrifice is much appreciated,” Marc said.  “Kal, what is your current assessment?”

“Everything points to the Russians making a big push this week,” Kal said.  “They seem to be laughing off our efforts to aid the Ukrainians.”

“Hopefully, that works to our favor,” Marc said.  “How are our new Oryxes coming along?”

“We’d already set up a small assembly line based on the earlier request for four more,” Fred said.  “Two should be ready to send out tomorrow, then two each day after that.”

“While you’re up, how’s the jetliner coming?” Marc asked.

“It just finished the first run in the wind tunnel,” Fred said.  “Friedman wants to make a few more changes and retest.  He swears he’ll be able to certify it by the end of the month.”

“Cool,” Catie said a bit wistfully.  Based on that schedule, she wouldn’t be there to make the first test flight.

“Liz, how are things out there?” Marc asked.

“We’re keeping two Oryxes in the air at all times,” Liz said.  “Each one covers a section of the border with Russia.  We have the Foxes on standby with pilots in the ready room, prepared for when the Russians make their move.”

“Good, good.  Now, I’d like to announce that Sam and I have selected our new CFO, Jonas Pfeifer.  He’s an acquaintance of Herr Hausmann and was the CFO of an international consortium up until last year.  He’ll be joining us in May,” Marc said.

“He’s a good man,” Herr Hausmann said.

Chapter 30

Target Ukraine Again

February 3rd – 0400 EET

“I have Russian fighters inbound!” Lieutenant Sealy radioed.

“Time to range?” Liz asked as she raced toward the ready room.  They were stationed at an airbase outside of Kyiv.

“Two minutes.  There are two fighters,” Lieutenant Sealy announced.

“I’ve got them covered,” Lieutenant Bunch said.

“Expect them to launch missiles,” Liz said.

“Copy that.”  . . . “Missiles launched!”  . . . “Missiles destroyed.”

“Okay, boys and girls, get to your jets,” Liz ordered as she reached the ready room.  Everyone was already moving toward the door when she entered.

“Second salvo launched!”  . . . “Got ‘em!”

“They’re turning back,” Lieutenant Bunch announced.  “We have a squadron of bombers coming.  They must have just taken off.”

“That’s correct, Captain Farmer,” ADI said.  “Our satellite shows them taking off one minute ago just after the fighters were first spotted.”

“Thank you, ADI,” Liz said as she started to taxi her Fox for takeoff.  “Kal, are you hearing this?  I assume ground forces are gearing up to cross the border.”

“We’ve informed the Ukrainians,” Kal said.  “They’re expecting you to take position.”

“We’re launching three more Oryxes as we speak,” Liz said.  “They’ll take up position with the overwatch and protect the airspace.  I’m taking five Foxes with me to deal with the bombers, and sending six to each of the likely incursion zones.”

“They have six fighters providing cover,” Lieutenant Bunch said.

“One for each of us,” Liz said.  “Alpha team, I’m assigning you your targets now.  Once you take out your fighter, go for the bombers.  Aim for the center, we want to vaporize that section of the bomber, so we minimize the number of bombs that can hit the ground.”

“Wilco!” each of Alpha team echoed.

“They’re carrying R-60 supersonic air-to-air missiles,” Kasper yelled.  “That means six each.”

“Now you tell me!  I’ve got three of those missiles on my tail,” Lieutenant Jacobs yelled.

“Jacobs, I’ll take care of your target, just worry about those missiles,” Kasper said.

Jacobs, banked his Fox hard to the right, trying to give the laser a better angle on the approaching missiles.  The sound of exploding warheads could be heard on everyone’s Comm.  “Nailed them!”

“How’s your Fox?” Liz asked.

“I took some damage to the rear stabilizer,” Jacobs said.  “But she’ll still fly.”

“Return to base,” Liz ordered.

“I said I can still fly!”

“Follow your orders!” Liz commanded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Got him!” Kasper yelled.  “That takes care of the last fighter.”

Without a fighter cover, the bombers were sitting ducks.  In just ten minutes, Alpha team destroyed all twenty-four bombers, using their plasma cannons to vaporize most of each bomber and its payloads.

◆ ◆ ◆

In a display of arrogance and ineptitude, the Russian ground commander still attacked even after their bombers were destroyed before they could soften up the Ukrainian positions.

