To Touch the Stars (Founding of the Federation Book 2) Read online

  “And that isn't your thing. Huh. Okay, so, wise her up, and if she doesn't listen, find another counselor,” Jamey said.

  She made a face. “She's a One Earther. She's not happy about people going into space. A monumental waste of talent and resources,” she said, shaking her head. There was a growing movement of people who were against the space program for various reasons. Some was ignorance, others were based on religious interpretation. A few saw the space program as a drain like Miss Coldwell.

  “This is the first I've heard of it,” Bret said ominously, eying his daughter. She hunched her shoulders. “I'll have to have a chat with her.”

  “Dad, I can handle it. I am handling it. I got in as an intern, remember?”

  “Obviously not very well. I usually let you kids fight your own battles. But if you are having issues, let me help. That's what I'm here for,” he said.

  “I'll think about it,” she muttered, looking away.

  “Did you get the internship?” Jamey asked. She nodded. “Good. That wasn't just nepotism. We got your foot in the door; it's up to you to prove yourself. The more indispensable you are, the more likely they'll keep you on.”

  “Layoffs?” she asked. Holding onto the internship was going to be rough. She had to not only learn the job, but somehow impress her teachers and admin enough to give her a longer shot. It was a form of hazing and probation wrapped around a boot camp like experience. She was excited and nervous about it; it would be the first time she'd been away from home.

  He shook his head. “I didn't say that. But you want to stay up there. What's more important? Lift one person that can do two or more jobs or two people, one for each? Thousands of people want to go up. Hell, millions. They want the best and brightest.”

  “Hmmm … so, I'll be running my ass off.”

  He nodded, but his eyes twinkled. “Most definitely. Just don't be a kiss ass. And don't cover your ass. If you screw up, and you will, own up to it right off and figure out a fix. Keep it professional.”

  She grinned at him. “I wouldn't have it any other way. One wouldn't want to be bored would we?”

  “That's the spirit kiddo,” Jamey laughed. He reached out to ruffle her curly hair but she batted his hand aside, then dived into his lap to tickle. He squirmed and then guffawed as her long fingers dug into his ribs. “Ooaf!” he said, then made her squeal as he pulled himself to his feet with her clinging to him. He managed to get the upper hand and slung her over his shoulder. She squealed again when he slapped her flank, then kicked and giggled hysterically as he whirled her about, then dug in to attack her feet.

  “Kids,” their father said chuckling at them. “If you're giving your sister a pre-taste of the spinning thingy they put you through, lad, she's going to upchuck all over the place. Then guess who gets to clean it up?” he demanded.

  Jamey slowed down and then set his sister on her feet. Her eyes flashed at him with malice. She danced about on her dainty legs, then pounded his right bicep a few times until he wrapped her in a bear hug. That got her to settle down as she greedily hugged him back. “Do you have to go again?” she demanded, burrowing her head into his chest.

  “Fraid so, sis. I caught the shuttle down yesterday, but I've got to go back up tonight. Remember what I said,” Jamey said, taking her by the shoulders to look into her eyes.

  She nodded dutifully, standing on her tip toes to try to measure up to her towering big brother. She smiled impishly as she gave him a peck on the cheek. He chuckled and ruffled her hair then hugged her again. “Come on, let's go eat. Then you can fill me in a bit more on your love life, Dad's lack of a love life, and your attempts to drive him into an early grave.”

  “Hey!” She protested, but then her stomach growled. She groaned in embarrassment as her brother and father laughed.

  “Bottomless pit,” their father teased as he set the glasses out for them.

  “She's got the family brains, Dad; they need fuel,” Jamey teased as he pulled a seat out from the dining room table for his sister. She dimpled up at him in amusement and approval as she took her seat. He patted her shoulder as he went into the kitchen to help bring the eggplant Parmesan and drinks in.

  He talked about the ceremony, Daedalus, the dolphins, and how eager he was to be on the crew going out on the first ship. “Someone has to be first. I like the idea of one of us setting precedence.”

