First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (52 page)

"What?"
Wanda asked exasperated by the silence.

He
chuckled. "It seems someone at the brokerage had a falling out
and started their own brokerage. They took off with the keys to our
accounts as well as others. A lawsuit is in the works," he
sighed and rubbed his brow. "That means we may need an attorney
as well." He shook his head. "Time to talk to Bob." He
sat back with a groan. "I hate lawyers, you always feel a little
slimy after dealing with one," he grumped. Wanda chuckled.

"Are
we almost ready to go to Olympus Mons?" Mr. Treadwell asked
Luigi.

Luigi
smiled. "We're setting up a pair of half way points now. In fact
there is a team out setting up the second one right now. I am looking
over the map of the route mission control generated looking for safe
places to stop for the night."

Mrs.
Treadwell nodded. "And places we can hide in a solar storm too I
hope?" She smiled.

Luigi
nodded. "Right. Doctor Hotamba is coming with us, he minored in
vulcanology. He is very excited," Luigi chuckled.

Mr.
Treadwell smiled. "Well, glad it won’t just be pleasure
trip."

Luigi
smiled. "We'll do our best to make it worth your while. Mario
and Joyce are working on a balloon craft, but I doubt it will be
ready any time soon. The skin isn't a problem, it is the ribs,"
he sighed.

"I've
seen it. It looks like a dirigible. Are you sure it is safe?"
Mrs. Treadwell asked.

"Mario
is going to use helium in the bags." She nodded. "The
biggest problem is it won’t be very fast, and if we run into a
solar flare event, anyone on board will be cooked,” Luigi
explained. Both Treadwell’s winced.

Luigi
nodded soberly. "I'd like to make it a robotic craft, something
that we could haul scientific instruments with for Doctor Asanti.
He's excited. Mario made a test balloon and launched a science
package. If it lands on our path we'll need to make a detour to pick
it up," Luigi shrugged.

Mr.
Treadwell nodded. "The more we know, the more we grow." He
smiled to his wife who nodded.

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

"We
have a problem," the Senator growled as he sat across from Dr.
Zubrin. Nick looked a little uncomfortable sitting next to Zubrin.

"Which
is?" Dr. Zubrin asked tiredly.

"Well,
it seems the reds; that is the Chinese have copied the plasma rocket
design. They are planning on launching their own with the Ruskies,"
the Senator growled. "See, American ingenuity being stolen
again!" He waved his hands up in the air. Nick tried to keep a
poker face.

"Well,
to be honest, the nuclear reactor design is Russian sir," Dr.
Zubrin replied. The Senator stared. "The plasma rocket design,
well, we perfected it, but it has been on the table for forty years."
Zubrin shrugged. "And in Sci-Fi for much longer. Shows like Star
Trek used it," he explained. He raised his hands. "Not much
we can do about it."

He
looked at the Senator. "Well, we can't let them take over space
while we sit on our hands!" the Senator growled.

"We
can't do much sir, congress cut funding remember?" Nick asked
softly.

The
Senator gave him a long look then sighed. "You're right."
He shook his head. "So, we need more money?" He looked over
to Zubrin expectantly.

"Yes
and no. We need to ante in with the Russians and Chinese for the new
rocket, so we can have a say on its use." Zubrin studied the
Senator.

After
a moment the Senator nodded. "Right," he growled. "No
way are we turning over the entire solar system to them." He
shook his head.

"Well
sir, America was founded by pioneers. I don't see any reason we
shouldn't lead the way, space is big enough for all of us," Nick
replied.

"You're
damn tooten it is. If they can do it, so can we," the Senator
huffed.

Zubrin
nodded. "Right, and by keeping the program working we can keep
thousands of men and women working, with their pay going into the
local economy. Now that we have the gas miner platform, we can even
pay for it without touching tax payer money..." Zubrin finished.

The
Senator paused. "You’re serious about that?"

Nick
nodded. "The first load is coming back next year sir," he
answered.

"Right.
I never expected it to work," the Senator admitted and shook his
head.

Nick
chuckled. "If an Iron's is on board, I wouldn't bet against it."