They crossed the Ukrainian border just south of the Snov river, where they had been encamped while awaiting the invasion.  Eight Russian tank battalions sped toward Kyiv, followed by the infantry and support troops.  The charge was reminiscent of the German Blitzkrieg attacks of WWII.  The move was audacious, bold, and better than anything the Delphinean Fox squadron could have hoped for.  The tanks were sitting ducks as the Foxes dive-bombed across the enemy formation.  Each Fox was getting in four or five railgun strikes per pass, each strike totally obliterating one T-80 tank.  By the end of the day, they had destroyed three-hundred-twenty-Russian tanks, one-hundred-thirty-Russian armored vehicles, and an uncountable number of small Russian military vehicles.  The Russian charge died before it even reached the Ukrainians’ first line of defense.

◆ ◆ ◆

“What a gift,” General McFarland said as they started the debrief for the day.  “How utterly stupid to launch an attack without probing the enemy defenses first.  And after we took out their bombers.”

“That sure helped balance the tank numbers,” Liz said.

The general snorted.  “Not even close.  The Russians’ reserves have over twenty times the number of tanks they lost.  I’m sure they’re shipping them to the front right now, along with a new general.”

“Twenty times!” Catie gasped.

“Yes, and they won’t be putting them into nice little formations for our Foxes to shoot up,” the general added.  “Now they’ll spread their attacks across the entire border, hitting the Ukrainians in fifteen or twenty locations at once.  That will neutralize much of the advantage that the Foxes give us.”

“Won’t the Ukrainians have the advantage of being in a defensive position?” Kal asked.

“Yes, but those T-64 tanks can’t take a hit from the Russian T-80s or even their T-72s, while the Russian tank can probably withstand a direct hit from a T-64.  Their reactive armor really makes a big difference,” the general explained.  “Add that to their ability to field more tanks, and the numbers don’t look good.”

“We could give the Ukrainians railguns,” Catie said.

“How?” Kal asked.

“Just make them.  They can mount them on their armored vehicles,” Catie said.  “Nothing says they have to be in a Fox.”

“But how would we power them?  And the recoil?” Blake asked.

“You’d have to include a small reactor, but we already have a design that requires us to re-enable it every twenty-four hours, or it fuses into a solid block of nothing,” Catie said.  “That way, we won’t risk losing the technology.”

“Fred, how many can we make?” Marc asked.

“Just a moment,” Fred said.  “Thanks, Catie,” he added as she sent him the design file.

“We have enough material to make one hundred,” Fred said.  “We could have twenty ready in two days, the rest by the end of the day, Monday.”

“Get on it,” Marc said.

“And the recoil?” Blake asked again.

“Have them mount a big weight on rails.  If it can move a few feet, it’ll help balance the recoil,” Catie said.  “They use them on buildings in earthquake zones.”

“Clever,” murmured McFarland.

“One other thing,” Catie said.

“Yes,” the general scoffed.

“Will you ever learn?” Samantha whispered.

“If the Russians have better tanks and they’re resupplying them to the line, why don’t we take them out before they get there?” Catie asked.

“And how would we do that?” the general asked, his tone was still derisive.

“I was reading a book about how the British kept destroying the tanks being sent to Rommel during the North African campaign in World War II.  They had to transport the tanks on the road on semi-trailers,” Catie said.  “They should be easy to spot.”

“You’re right, we should at least start destroying as many convoys as we can,” the general said.

“But . . .”

“Admiral McCormack, can we set up surveillance to identify convoys moving tanks to the front?” the general asked.

“General!” Samantha scolded.  “If you would start to listen to the advice and ignore your prejudice relating to the source, I think we would all do better!”

The general looked at Samantha, stunned that she would address him that way.

“Now, I believe that Catie had something to add,” Samantha said.

“Yes,” Catie said.  “If they’re on a hard road, then we can land Oryxes on it.  If you minimize the fuel load, an Oryx can take off with two tanks in its cargo hold.”

“Preposterous,” the general sputtered.

“Why?” Marc demanded.

“Because . . . because it will probably work,” the general said.  “Can those Oryxes take off like a C17?”

“Yes,” Catie said.

“General Kealoha, do you have the personnel to handle this type of action?” the general asked.

“Oh yeah, I sure do,” Kal said.

“How do we insert them?” the general asked.

“A Hover Lynx,” Kal said.

“What?”

