First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (16 page)

"What
is it? A mmo?" Jim leaned over his daughter's shoulder. He
watched as she piloted a craft down then crashed it.

"Darn!
I over corrected," she said in disgust, letting go of the
controls. She sat back.

"My
turn my turn!"

Jim
looked over to Billy. "A flight simulator?"

Billy
smirked. "Not just that dad, check this out." He clicked
the mouse a few times and a Space program page came up. "See,
MAV simulator, flight sim, Hab sim, Plasma jet sim, SSTO sim, that's
what Lieandra was just playing. There is even an outdoor sim! Mondo
cool right?" Billy asked as he looked up in earnest at his dad.

"Where
did you find this?" Jim asked, now genuinely curious. Billy
smiled. "You didn't," he accused. Jim looked at his son and
crossed his arms.

"Just
a power search dad, and okay, I cracked the server password. It was
pretty lame, someone was stupid about it." He clicked on the
outdoor sim. "Check this out!" He ran through the airlock,
then out onto a Martian plane.

"Why
haven't I heard about this?" Jim asked, standing straight and
crossing his arms. He rubbed his chin in thought.

"I
dunno. It has some bugs, but the graphics are better'n anything the
eggheads have had," Billy replied. Billy's avatar bounced then
climbed into a rover. "See?" He made his way into the
cockpit then started driving. "I can even use virtual goggles if
I
had
a pair." He glanced at his dad then back, rubbing
in the usual complaint.

"Yeah
yeah, maybe for Christmas son. Now you said it is in the Space
program server? Send me a link." He waved as he left. "Oh
and son, good work."

...*...*...*...*...

"Benny
we are getting a lot of traffic on that sim server farm the boss set
up. It is through the roof!" Julia grimaced as she a computer
tech showed her a report.

"Ah,
guys you better see this," Nick said, coming into the room.

"Wait
a minute. What do you mean; traffic is up... is he running another
math problem?" Julia shook her head.

"No
really guys." Nick picked up the TV remote and turned on the
corner TV. He flicked through the channels. A news report came up.

"And
in related news a reporter has discovered a secret Mars simulator
NASA and the space program have created...."

Benny
looked up startled. "Crap. Julia, shut it down now." Julia
looked at the TV. He snapped his fingers. "Now." She rushed
out.

"Is
this some sort of method for training? Or is it a way for them to
create a fake Mars mission and perpetuate a hoax on us all? More on
that in a moment," the news anchor said. Benny scowled.

"Damn,"
Nick sighed, mouthing curse words for a long moment. "It was
going to happen sooner or later. Luigi wanted it public when we were
done training. I didn't expect the conspiracy nut hoax angle though."

Mario
came in. "Did you just see that?" He motioned with his
thumb over his shoulder. "We're working with Hollywood to create
a hoax for the Mars mission like the government did in 1969? Where do
they come up with crap like that?"

Nick
sighed and clutched at his head before running his hands through his
now thinned hair. "Great, we aren't even in flight yet and the
damn loony toons have already started."

Mario
shook his head. "You gotta love them."

"Are
you kidding me?" Billy bounced in excitement. "We can go?"

His
father smiled. "Well, since my editor said he would pay for the
gas, yes. I have to write an expose article for the post."

Billy
jumped one fist thrusting for the ceiling. "YEEES!"

His
sister smiled. "So were going? I can't believe NASA invited us!"

Her
father chuckled. "I guess they were impressed with your
brother’s scores." He teased Billy. "Or they are
putting a positive spin on things. At least they aren't sending him
to juvie for
hacking
a government server," he said
sternly, giving his son the evil eye.

Billy
looked down and blushed. "They wouldn't do that would they?"

His
father turned a stern eye on him then waggled his finger. "No
more hacking! If you ever do, you lose your computer, your phone, and
your I pod permanently."

Billy
gulped. "Permanent? For real?" His father nodded. "Geeze."
His sister rolled her eyes.

"Well,
you asked for it," Jim warned.

...*...*...*...*...

"So
Billy, interested in going to Mars?" Luigi asked when they
finally arrived. Billy nodded eagerly. Luigi smiled. "I took a
look at your sim scores. Not bad, but you need more work on the
flight simulator."