  “So … anyone?” Bret asked his son.

  “Actually, there is,” Jamey said, not pleased to be forced to admit it. “I'm dating an older woman. We've moved in to the same cabin together. It was initially mine, but well, that's a long story,” he said with a shrug. Bret snorted.

  “Well, I'm glad you've found someone son,” Bret said gruffly, patting his son on the shoulder before he gripped it to show his support.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Jamey said with relief. “I tried to get her to come to but she's the doctor for the dolphins and she said no. Even though they went to their habitat. I think she was really shy,” he said.

  “Give it time,” Bret said. Jamey nodded.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Jamey talked with Hannah and Bret quietly as they gathered outside in the evening. It was a bit of a tradition with the family to go out and look at the stars each night. That evening it had more of an appeal despite the light pollution from the encroaching human civilization all along the horizon. He and his dad enjoyed a couple of beers. That too was a change. They talked about the weather and small talk as Hannah sat on the rail, swinging her legs like a kid, or the teenage female she was. Eventually the topic changed as Jamey brought up Charlie's death, which brought them down a bit. He admitted he'd thought about visiting Charlie's family, but he didn't have the time and wasn't sure if he ever would have the time. “Besides, I barely know them, and they are across the continent.” Jamey shook his head as his dad took a swig of beer.

  “You could hop a flight …” Hannah suggested, unsure if she liked the idea of losing her brother so soon. After all, he'd just gotten there!

  “And spend what, half my time in transit? No, pass. Even if I did an orbital hop, I'd still spend a couple hours each way going through security and customs. Pass. Another time or another medium.”

  “Understood. I was just putting that out there,” Bret said.

  “Ready to get rid of me so soon, Dad?” Jamey teased. Bret snorted. Hannah came over and wrapped her arms around her brother. He hugged her back and then stroked her hair.

  “You know that's not true,” Hannah said fiercely.

  “Oh, I know it, kiddo. You want to make up for lost time. Basketball?”

  “I know you've been playing handball up there,” Hannah grumbled. “So you are too good at it,” she poked his sides and he grunted. “Besides, you've got an advantage in height,” he said, voice tightening up in a mock growl.

  “True,” Jamey said, elbows going down to try to protect his vulnerable flanks. “So what, soccer?”

  “How about we all go fishing?” Hannah asked. “Some quiet time …”

  “Yeah right, near the lake where you can push me in,” Jamey teased. She gave him her best innocent look as she straightened up to face him. He snorted, not buying it for a second.

  She smiled ever so coyly. “Well, don't blame me if you look like a drowned rat. You need a real bath,” she teased.

  “I'll give you a bath,” he said, ducking his shoulder and swinging her up onto it. He got up and handed his dad his beer as his sister squealed in protest. “Dad, where's the nearest pool?”

  “Well, there is a scummy pond about two klicks that away,” his father said, pointing with his long neck to the West. “Other than that, I suppose the tub inside will have to do.”

  “Hmmm ….” Jamey said, swinging Hannah about. Her knees tucked up around his arm as she squealed again, this time in glee. She was obviously having a good time. He snorted. “Decisions decisions. I dunno if I want to have to go for that long a walk. It hardly seems worth the effort,” he said, sounding thoug
htful.

  “Lazy!” Hannah yelled, reaching for his rear. Her short arms missed, but she did manage to swat his back a few times.

  “But then again, the doctor said I need exercise,” he said, stepping off the porch. Hannah squealed again; this time in half fright as he picked up his pace and headed west. He chuckled and then swung her about then set her down. “Next time,” he threatened.

  “Awe …” she mock grumbled. He snorted.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  On his way back to the spaceport, Jamey noticed he was being followed. From the look of it, they were driving a black SUV. Female, though he couldn't really tell for sure with the tinted windows and sunglasses.

  When he pulled up at a red light, he glanced in the mirror again. The driver and passenger were indeed female but grim. They also didn't look too happy when one noted he was looking at them.