“Like a Fox, but it can carry fifteen soldiers,” Kal said.  “Fred, how many do we have?”

“Eight,” Fred said.

“That’s more than enough, I’ll start mission planning right away.”

“Captain McCormack, I apologize,” the general said.

“Thank you, general,” Catie said.

Samantha breathed a sigh of relief as the meeting broke up.

February 4th – 0200 EET

A Hover Lynx dropped down beside the highway in Russia.  Its rear door opened, and thirteen Delphinean commandos jumped out.  They quickly took up positions on both sides of the highway and waited.

Sergeant Barry Knox spotted the convoy that their satellite had identified earlier in the day.  “Whew,” he thought, “at least they didn’t decide to stop for the night somewhere back there.”

He waited as the convoy started to pass his team.  When he could see the armored vehicle bringing up the rear, he signaled his team.

“Bring her in,” Barry ordered.

Kasper lowered his Hover Fox between the last semi-trailer and the armored vehicle that was at the rear of the convoy.  He turned his lights on and fired off a short burst with the machine gun to get the driver’s attention.

Right after the vehicle stopped, Barry’s team was up next to it with their weapons in clear view, waving the driver and passengers out.  Having heard the rumors of what the Foxes did to their tanks during the first assault, the Russian driver of the armored vehicle immediately stopped his vehicle and climbed out with his arms in the air, even while his colleagues were still trying to figure out what was going on.  A second Hover Fox made the same maneuver on the leading armored vehicle with Beta team collecting the prisoners.

The prisoners had their hands zip-tied behind their backs and were led off to the side of the road where one of the commandos stood guard over them.

“Start unloading those tanks!” Barry ordered.  “Graciela, back this vehicle up.  One mile down the road.”

“Yes, sir,” Graciela grumbled.  She was going to have to hike back up the road.  With the armored vehicle maintaining a two-hundred-meter gap between itself and the last truck, she was going to have the longest hike.  “Next time we’re practicing hand-to-hand, I’m going to kick Barry’s ass,” Graciela thought.

There were eight semi-trailers in this convoy, each with two tanks on them.  “Quite a haul,” Barry thought.

Once the tanks were unloaded, the team backed the armored vehicles and the semi-trailer rigs one mile down the road.  Then a Hover Oryx that had been converted to a bomber dropped tank parts they had salvaged from the first Russian attack over each of the rigs, then a Fox came in and blew everything up with its railgun.  The plan was to fool the Russians into thinking the convoy had been destroyed instead of highjacked.

By this time, eight Oryxes were sitting on the highway waiting for the tanks to be driven into their cargo holds.  One hour after they started, the last Oryx flew off toward the Ukrainian lines.  The Russian prisoners were secured aboard the Oryxes.

“Alright, load up!” Barry yelled as the Hover Lynx landed to pick up his team.  “We have enough time to do this again before it gets light.”

“Oorah!” the team yelled.

February 4th – 0800 EET

“How many convoys got through?” General McFarland asked.

“We counted four,” Kal said.  “Three of them into Donbass region in southeastern Ukraine where they were met by the so-called Ukrainian rebels.”

“Russia has abandoned all pretext that those aren’t Russian soldiers,” the general said.  “So, we captured two convoys and destroyed three.”

“Correct.”

“Railguns?”

“The first twenty are being delivered now,” Fred said.  “They’ll reach the battlegroups you selected before nightfall in Ukraine.”

“Excellent,” the general said.

February 6th – 2000 CKT

“What’s our status?” Marc asked as they started the briefing.

“The railguns have made a big change.  The Ukrainians have halted the Russian advance,” Kal reported.

“It won’t last long,” General McFarland said.  “The Russians will adapt.  This is a slugfest, and the one with the most men, armor, and weapons usually wins.”

“What would you suggest, General?” Marc asked.

“You need to start using those plasma cannons to strafe the enemy positions.  If you start killing enough Russian soldiers, it will impact their morale.  Trained soldiers are harder to replace.  The Russians have huge stockpiles of weapons from the Soviet days, but eventually, they’ll run out of men willing to be baked alive,” the general said.

“I’m not willing to sanction the wholesale slaughter of the enemy,” Marc said.  “They’re just following orders and are not to blame for this situation.”

“Then you’re sanctioning the wholesale slaughter of the Ukrainian forces,” the general said.  “They’re standing their ground, but they’re paying for it in lives.”