The
Senator smiled and nodded. That was true enough; the Irons brothers
had worked wonders. No one in space history could believe how well
everything had gone off. "Right. You did all right with them;
they're a credit to their nation." He looked up. "Are they
coming back?" he asked finally, not sure if he wanted an answer.

Nick
shrugged. "I don't know sir; they have an entire world to
explore and terraform. I bet they will be busy for a while," he
answered and then shrugged.

Zubrin
chuckled. "Even though there is ten lifetimes of work and
exploring, I don't think either of them will sit still for too long.
Too tame for them," he said dryly.

The
senator shook his head and smiled. "Right." He chuckled
with them.

Tragedy strikes:

Bruce
and Mary grinned as they reached the top. The held hands and walked
in unison as they reached the lip of the crater wall. "One small
step for man, one big one for a pair of Treadwell’s," Mary
said.

Bruce
chuckled. "Amen to that." He squeezed her hand then let go
to drive the flag into the regolith. He recaptured her hand and
kissed it. "My Martian princess," he teased, echoing Mario.
She blushed.

He
chuckled. "I'm not sure that shade of pink goes with your makeup
or outfit dear," he continued to tease. Her blush deepened. They
waved to Luigi who was holding the camera.

"Ladies
and gentlemen, the Treadwell’s have done it, the first persons
to the top of Olympus Mons," Luigi reported. Luigi lingered on
them for a few minutes until Bruce waved him off.

He
panned around to see Doctor Hotamba taking samples. "Here is
Doctor Hotamba, South African geologist and resident Martian
vulcanoligist taking samples..." The Doctor looked up and waved,
then went back to tapping at a rock. He held up a sample to the sun,
then put it in his bag and started writing on it with a grease pen.

"All
business. Nothing for the folks back home?" Bruce asked. Luigi
panned back to him.

Bruce
waved. "Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to say, now that we
have done it, gone where no man or woman...” He looked at his
wife with a smile. "Have gone before, now it is your turn.
You're turn to step out, to follow your dreams. Look where they
brought us!" He threw his hands apart and spun around. Luigi
panned around in a three sixty then back to Bruce. "Folks, I
know a lot of you will say we did this because we had a lot of money.
True. Entirely true. But Mary and I weren't born with wealth. Both of
us started out the children of middle class Americans. If we can get
here, then you can do it too."

He
waved then turned to look down into the caldera. "Okay, we're
going to move on to go down into the caldera and take a look around."
Mary knelt and started rapping safety pins into the rocks and
regolith. Luigi covered her for a few minutes then panned back to
Doctor Hotamba who was taking photos of an interesting rock. He
turned back to the Treadwell’s just as they hooked up their
safety lines.

"What
are you...?” He started to ask.

Bruce
looked up. "See you below!" He stepped backward and down.
Mary followed. Luigi huffed as he rushed to the top with Doctor
Hotamba behind him.

"They're
crazy!" Hotamba said.

Luigi
chuckled as Bruce looked up and waved. "Well, it definitely got
me awake." He watched as they walked backwards down the inside
slope of the caldera then unclipped at the bottom. "Folks for
those of you watching at home, the Treadwell’s have just
entered the caldera, the mouth of the volcano. They are in the
center; there are two craters to either side," he said for the
viewers watching the video. Luigi panned from left to right so they
could be seen, then back onto the Treadwell’s. Bruce and Mary
were hugging in the exact center. He zoomed in for a moment to watch
them break the embrace to hold each other's forearms, staring into
each other's eyes.

"Talk
about a great couple." Luigi zoomed back out then turned his
focus on Doctor Hotamba. "So Doctor, have you found anything
interesting?"

The
Doctor chuckled. "Well, from the preliminary readouts the sulfur
chloride level indicates a possible rise in magma. Whether that is
because of the impact, or some Vulcan activity is unknown. We will
need several readings to confirm the readings and to determine if the
volcano will erupt." Luigi heard a gasp and spun, focusing on
the Treadwell’s.

"Did
he say erupt?" Mary asked, suddenly concerned about where she'd
put herself.

Hotamba
chuckled. "Yes, but it may not be for years," he replied.
Luigi turned back to him as Mary murmured.

"Oh,
that's good to know. Just to be safe though Bruce." She
indicated the slope. He chuckled and nodded.