Billy
turned dagger eyes on his sister who blushed. "Well, I had a bit
of
help
there." Luigi caught the look then smothered a
chuckle with a cough.

Jim
and Wendy couldn't. "Yeah, she pranged the SSTO the first time
the kids showed me the sim. I can't believe you built that."

Luigi
smiled. "Well, we need every training aid we can think of."

Jim
looked a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry about my son hacking." He
nudged Billy who nodded.

"Not
to worry, we were planning on going public; you just accelerated our
plans a few months," Luigi replied and then shrugged. The game
engine team were a little put out over the exposure, at least until
they started thinking of it as a Beta test. "We've cloned the
server farm so the public has its own sim to use. We may have to
double it and add another farm, usage is pretty high."

Billy's
eyes were wide. "Wow!"

Luigi
chuckled. "So, as I was saying Billy, still interested in going
to Mars?" Luigi asked. He gave the boy an intense look.

"Yeah,
it's cool. I love the graphics," Billy replied and squirmed a
bit.

His
father caught the look. "Wait you mean for real?" he
demanded, turning on Luigi.

Luigi
cocked an eyebrow. "In the future yes if you can pass the exams,
keep your nose clean, and
if
your school records pass the
board."

Billy
blushed. "I have problems with English."

Luigi
chuckled. "But not with computers obviously."

His
sister smiled. "Does that include me?" Her father spotted
the signs; she had a crush on Luigi. She twirled her hair with her
fingers and smiled at him. Crush for sure. He groaned softly and
shook his head.

"Well,
you need to do a bit better on the simulator young lady if you want
to walk on Mars," Luigi replied seriously, ignoring the crush
signs. He looked her over as she blushed and looked down. "Of
course you may want to try one of the other simulators; you may be
better in that skill then flying."

Billy
chuckled. "Hopefully, she can't get any worse flying," he
teased. She looked up and glared.

"Now
kids, behave," Jim rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder as
she swelled.

"Did
you enjoy the tour?" Luigi asked, looking from one to the other
then to Wendy who nodded. "Did you get a chance at the full sim
mock up?" Luigi asked.

Billy
shook his head. "There is a crew training in it now."

Luigi
checked the schedule. "Ah, yeah, well there is a fifteen minute
window coming up, let's go give it a shot."

Billy
bounced. "For real?" he asked, voice cracking.

Luigi
smiled. The kids jumped and ran out. Wendy looked confused. "Come
on!" Luigi chuckled as she hastily obeyed.

"Hold
on, I can't run in high heels you know," she grumped.

"Thank
you again for not prosecuting my son," Jim said, shaking Luigi's
hand. Luigi shrugged it off. "If I may ask, how old are you?"
Jim asked.

Luigi
chuckled. "Twenty two. I am an early bloomer. I was recruited
for this a little over a year and a half ago."

Jim
groaned. "Great, all I need. She was bad enough before."

Luigi
chuckled. "Adolescent crush. Teenage crush." He smiled. "I
don't envy you in the slightest." He shook his head. "Think
your son is up to this?"

Jim
sighed. "Maybe, and it might get him to focus. He's so into
games and not really into a career. Going to Mars..."

Luigi
nodded. "Well, we also have an opening for the public server
manager. I can sign him on as a part time understudy, but he has to
keep his grades up."

Jim
nodded. "Talk about an incentive!"

Luigi
chuckled. "It worked for me when I was young." He smiled as
Jim chuckled.

...*...*...*...*...

"Mister
Teutopolis, have you heard about this lawsuit?" The senator
slapped the papers down.

Nick
frowned and then nodded cautiously. "Yes sir, a court appointed
legal rep gave me a subpoena as well."

The
Senator shook his head. "This nut job is claiming he owns the
entire solar system?" the Senator demanded.

Nick
grimaced. "Not just the solar system sir, the entire universe.
He claims the space treaties allowed it."

The
senator frowned. "Oh he does?" he asked dangerously. There
was just a slight hint of annoyance and abused pride in that. It was
an opening Nick realized, one he was ready to exploit. Nothing got to
people more than thinking someone else was beating them to the punch
and will deny them their rightful due.

"Yes
sir, he alleges he sent a letter of ownership claiming all property
outside of Earth orbit to the US and UN as well as Russia some time
ago. Since there was no response he took it as fate accompli,"
Nick explained and then waved.

