by Bob Blanton
“Fourteen is the next down, the youngest is six.”
“That’s a lot to deal with. How long before the mother gets her teaching certificate?”
Fred looked the data up, “Two more years; she’s going to start as a teacher’s assistant this fall, so she’ll get a bit of a raise then.”
“Do they need help?”
“I don’t think so. They’re in the standard program. Free rent while the mother is in school. Between the two of them, they do pretty well. Siya might do a little better if she moved out, but it seems like she wants to stay with the family.”
“Makes her all the more impressive,” Catie said.
“Yep. Are you looking for someone?”
“I’ll ask Marcie to look at her, but now that she’s got two green flags, everyone will be looking.”
“That’s right.”
“What about her boss?”
“You’re too late. That woman was picked up the next day. She’s now personnel director for . . .,” Fred looked the answer up in his HUD, “interesting, Delphi Communications picked her up.”
“Good for them.”
Chapter 8
Preparing for Guests
Catie and Liz met at Bettie’s Diner for breakfast after their morning workout. Catie was feeling pretty good since she’d only been thrown once and had nailed Liz twice with strikes.
“Hey, don’t go getting cocky on me,” Liz said as she slid into the booth across from Catie.
“Moi?” Catie said with a big grin.
“Yeah, you. I just had a bad day.”
“You mean it wasn’t because I’m getting better?”
“That too.” Liz gave Catie a big smile. “So, you’re going to be spending the day with Dr. McDowell?” Liz asked, changing the subject.
“Yes. We’re going to do some more tests on merging the wormholes. Are you looking forward to your day?” Catie asked, smiling.
“No, that’s probably why I was distracted this morning. Having to tell fifty-two families that they have to move out of their prime spots in ring six isn’t going to be fun.”
“They don’t have to move.”
“Yeah, like they’re going to like living there when we up the gravity to 1.4 Gs.”
The MacKenzie board had decided to bring the Aperanjens to Delphi Station so they could prepare for their colony mission, but since their native gravity was 1.5 Gs, they had also opted to spin the second section of Delphi Station faster so that they would have 1.4 Gs in the outer ring.
“I’d start by telling them we have to raise the gravity and see if they suggest we move them,” Catie said. “You might come off as their friend instead of the big bad wolf.”
“That might work.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Dr. McDowell . . . Dr. McDowell!”
“Oh, hi Catie. Are things ready for our test?”
“Yes, ADI has placed the probes in the systems we specified and we’ve got four asteroids and our probes for test vehicles.”
“Okay, then let’s see how far we can extend a wormhole,” Dr. McDowell said, rubbing his hands together.
It was the most animated that Catie had ever seen him. It had taken a week for the probes to be reconfigured on the Enterprise and to build the extra probes they needed. Apparently, Dr. McDowell was anxious to prove if his math correctly predicted what would happen. The two of them moved to the test consoles they had set up in preparation for the test.
“Okay, do you want to go for broke?” Catie asked.
“Why not. The math says this will work, we’ve already proved the wormholes will merge, let’s go for it.”
Catie hadn’t expected Dr. McDowell to agree, she was just trying to get him to complain, to get a rise out of him. “Well, then let’s open them up.”
The six probes were arrayed in various systems close to Earth so they could simulate a jump between Artemis and Earth. They hadn’t had the time to get the probes in place for the jump to Artemis yet, but this would be a good test example.
“Opening wormhole from Beta,” Dr. McDowell said.
“Micro-wormhole established,” Catie announced.
“Opening wormhole from Gamma to Beta.”
“We have a wormhole from Alpha to Gamma.”
They worked through the six probes until they had a wormhole snaking around the systems.
“Now that we have one established for the full distance, are we ready to power it up to max size?” Catie asked.
“Just another minute, I’m still recording the readings.”
Catie drummed her fingers on the desk while Dr. McDowell went through the readings.
“Okay, power it up.”
“Powering up.”
“Readings match my expectations. Go ahead and push an asteroid through it.”
“Pushing asteroid and one probe through,” Catie said. “There it goes, . . . and there it is.”