  The idea of a tail spooked him enough to the point where he called the police. He was directed to lead them to the nearest police station while the police identified the perpetrators through video camera feeds along the way.

  When he arrived at the designated location, the police pounced, but the SUV swerved up onto a curb, passed through a tight alley through a wood fence and got away. A second car came up at a significant speed and was stopped. That one turned out to be Lagroose Industries security. The group of four guards admitted that they were ordered to watch him as a protection detail, but they had stayed too far back.

  Jamey said no, not them, the two he had seen had been female. He described them to a PC sketch artist while the investigators tried to track their vehicle. The computer ran their likeness past facial recognition program from homes and cameras in the area. They got a hit on the SUV, and a fresh hit when the SUV was found in a parking garage abandoned. The police immediately shut out security and Jamey though.

  For his part in the adventure, Jamey was escorted back to orbit by the non-smiling Lagroose Industries security detail. When he got topside, he was informed by Roman that he couldn't go groundside again. That pissed him off. He ranted but was informed if he wanted to go down again he would have to resign and give up his seat on Daedalus. That cooled him off. He stormed off, fuming.

  Chapter 14

  January 2159

  Hannah got a spot as a medical intern in the Lagroose-backed Newtek College. They had a pretty good medical graduate program, one geared for space medicine. It was a bit heavy on cloning and organ transplant procedures though, a lot more than she liked. She insisted on a broader field.

  Induced pluripotent stem cells was a century-old science but still stumbling along at a glacial pace in her eyes. So much more could be done with the field but not on Earth, which brought her back to space and the urge to go there.

  Since she hadn't had much help picking courses initially, she went for a shotgun approach but one geared for ships life. A ship's doctor had to know a broad spectrum of modern medicine but be a country doctor with tons of hands-on experience, which was why she continued to volunteer at the campus medicine clinic.

  She was actually on campus; something that amused and amazed her. It was bright, a mix of modern and classical architecture. The stone facades were quite nice on some of the buildings; they gave an added weight to the history and English courses. Fortunately, she'd completed those in advance so she didn't have to attend them.

  On her initial tour of the labs they ran into a swearing woman trying to fix some piece of electronic hardware. Her guide was about ready to push the small knot of interns along, but Hannah stepped in.

  The two-meter tall box was a server rack, quite ancient but still functional apparently. Or normally functional, she reasoned. “Problem?”

  “The damn thing won't see the card that was installed. They sent me here out of the blue to fix it. I've seen them back home and fixed a few but this thing is pissing …,” a female voice said from behind the rack. “And now I'm tangled again in the cables,” the woman sighed. “What a first day! Can this get any worse?”

  “Ah,” Hannah said, checking the lights. The middle rack had red lights, everything else was green.

  “Come on, Miss Castill, we have a schedule,” the guide urged. “She can fix it on her own.”

  “The damn ancient piece of shit should be junked,” the woman behind the rack said. “Damn it! Now where did this cable plug into?”

  “Um,” Hannah looked at the rows of computer trays and then picked one out with a new red LED. The LED was for the network connection, and it was flashing balefully. She traced it over to the number someone had thoughtfully written on a piece of faded yellow tape. “It says here number six. Top,” she said.

  “Six at the top, thanks,” the woman said.

  While she worked on that, Hannah pulled out the server tray that was faulty. It had just enough play in the cables to let her slide it out on the drawer arms where she could get at it. She took a look but didn't see anything wrong.

  “Should you be doing that?” the guide asked. Someone snapped gum, clearly bored.

  “I've done it before,” Hannah said absently as she traced the power connections from the power supply. Everything looked good. The fans were functioning … She frowned thoughtfully. She was pretty sure the girl had connected everything in the back; there was only so many ways to connect the cables and each were different. So if that wasn't the problem …

  She started checking the card seating. She flipped the server off then pulled each card, blew, then reseated it. There were four memory cards and a couple expansion cards for something she wasn't sure about. Additional storage memory possibly. Then she checked to make certain each connection was properly seated. When she was finished, she flipped the on switch again. The machine beeped once when it finished its POST check. She stepped back to see the tiny LEDs were all green. “All good,” she said, pushing the tray back into its place.