“Let’s see how the railguns impact the battle,” Marc said.

Chapter 31

Something Has to Change

February 8th – 1300 CKT : 1810 EST

“For more on the war in Ukraine, we go to Christine Bradshaw, our war correspondent at the front,” the news anchor said.

“This is Christine Bradshaw, in Ukraine.  If you happen to be in Kyiv, you might not realize there is a war being waged a little over one hundred miles from there.  The citizens in Kyiv seem confident that they will win this war.

“But if you travel here to the front, you’ll find devastation everywhere.  Farms and villages have been destroyed by Russian artillery.  Field hospitals are overflowing with casualties, both civilian and military.  Specialized hospitals have been set up just to handle children, many of them orphaned by the war.  They arrive at the hospitals with injuries ranging from shrapnel wounds to missing limbs.  Here are a brother and sister, five and seven years old.  They lost their entire family when an artillery shell destroyed their home.  The boy has lost his left arm; his sister has lost both her feet.

“You can hear the artillery firing throughout the night.  The Russian guns are buried to protect them from the Delphinean fighters.  They only uncover for as long as it takes to fire off a few rounds before they are covered up again to avoid being destroyed by one of the fighters.  The sporadic firing goes on continuously, day and night as the Russians slowly inch their way forward, sometimes, only gaining a few hundred yards in a day.

“Some of the peasants here say they wish the Ukrainian government would just surrender.  Which government is in charge doesn’t impact their lives that much, but the war is tearing this land apart,” Christine said.

“Christine, if the Russians continue to advance, why are the people in Kyiv so confident that they will win the war?”

“They believe that their government and the Delphineans will come up with a solution,” Christine said.  “They point to the success on the first day of the war, and then the success they had when the Delphineans introduced the armored vehicle-mounted railguns.  They believe there are better weapons coming.”

“You would think that if they had better weapons, they would have already brought them.”

“Yes, if they understood the suffering of the people here, you would expect them to do whatever they could to stop this war.”

February 8th – 2300 CKT

“Cer Sam, you’re needed in the Captain’s office,” ADI said, waking Samantha up.  She was in the condo, waiting for Marc to come home.

“What’s going on?” Samantha asked.

“I think the Captain needs you,” ADI said.

“Okay,” Samantha said, somewhat puzzled.  It was an odd time for Marc to need her, and it was unusual for ADI to be so vague.  She brushed her hair and checked her makeup before leaving the condo.  She had to cross the street to get to the office.

“Marc?” Samantha called out as she knocked on his door.  She could hear the sound of a television coming from the office.  When Marc didn’t answer, she opened the door and entered.  Marc was asleep, his head on the desk, a bottle of scotch beside him.  The television was playing the news report from earlier in the day.  Marc had the report running on a constant loop.

“ADI, can you give me access to Marc’s Comm,” Samantha asked.

“Sorry, Cer Sam, but I cannot.  However, I can tell you what he has been researching,” ADI said.

“That will be fine.”

“He has been researching the history of the area around the Black Sea and the Azov Sea that comprises Ukraine and the neighboring area of Russia,” ADI said.  “Specifically, he has been looking into separatist movements within Russia that are concentrated in that area.”

“I see,” Samantha said.  “What else has he been doing?”

“He has been obsessively reviewing the casualty reports from the war,” ADI said.  “He has also spent a lot of time researching a new projectile for a railgun.”

“How long has he been asleep?”

“He passed out ten minutes before I called you,” ADI said.

“Thanks for calling me, ADI.  This is unusual behavior for Marc.”

“That is why I called you,” ADI said.

February 10th – 0800 EET

“Status update?” Marc asked.

“Despite all our successes with the Ukrainians, the Russians are continuing to advance.  They’re now two hundred kilometers from Kyiv.  They seem to have figured out we were taking the tanks from the convoys, because they’re now breaking the convoys into smaller units, only sending eight tanks per convoy,” Kal said.

“Can’t we just make more raids?” Catie asked.

“We are, but they are still getting more tanks through to their forces, and we’re capturing fewer tanks for the Ukrainians.  They’ve also changed their tactics, adapting to the railguns by putting sacrificial vehicles in front of the tanks.”

“They’re paying dearly for their advance,” General McFarland said, “but they keep throwing more men and machines at the front.”

“Fred, is my Oryx ready?” Marc asked.

