First Steps (Founding of the Federation)
Read First Steps (Founding of the Federation) Online
Authors: Chris Hechtl
First Steps
Founding of the Federation
Book 1
By Chris “Jekyll” Hechtl
First Steps, book 1 of the Founding of the Federation Series.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters (with a few notable
exceptions) and events portrayed in this book are fictional. The
exceptions are Dr. Zubrin, Dr. Newman, Dr. Mackenzie, and Dr. Bowyer
who each graciously gave permission to use them and their work in
this book. Any resemblance to other people is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book and
or portions thereof in any form.
Copyright 2010 by Chris Hechtl
Cover art Copyright 2009 by Chris Hechtl
Dedication:
To the pioneers of tomorrow, Dr. Zubrin, Dr. Newman, Dr Mackenzie,
and Dr. Bowyer. Also special thanks to Anne McCaffrey, David Weber,
John Ringo, Christopher Stasheff, and Mrs. Phillips my high school
English teacher.
Thanks for the inspiration folks.
Keep reaching for the stars.
Author's Note:
This book was originally written in December of 2008 and thus
reflects a great deal of that time period. I have recently re-edited
the book, mainly to clean up the proof reading mistakes. I apologize
for the lack of foundation. I guess you could say I was pretty
excited and dived right into the book when I wrote it. :)
This book is a bit of backstory, explaining both the founding of the
Irons family tree and its place in history (see Wandering Engineer)
and the founding of the Federation John Irons served.
Table of Contents:
...
Appendixes and references:
Chapter
1
Recruiting drive:
The
ball swished into the basket, rebounded off the angled three ring
binder under the basket and back to Luigi. He dribbled it a few
times, and then tossed it for another perfect shot. "Will you
stop? That's getting on my nerves." Mario's familiar complaint
was as usual ignored. Wanda shushed him. She was resting her head in
his lap, legs up so she could prop her sketch pad up. He played with
her hair as she worked on drawing Luigi.
"How
come I'm not the one getting his portrait?" he teased.
She
smiled. "He's the handsome one remember?" Mario chuckled.
"Point,
set match Mario," Luigi replied, not even looking over to them
as he got another shot in the basket.
"Wrong
game genius," Mario teased. Luigi shrugged.
"So
are you going to the space initiative group meeting?" Wanda
asked, adding the finishing touches.
Mario
leaned over to get a better view. "Oh, good touch, I like the
horns and tail. Pitchfork needs work though," he commented.
Luigi
looked up affronted. "Hey!" He missed his next shot. "Awe,
now you see, you broke my streak!" He got up and came over. "Let
me see that!" A play fight ensued since Wanda was reluctant to
show off her latest masterpiece. The brothers managed to restrain her
long enough for Luigi to capture the sketch pad. Of course Mario's
contribution ended up with kissing her, a nice distraction from the
tickling fingers. "Oh not bad," Luigi said, pursing his
lips. He turned it back and forth. "I think you caught my good
side. Nice use of reflections..." He hummed as he studied it.
"So
are we going?" Wanda asked trying to capture her pad once more.
"Going
to what? Oh the Zubrin thing? Yeah sure why not, I could use a good
laugh," Luigi chuckled.
"Luigi
no way am I going to be some NASA ninny. Dressing up in a suit and
tie, playing kiss ass with politicians. I want to get my hands
dirty," Mario grumped.
Luigi
chuckled. "Let’s just hear what the man has to say."
He got up and tossed Wanda the pad.
"Gee
thanks. Hey! You took it!" He smiled as he pinned it up on his
bulletin board.
"I
wasn't finished!" she complained.
"You
are now, if we're going we better get going, you know how traffic is
across campus." Luigi headed for the door.
"I'm
coming..." Wanda groaned. "I didn't even get to do my
hair!" She ran her hands through her hair then grabbed a brush
from the desk and brushed it quickly.
"Come
on you lazy canuke, we have to go see the comedian!" Mario
teased. She tossed the brush at Mario who ducked laughing.
He
grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet. He played with her for a
few seconds, wrestling and tickling and then ended it in a kiss. She
came up for air eyes twinkling. "Sure you don't want to blow
this off and stay here? Got the room to ourselves...." Mario
suggested with a grin.
"Come
on, I don't want to miss it." She pulled him out but looked over
her shoulder giving him a lingering mischievous look. "Later, if
you’re up for it we can play," she teased with a coy
smile. He chuckled and allowed himself to be led.
...*...*...*...*...
"So
what's the big deal? NASA tried to cancel the space station in favor
of revisiting Apollo and that fell flat, now this?" Mario
grumbled.
"Sit
your butt down Mario.”
”Not
fair that he is bigger than me, I'm the older brother," Mario
grumped. At five foot three and a half inches, he was the shortest in
his family. His mom was five foot nine. Luigi was six foot one. Mario
was built squat like a football player, with a massive torso. He
loved football, but his small stature left him on the bench during
high school so he went back into his first love, tinkering.
"Yeah,
I could have told them taking ten years and a one hundred billion
plus to build the thing, and then throw it away after five years
would've gone over like a fart in church," Casey a classmate
grumbled.