  “Huh? What'd you do?” the girl behind the rack demanded, pulling herself out. “No way!” she said, looking at the string of green beads.

  “She sure showed you,” an intern said in amusement. “Some tech you turned out to be. A medic had to fix a sick computer.”

  Hannah shrugged. Showing up the engineering intern assigned to the task hadn't been her intent. The woman was thin but in a silver exoframe. It didn't help that she also wore a skirt that kept getting tangled by static electricity or caught on things that stuck out. She had some nasty scratches on her exposed thigh but didn't seem to mind them.

  “Hey, wait, I know you; you're Isley Irons,” the intern who had heckled the engineering apprentice said, pointing at her. “From Mars right?”

  The blond nodded, studying Hannah.

  Hannah hadn't recognized the last name until another intern gushed on about the Irons family of Mars. Then it clicked. Her eyes widened in surprise briefly. The intent gaze of the other teenager made her blush and look away. She indeed was from Mars and had to wear an exosuit walker to adjust to Earth's 1G gravity, that explained that, Hannah thought. Despite coming from Mars, she was tall, a head taller than Hannah topping out nearly two meters in height. She had a long face and blond spiky pixy haircut. She wasn't quite androgynous, but she didn't have much of a chest to show off her gender easily. She made up for her body by dressing as feminine as possible. Hannah judged the girl was overcompensating both with the slutty outfit and over-abundance of makeup. Or she'd watched too many TV shows and had thought that was the standard look. Which in a way it was, Earth had so many fashions, trends, and clicks it wasn't funny.

  “How'd you do that? How'd you know what to do? This machine is ancient. They said it's over fifty years old. Maybe more,” Isley said.

  “Why keep using it then?” the guide asked.

  Isley shrugged and glanced at her. “If it ain't broke, don't fix it. On Mars we keep things running well past their service life times. Back in the day that was normal; now it's tradition. I think they kept this running so people can do computer sims and stuff. The grad students,” she said, e
ying Hannah and then the other interns.

  “My dad taught me,” Hannah said quietly. Isley grunted. “Your exoframe was getting in the way back there, right?”

  Isley nodded slowly. “It kept catching on the wires and cables,” she said in disgust. She reached over and grabbed a water bottle. She carefully unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

  “You move like a robot.”

  “Well, you would too with this thing on. I can't move easily in Earther grav despite the supplements and shots,” Isley said defensively. She rubbed her right bicep as Hannah nodded in sympathy.

  “Your exoframe, it hadn't allowed you to get your hand into the confined space to check to see if the cards had been seated properly and the connections plugged in. So you skipped checking that to check the back. Am I right?” Hannah asked.

  Isley blushed a bit. “Yeah,” she muttered, looking down and away. “Something like that.”

  “You thought a cable was unplugged,” Hannah said. “The computer won't see the cards unless the connections are there, and if there is a bit of dust, those tiny pins get gunked up. Or the chip won't get in because a dust bunny is where it shouldn't be. Or someone knocked a connection loose. I thought a bug or something had gotten in there. Spiders have been known to get inside and wreak havoc too,” she said shaking her head. “Next time try a couple blasts of air before you put it all together,” Hannah advised. “And pull the tray all the way out so you can get at it easier,” she said.

  “I didn't put it together. I was called in to fix it,” Isley said in her own defense.

  “Oh.”

  “And FYI, I didn't know the tray could come out like that. Not until you did it.”

  “They threw you in the deep end here, didn't they?” Hannah asked.

  Isley nodded, looking away again. “Sink or swim,” she muttered.

  “Sometimes it's nice to have a helping hand and a fresh set of eyes,” Hannah said. “And not be afraid to ask for help.”

  “If you knew that, why'd you choose medicine over engineering?” Isley asked as Hannah ducked her head and moved out of the electronics room.