“Yes, sir,” Fred said.  “You know that thing can only fire one full shot every four hours.”

“I know,” Marc said.  “Here’s a list of targets,” Marc flicked the list to Fred and brought it up on the display.  “I want you to start at the top, hit it with a ten-kilo shell, drop a warning beacon saying we’ll destroy the facility in two hours and that they need to evacuate, then two hours later hit it with a one-hundred-kilo shell.”

“How is a one-hundred-kilo bomb going to destroy a military facility?” the general asked.

“It’s going to be traveling at over twenty kilometers per second when it hits,” Fred said.

“Didn’t you hear about Marc’s little demonstration on Iwaki Island,” Samantha said.  “That was about two hundred kilos.”

“Oh my god, you can’t be serious,” the general said.  “That thing caused an earthquake.”

“We’ve modified the design since,” Marc said.  “Now it will break apart at two thousand meters.  That will spread the force over a larger area, reducing the chance of an earthquake, but doing a better job of leveling the facility.”

“Have you thought about the consequences?” the general asked.  “Isn’t what you’re proposing a violation of the outer space treaty?”

“No,” Marc said.  “The bomb we’re dropping is not a weapon of mass destruction; it’s not nuclear, chemical, or biological.  We are dropping it from high altitude, but that’s no different than an ICBM or a short-range ballistic missile; the Oryx will launch from Delphi City and make its launch and return without orbiting the Earth.”

Marc put a map of the area on the display next to the target list, and everyone started checking the locations of the targets.  Almost all of them were in Kuban, the region of Russia that bordered the Sea of Azov and Ukraine.

“You do know that there is an underground independence movement for Kuban,” the general said.

“I’m counting on it,” Marc replied.

“Have you thought this through?” the general asked, sounding very distressed.

“We’ve been going over it for two days,” Samantha said, her voice showing how exhausted she was.

February 11th – 1530 EET, 0800 EST

“Ambassador Vlasov, the Delphi ambassador is asking to talk with you,” the aide said, interrupting the ambassador’s breakfast.

“At this time?  What is she thinking?” Ambassador Vlasov demanded.

“She says it is critical that she speak with you,” the aide said.

“Show her in.”

Ambassador Hannaford entered the breakfast room, following the aide.  “Ambassador Vlasov, I’m sorry to disturb your breakfast.”

“No matter, why do you need to see me?  Are you ready to seek terms in Ukraine?”

“No, we see no reason to be asking for terms, unless of course, your country has decided to end its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

“Bah, Ukraine was historically Russian, Gorbachev was an idiot to let it go!  Why are you here?”

“I’m here to inform you that in five minutes, Delphi will drop a small bomb on Primorsko-Akhtarsk airbase. …”

“How dare you,” the ambassador sputtered.

“We want to get your attention.  Exactly two hours after the first bomb is dropped, we will obliterate the base.  We suggest that you evacuate it before then,” Ambassador Hannaford said.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“I assure you we do dare.  And until you withdraw from all of Ukraine, we will be dropping bombs on the various military installations in the area.  We will follow the same pattern, a small warning bomb two hours before we obliterate the base.  If you wish, I’ll send a courtesy notice to you before each one,” Ambassador Hannaford said in a calm, steady voice.

“This is preposterous!”

“We think your invasion of a sovereign country is preposterous, as well as your illegal annexation of Crimea.  I suggest you call your president.  Good day,” Ambassador Hannaford said as she turned and stalked out of the room.

Five minutes after Ambassador Hannaford left the Russian Embassy, an Oryx flying at Mach 15 at two hundred fifty kilometers shot a ten-kilogram iron slug.  It took less than fifteen seconds for the slug to impact the main runway of Primorsko-Akhtarsk airbase.  The Russian government did not issue an evacuation order, but the devastating strike of the first shell, plus the drone that flew overhead broadcasting that the entire base would be obliterated when the countdown it was announcing expired, was enough to cause the necessary evacuation.

Two hours later, the same Oryx fired the one-hundred-kilogram shell.  It detonated at ten thousand meters, fragmenting the shell so that it blanketed a thirty-kilometer radius around its ground zero.  Every facility on the base was leveled.  Most of the aircraft were destroyed since two hours wasn’t enough time to get all the planes into the air.

February 12th – 0900 CKT

“Any change in the Russian position?” Marc asked.