"For
what? Apollo on steroids? The Russians have had a heavy lifter for
thirty years, why reinvent the wheel now? Billions wasted. NASA is a
shit hole run by idiots," another classmate grumped. "Come
on this is bogus." He got up and led a few others out.
"No
love lost there," Luigi replied as he took their seat. He waved
to Mario and Wanda to take the empties. "Yeah NASA has a focus
problem. They can't multi task worth shit, and they can't get away
from the stuck in the past idiots," he sighed.
"Constellation
is interesting, but going back to the moon? They are throwing away
the station and all of Zubrin's best ideas to revisit the moon,"
Mario agreed. Mario sat next to Wanda.
"So
you know this guy?" Luigi asked.
Mario
grunted. "Yeah, I know of him. Remember that red book you tossed
at me the other day? The Case for Mars?" Mario asked.
Luigi
paused. "Yeah, I seem to recall something to that effect,"
Luigi smiled.
"Snot,"
Mario punched his arm.
"Bully,"
Luigi rejoined.
"Boys
boys! Honestly, I can't take you anywhere," Wanda complained.
Several of the girls around them giggled. "Now am I going to
have to separate you two?" Mario looked at his brother and
smiled. Wanda caught the look and held up her hands. "Whoa
mebucko, I said later!" The giggles turned to laughter.
Mario
sighed defeated. "Two shillings he wears a tie," someone in
the back called.
"No
bet." Luigi nodded out the window. A procession of professors
and a man wearing a cap were coming up the walk. All were wearing
ties.
"Great.
I hate ties," Mario grumped.
"Just
because you got one caught up in a set of gears once..." Luigi
teased.
Wanda
looked over eyes wide. "So that is why I can never get him to
dress up!"
Mario
grimaced. "Thanks a lot snot." He shrugged. "Yeah,
can't stand the useless things."
Wanda
gave him a lurking smile. "But you'll wear one for me right?"
she asked. He sighed. The door opened and the procession entered.
"Show
time," Luigi muttered sitting up.
...*...*...*...*...
"As
most of you here know, NASA has undergone another change in its
program directive. In October of 2009 we changed focus radically.
During the previous administration a plan to retire the Shuttle fleet
by 2010, and use Apollo style launch vehicles that were conceived. I
admit I had a small hand in the program, I was peripherally
responsible for the Ares concept." Doctor Zubrin walked back and
forth across the stage.
"When
the program directives of Constellation became public it entertained
a great deal of interest, but little enthusiasm for the project or
its costs. Four hundred million dollars for a single test flight is
ridiculous. Scrapping the station after thirty years of design and
development to revisit Apollo did not sit well with many, including
me." He held his hand over his chest. "The current
administration decided to perform a review, and then retool NASA. In
the past NASA had three goals. The space program, Science program,
and the aircraft science and testing. That's the whole National Air
and Space Administration."
He
looked around and smiled. "Well, I was brought in to take over.
I've known the NASA crew for years, I know where some of the
skeletons are buried, and I know NASA is terminally rotten. The only
way to get it out of its backward look is to shake the tree till all
the dead wood falls, then take a chain saw to the rest and start
over," he smiled.
He
surveyed his audience. “That ladies and gentlemen is where you
come in. I need young fresh people. People who grew up with computers
and are willing to use civilian grade hardware if it gets the job
done, and if it costs less." He frowned. "NASA still has a
not made here mentality, one that will have to change. We can't
afford
to repeat things just because it doesn't have the NASA
stamp of approval and manufacture."
He
sat back on the edge of the desk. "One of the first things I
have put on hold is the Ares heavy lift vehicle." Several people
gasped at that. "Yes it is my baby. But the Russians have
Energia, they've had it for over twenty years, and with a judicious
amount of American ingenuity to upgrade it, we can use it at a
fraction of the cost of the Ares platform."
Several
in the group nodded. "Most of you may know me. I bet you know
where I want NASA to go. The trick is getting John Queue public and
the politicians to listen and help," he smiled.
“So,
do you want to change the world?” Doctor Zubrin asked the
class. Mario smiled. He knew he couldn't, but his genius younger
brother might. At twenty Luigi had just completed his third
Doctorate. His little brother was quite the feather in the family's
cap of accomplishments, and he was just getting started. “We
are taking applications for the space program now,” Doctor
Zubrin continued his lecture. Wanda stepped on his foot then nodded
meaningfully to pay attention. He smiled softly.
“Doctor
Zubrin, if I may, the space program doesn't pay half as well as
corporate or private enterprise, and cannot begin to compete with the
resources or budget of DARPA. Why should we work for you?”
Luigi asked, getting up from his seat. Mario blushed as his brother
got straight to the point. He was right; they weren't planning on
going beyond lunar orbit for decades.
“Well,
Luigi right?” Luigi nodded. “Well Luigi, we need folks
like you to make that jump. The new administration has tasked us with
building a Mars mission platform in less than four years using as
much off the shelf hardware as possible.” Doctor Zubrin
suddenly had Mario's full attention. The balding man adjusted his cap
then sat down. “I bet a few of you in here have heard of me,
you know how Mars mad I am.” The group chuckled at this.