 ...*...*...*...*...

"We
need an export, something other than science," Mario sighed
rubbing his nose.

Luigi
looked up to Mario. He had just gotten back from the Olympus Mons
trip and was dog tired. He rubbed his brow. He wasn't sure how Mario
had managed everything over the years. "Yeah, you’re just
figuring that out?" He shook his head. "We've been racking
our brains for the past seven years big brother, trust me, we've
thought of a lot, but nothing really stands out," Luigi replied
disgusted.

Mario
sat down. "I remember in Zubrin's book he mentioned exporting
Deuterium... We have the Deuterium extractor, it taps the hydrogen
and we get about a fifty percent efficiency on its output. Most of
that goes to the reactors... I bet we could bump it up a bit, maybe
we could export some?" he asked thoughtfully as he looked to his
brother.

Luigi
shook his head. "Drop in the bucket. In order to make a big
impact we would have to export over two thousand metric tons a year
to keep expanding."

Mario
sighed. "What about keep our heads above water and grow slow?"
Wanda asked from the doorway. Both men turned to her. She smiled.
Betsy was behind her. They came in and sat on their husband's laps.

"Hmmm..."
Luigi sat back thinking after he hugged Betsy. “Missed you,”
he murmured and kissed her. She smiled as he rubbed the small of her
back.

"Let's
start small genius, maybe a ton or two each transit. We already
supply the ferries with fuel; why not send up a little extra? Bob can
set something up on his end to deal with it," Betsy suggested.

Luigi
nodded. "We can make fuel bags now, so that is not a problem,"
Mario suggested.

"Right.
And if we load the ferry down with fuel, it won’t even need
fuel for the return jaunt here," Wanda suggested.

Mario
frowned. "As long as they don't break down,” he sighed.
"Or run out of reactor fuel. Hon, I don't suppose you found any
processed uranium lying around out there?" he teased.

She
shook her head. "No way, even if I find it, I ain't touchin it.
Mama didn't raise no fool." They chuckled at that.

"So,
I see you’re getting big, getting too big for your britches?"
Mario leaned over and glanced at Betsy's growing belly. She'd figured
it out while Luigi had been on his historic jaunt. She'd thought
she'd been putting on weight because of all the good food, or so she
said. She'd broken the news to Luigi over the radio since her brother
in law wouldn't keep his big mouth shut.

She
rubbed it. "A bit, I can't fit into my skin suit unless I suck
in. Another week or two and I am going to be grounded," she
sighed.

Mario
chuckled. "Little brother a father, I never did think of it.
Going to have a brat smarter then you finally...” He smiled at
Luigi.

Luigi
chuckled. "Yeah, fatherhood, scary," he said and pretended
to shiver. He smiled up at Betsy. "She makes it all worth it
though," he said softly as he stared up into her eyes.

Wanda
squirmed a bit until Mario hugged her tight. "We'll have our
turn someday dear. Don't sweat it," he murmured into her ear.
She sighed softly.

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

“The
asteroid conglomerate is starting to pick up steam; we've managed to
get Columbus off the ground. She's in space and now that she's
assembled she will be used to carry an exploration team to an Aten
asteroid in a couple months.” Zubrin looked tired but elated.
“They are targeting a rare metal's asteroid. I had to point out
to our friends on the hill that over thirty percent of the world's
nickel comes from a single asteroid impact in Sudbury Canada,”
he said dryly. Luigi nodded at this. He had used it in some of his
own arguments.

“I
wanted to get a test flight out to Mars but the nixed it in
committee. I do have some good news; we have purchased several
slightly used space planes at discount prices so we can get our
people to orbit on this end on our own dime.” Zubrin smiled.
Luigi frowned but then shrugged. It wasn't his problem.

“I
am hoping we can get a few more loads of gear out to you. I've got
over a hundred thousand people on the colony list now, it's insane,”
Bob said and chuckled. “We even have some people trying to
charter their own flights,” he waved a dismissive hand, as if
that would ever really fly. “I had the FBI look into it, two
are legit but don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting off
the ground, one was a money scam, and another just might work. They
are trying to negotiate something with us now.” He grimaced.
Luigi blinked.