“They’ve denounced the bombing as a war crime to the U.N.,” Samantha said.  “They’re claiming thousands of civilian casualties.”

“And our response?”

“Margaret played them the recording she made of her meeting with the Russian Ambassador, then she played a recording showing the first impact and the subsequent broadcasting of the message to evacuate, and then she showed them video of the base being evacuated,” Samantha said.

“What was the Russian response?”

“They claimed that all the video was fake.  However, except for the video of the ambassador, it was all verified from alternate sources.”

“What about their ground forces?” Marc asked.

“They are continuing their assault,” Kal said.

“Then you have your next target.  Let’s set the time at twelve hundred hours EET,” Marc said.

“Yes, sir,” Kal replied, shaking his head.

Blake grabbed Samantha at the end of the meeting, “How’s he doing?”

“Better now that he’s made his decision,” Samantha said.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” Blake said.

“Just be there for him; and try to get him to lay off the scotch.”

“You do realize how big a sacrifice that will be,” Blake joked.

“You can do it.  It should only be a few more days,” Samantha said.

February 13th – 1200 EET – Target 2

The first shell hit the parking lot of the headquarters of the 2nd Army Corps HQ in Luhansk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, the territory of Ukraine that Russian had been occupying for the last few years.  The streets were immediately jammed with cars fleeing the target zone.  The traffic jam made it impossible for the Russians to move any of the tanks, artillery, or armored vehicles at the base.

Two hours later, the second shell hit, obliterating the tanks and artillery that were being staged there for deployment to the front.  It also eliminated much of the weapons stockpile that the Russians had been using to arm their separatist allies.

February 13th – 0900 CKT : 2100 EET

“Any response from the Russians?” Marc asked as he walked into the daily briefing on the situation in Ukraine.

“They’ve contacted the Ukrainians to discuss a possible ceasefire,” Samantha reported.

“Okay, next target.  Let’s set the time for eight hundred thirty hours,” Marc said as he stood up and left the room.

“Yes, sir,” Kal replied.

February 14th – 0830 EET – Target 3

The first shell hit the main parade field of the 1141st Artillery Regiment headquarters in Anapa, Krasnodar Krai, Russia at 0830.  The city was located on the coast of the Black Sea, just southeast of the Crimean Peninsula.  Two hours later, the second shell obliterated the fort and surrounding facilities.

February 14th – 2100 CKT

“What’s the status at the front?” Marc asked.

“The Russians have started removing some of their units, pulling them back into Russia.  They’re still suggesting a ceasefire,” Samantha said.

“Let’s step up to two targets each day,” Marc said.  “Nine hundred hours and fourteen hundred hours.  Maybe that will get their attention.”

February 15th – 0900 EET – Target 4

The first target of the day was the 49th Army Headquarters in Stavropol, Stavropol Krai, Russia.  Just five hundred kilometers from Crimea.

February 15th – 1400 EET – Target 5

The second target was 8th Army Headquarters Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russia.  It was one of Russia’s newest facilities in the region, located on the eastern end of the Azov Sea.

February 15th – 2100 CKT

“Russia has declared a unilateral ceasefire,” Samantha said as the briefing started.

“That’s nice,” Marc said.  “Let them know that removing their forces from Ukraine, including Crimea, would be a better signal.  Have Margaret ask their ambassador if he has any contact information for the Chechens.”

“Oh, you do like to play hardball.”

February 16th – 1000 EET – Target 6

The first target of the day was the 1st Army Corps Headquarters in Donetsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, also part of the Ukrainian territory Russia had been occupying for the last few years.

February 16th – 1500 EET – Target 7

And the second target was the 58th Army Headquarters in Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia.  It was located in the Caucasus mountains next to the Nation of Georgia.

February 16th – 2100 CKT

“Russia has agreed to cede Crimea back to Ukraine,” Samantha said.  “They are asking for docking rights for their naval fleet.  Also, the Kuban Independence League has declared independence.”

“Have Margaret recognize the Kuban republic at the U.N.,” Marc said.  “Next two targets.”

February 17th – 1020 EET – Target 8

The first target of the day was 136th Mechanized Brigade headquarters in Buynaksk, Republic of Dagestan, Russia.  It was close to Russia’s southern border with Ukraine

February 17th – 1600 EET – Target 9

The second target was the 205th Mechanized Brigade in Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Krai, Russia, located north of the Caucasus mountains.