"S'that
a fact." The senator sat back amused. "And what do you
think we should do about it?" he asked.

Nick
smiled. "Well sir, I'm not an attorney, so the legal aspects are
above my pay grade, but in the exercise of...justice... I did have a
thought." The senator waved him on. "Did he pay property
taxes on all this land?" Nick asked slyly and then waved to the
picture of Mars and the moon.

The
senators guffawed. "By gum, that's hilarious."

Senator
Bryd took a sip of water. "And what is this all worth?"

Nick
shrugged. "What is the worth of a planet? I think that is for a
bean counter to figure out. I would estimate in the trillions.
According to Zubrin's book, about thirty seven billion in 1994
dollars."

Bryd
smiled. "And the property taxes..." He looked over the
Grantham. "Oh, I like it, and he hasn't paid back taxes on all
this..." He chuckled. "Well, you did give us food for
thought. Made my day."

Nick
smiled and rested his hand over his heart. "We aim to please
sir."

Grantham
nodded. "Okay, back to this proposed SSTO, you have the first
and it's back up, but you want the back up to fly to Mars as well?"
Nick nodded. "Any chance we can use it here?" Grantham
asked, keenly interested in continuing the program. He was a little
surprised that the SSTO was on time so far and under budget. The
Venture Star couldn't do that. Hell, no program could.

Nick
shook his head. "It was designed for Mars and its thin
atmosphere and lighter gravity quotient Senator. It wouldn't survive
here."

The
senator harrumphed. "How did you make it anyway?"

Nick
smiled. "We took off the shelf components designed by Lockheed
for the X-33 program. The linear aerospike engines mainly and the
basic lifting body design."

Grantham
nodded. "Didn't they fail because of the tanks being unproven?"
The Senator asked.

Nick
nodded. "Well, yes and no, the tanks were built three weeks
after
the program was terminated by an independent
contractor."

Grantham
frowned. "You’re telling me we paid out two billion to
shut the program down and three weeks later someone comes up with a
fix?" he asked slowly.

Nick
nodded. "Yes sir. For fifty million dollars," Nick
deadpanned.

The
Senator stared. “They wanted a billion to fix the problem and
this company did it for fifty million?” he demanded, thoroughly
annoyed now. Nick nodded. "Well, don't that beat all." The
Senator sighed as he shook his head. "Damn." He rubbed his
jaw thoughtfully. He was getting all sorts of flack from the big
three about the Mars nuts, now he wasn't so sure he wanted to listen
to the crap anymore.

"My
sentiments exactly sir."

...*...*...*...*...

"Sir,
does it concern you that you that you and your family are targeted by
the green movement? Greenpeace has staked protesters at your home and
work..." a reporter trailed off then looked up expectantly at
Luigi who smiled.

"Not
at all. I am a firm believer in free speech." He shrugged. "Next
question." He pointed to another reporter in the opposite
corner.

"Giles
Norbert, Washington Post. So it doesn't bother you at all? The
protests? Noise?"

Luigi
chuckled. "Well, since I am a member of Greenpeace I happen to
know that the protests go with the job. I know it isn't personal."

The
room became quiet, and then exploded in questions. "You’re
a member? And they are protesting you?"

He
smiled. "If you'll quiet down for a moment?" he asked,
motioning for them to settle down. The room quieted. "Yes, I
have been a member since I was twelve. I am a firm believer in a
clean Earth. I believe in removing pollution, and getting this planet
away from generating green house gases. That is why we are moving
forward with the space program. With the gas mining program alone we
could accelerate weaning the US off of fossil fuels by as much as ten
years." Reporters began to babble. "The gas mining project
has an estimated return of two hundred fifty Billion dollars, yes,
billion with a B."

Several
people gasped. Shutters and bulbs clicked and flashed. Luigi tried
not to let his eyes water. "That isn't exactly mind blowing news
folks; it is after all in your brief. It has been in the hand outs
since day one." Several rustled as they dug the hand outs out. A
few reporters leaned over the shoulders of others to see. "Page
eighty one folks," Luigi said and then smiled helpfully. "I
would walk you through it but I have a pressing engagement. Here is
Wendy to help you." He waved to Wendy who smiled and took the
podium. He made his escape quickly.