February 17th – 2100 CKT

“What do you expect to accomplish by continuing to bombard Russian military installations?” General McFarland asked.

“I’m expecting them to recognize the republic of Kuban,” Marc said.  “And I’m expecting them to learn their lesson.”

“There are widespread protests in Russia,” Samantha said.  “It is expected that the government will fall.”

“Good.”

“There are also widespread protests in Europe and the U.S. against our continued bombardment,” Samantha added.

“What is their objection?” Blake asked.

“General opposition to war,” Samantha said.

“Okay, we’ll pause the bombardment,” Marc said.  “Let the Russian ambassador know that we are simply waiting to make sure they leave the region, leaving all the military hardware behind.  Tell them that we also expect them to comply with all U.N. demands on them regarding their various other military occupations.”

“That’ll go over well,” Samantha said.  “I’m sure Margaret will enjoy delivering that message.”

“Have her add that we seem to have run out of military headquarters in the area, and might need to expand the range of our operations,” Marc said.

“You wouldn’t,” Liz said.

“Oh yes he would,” Samantha said.

February 20th

“Breaking news, all Russian military forces have exited Ukraine, the Crimean Peninsula, and the newly declared state of Kuban, which encompasses the part of Russia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.  This is an astounding turn of events as protests continue to break out all over Russia.”

Chapter 32

Press Conference

“You have to give a press conference,” Samantha said.

“I’ve released a statement, why isn’t that enough?”

“They need to hear it from you, and they need to be able to ask questions.”

“Grrr!”

“Hey, after this, we can go to Dr. Metra and start getting ready for our vacation in Paris.”

“It’s nice of you to throw a lifeline to the drowning man.”

“You big baby, it won’t be that bad.”

“Okay, set it up for Friday morning,” Marc said.

◆ ◆ ◆

“There, you look nice,” Samantha said as she finished adjusting Marc’s tie.  “By the way, in case it comes up, that religious conclave that was being held in Napali Towers finally ended.  They all left yesterday.”

“Oh, thanks, I hadn’t heard.  I was starting to think that they were going to make it a permanent convention,” Marc said.  “Have you heard from the Paraxean Xenoarchaeologist about how it went?”

“No, not a peep.  Can’t ADI tell you?”

“No, she was restricted from listening in,” Marc said.  “We wanted them to feel free to discuss anything.”

“I’ll ask him to give us a report,” Samantha said.  “I think you’re ready.”

“Sure, feed me to the mob.”

“Go on,” Samantha said as she slapped Marc’s arm.

Marc signaled Margaux Lachance, his press agent, that he was ready.

“It gives me great pleasure to introduce His Excellency, President Marcus McCormack,” Margaux announced.

Marc walked to the podium amid a smattering of applause.  “Oh, no,” he thought, “They must be out for blood.”

“I’m here to announce that The Nation of Delphi has formed the Delphi Federation, an alliance between Delphi, Ukraine, the Republic of Kuban, Moldova, and Georgia,” Marc said.  “The purpose of the alliance is to improve economic conditions in the region while assuring non-interference by outside powers.”

“Does that mean you’re going to bombard Russia if it interferes in those countries?” a reporter asked.

“Russia has agreed to remove her armed forces from all of these countries,” Marc said.  “Outside of armed incursion, I think that any Russian interference can be dealt with through other less destructive means.”

“What gave you the right to bombard Russia over the Ukrainian war?  Why couldn’t you have worked with the U.N.?”

“The U.N. has been sanctioning Russia over their annexation of Crimea since twenty-fourteen,” Marc said.  “It was not yielding any results.  The Ukrainians came to us for help.  As the war dragged on and the casualties mounted, we decided that we had to take a more forceful approach to ending the Russian incursion.”

“What about the casualties from your bombardment?”

“We’re confident that the casualties from the bombardment were minimal.  In each case, we provided a two-hour notice to evacuate the facilities before we bombarded them.”

“Wasn’t your bombardment of them from space a violation of the Outer Space Treaty?”

“The missiles were launched from a bomber based in Delphi City.  It launched from there and returned there without orbiting the Earth,” Marc said.  “The fact that we launched the missiles from an extreme altitude does not break the Outer Space Treaty.  By the way, Delphi Nation is not a signatory of that treaty, and we feel that the treaty is seriously flawed since it assumes the Earth holds dominion over the entire universe.”

“Are you going to withdraw from the U.N.?”

“No,” Marc said.  “We hope that the U.N. can develop into a more representative, effective governing body for all of Earth.  We plan to participate and encourage that development.  But when the U.N. cannot stop a member country from invading another country, it loses the right to claim it is the final arbitrator of Earth.”

“Do you intend to become the police for Earth?  Are you going to help Tibet secede from China?”

“No, we believe that with time, the country that you live in will have less meaning.  That all countries will respect human rights and religious rights.  That being the citizen of a particular country will be like being a citizen of a particular city.  It will define the culture you live in, but will not diminish you as a human being,” Marc said.

“How can you talk about human rights when you don’t even have an LG person in your cabinet?” a reporter demanded.

Marc was shocked at such a question coming out of left field.  He took a moment to compose himself before he answered.

“I cannot say if you are correct in your assumption or not,” Marc said.  “Since much of my cabinet is made up of family and close friends, I suspect you are correct.  But in Delphi, we have a strict policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Care.’  We don’t ask, because it would be an inappropriate question; we don’t care, because all we care about is that you follow the law and do your job well.”

“Why is your cabinet made up of family and personal friends?”

“Delphi Nation grew out of work that a small group of us accomplished through MacKenzie Discoveries, a privately held corporation.  Most of the assets of the government have come from MacKenzie Discoveries.  It is taking time for us to separate the operations of the company from the operation of the newly formed government.”

“That doesn’t sound very fair!”

“I remind you that we are a monarchy,” Marc said.  “And I would further challenge you to find citizens of Delphi with legitimate concerns about how the government is being run.  If you do, I’ll be happy to answer your questions in a personal interview.”

“Way to shut her up,” Samantha said to Marc over his Comm.

“What do you have to say about the announcement from your religious conclave?” another reporter shouted.

“It was not my religious conclave,” Marc said.  “I simply provided the space for a meeting between the Paraxean religious scholar and various religious scholars and leaders from Earth.”

“What about the announcement?”

“I’m not aware of any announcement,” Marc said.

“They announced that when God made man in his image, that was referring to the soul, not the corporeal form,” the reporter provided.

“That makes sense to me,” Marc said.  “God is not corporeal, so what image would God have?”

“Isn’t that just a convenient way to explain the Paraxeans’ existence?”

“I cannot comment on that since I had no knowledge of the proceedings,” Marc said.

“What about the statement from the Pope?” another reporter shouted.

“What statement?”

“The Pope announced that birth control that prevents a woman from ovulating does not violate religious doctrine since, without an ovum, there is no life involved.”

“I’m happy to hear that some form of birth control is acceptable to the Catholic Church.  Although, I personally believe that they shouldn’t be against any form of birth control, since overpopulation is one of the main causes of human suffering and poverty,” Marc said.

The briefing dragged on for another hour before Marc could excuse himself without risking a riot.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Didn’t you feed those reporters before the briefing?” Marc asked after the conference finished.

“No, we chummed the waters,” Blake said.  “We all know how much you like a challenge.”

Marc threw his tie at Blake.  “Thanks.”

“You did good, Daddy,” Catie said.  She was still on the Sakira but had watched the conference via video link.

“Thanks, Sweetie,” Marc said.  “Now, we should be able to take a break.”

“Um,” Samantha interrupted.  “We have twelve countries asking to join the new federation.”

“Oh, bother,” Marc said.  “Any more good news?”

“Yes!” Catie squealed.  “We’ve found two planets!”

Afterword

Thanks for reading Delphi Federation!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the sixth book in the Delphi in Space series.  If you would like to join my newsletter group, click here, Delphi in Space News.  The newsletter provides interesting science facts for SciFi fans, book recommendations based on books I truly loved reading, and notification of when the next book in my series is available.

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The story continues in Delphi Exploration.  Now the McCormacks will leave the solar system as they search for a home for the Paraxeans. What might they find out there as they look for a new planet, or planets.

Acknowledgments

It is impossible to say how much I am indebted to my beta readers and copy editors.  Without them, you would not be able to read my books due to all the grammar and spelling errors.  I have always subscribed to Andrew Jackson’s opinion that “It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word.”

So special thanks to:

My copy editor Ann Clark, who also happens to be my wife.

My beta reader and editor, Theresa Holmes.

My beta reader and cheerleader, Roger Blanton, who happens to be my brother.