“Very good,” Dr. McDowell said. “Just as expected.”
“Yes, but we only did a three-jump wormhole when we first tested it. Before I go through one in the Roebuck, I’d like to see each configuration tested. Are you ready to see what happens when we make it bend around that blue giant?”
“Yes. The math isn’t as clear there. It says it will just bend around it, but that is a very large gravity well.”
“Okay, powering wormhole down to micro size. . . . Now opening a wormhole from Zeta to Epsilon.”
“They’ve merged,” Dr. McDowell announced. “Now wait while I finish my recordings.”
After a minute, Dr. McDowell nodded to Catie and she immediately increased the power to expand the wormhole.
“Holding,” Dr. McDowell said. “Another few minutes, please.”
Catie had her pointer hovering over the engage button that would send the asteroid through for the entire four minutes and thirty seconds Dr. McDowell used to collect his data. As soon as he gave her the nod, she clicked it.
“Asteroid is through,” Catie announced.
“Impressive. The wormhole has to be making a forty-degree bend around that blue giant.”
“Nice. And you know that will take four days off the passage to Artemis, eight off of a round trip,” Catie said.
“Yes, yes,” Dr. McDowell muttered as he moved to his display board and started working on the equations.
◆ ◆ ◆
“How was your day?” Liz asked as she sat down at their table at Giorgio’s on Delphi Station.
“Good, we simulated a jump from Earth to Artemis, no hitches. We even had the wormhole bend around a blue giant.”
“That’s a pretty big deal. When will we be able to get the jump points placed so the Dutchman can use them?”
“We have to talk with Daddy to confirm. Then we need to make the probes. We can use the seven we have now to seed the jumps to Artemis. They might be in place in time for Derek to use them for his trip home.”
“What about between Artemis and Paraxea?”
“We’ll have to see what Uncle Blake and Daddy agree to. I think we’re ready. But we have to finalize the issue about Paraxea knowing about the jump gates.”
“After dinner?”
“Sure. And we really should talk to Derek tomorrow. He’s got to feel like we’ve abandoned him.”
“He’s a big boy, he should be handling it just fine.”
Catie chuckled. “I guess. How did you make out with the residents of ring six? You don’t look like any of them attacked you.”
“No. Forty-six immediately begged me to move them to ring five.”
“And the other six?”
“They demanded that we not change the gravity. When I told them that we didn’t have a choice, they demanded that we pay for their move and reserve their cabin for them so they could move back into it when we reset the gravity.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Daddy, Uncle Blake, I want to finalize the jump points design and deployment,” Catie said as she started the meeting.
�
��Are we ready to send the Paraxeans their asteroid?”
“Almost. I think we should do a final test. We need to set the jump points first, then I think we should group the chunks Jimmy cut off of their asteroid when he resized it and send them through with a few empty stasis chambers on them as a final proof,” Catie said.
“You’re not just trying to get another colony run to Mangkatar are you?” Blake teased.
“Why would you think that?” Catie demanded.
“Well, you guys really made out on that last run,” Blake said sheepishly, realizing that he must have hit a sore spot.
“We did, and we’d love another, but I would never do something like that,” Catie said, obviously hurt that her uncle would think so poorly of her.
“Sorry, I was just teasing,” Blake said. “And I agree, with over a million people on that asteroid, we should err on the side of caution.”
“Okay,” Marc interrupted the tiff. “Set it up with the governor and whomever you need on your side.”
What about the colonists from the battleship?” Catie asked.
“Damn, I forgot about them. Ask the governor how he wants to handle that. We’re keeping that section of the battleship, so we have to either wake the colonists or move the stasis chambers; and we'll want those back.”
“I’ll talk to the governor about how he wants to deal with that,” Samantha offered.
“Thanks, Sam. Now, what do we need to have so we can decide on the jump points?”
“Each jump point needs a quantum relay. Uncle Blake wants them all to be able to open a wormhole large enough for them to jump through to the next system, which will cost more and use up more platinum metals, but simplifies deployment.”
“So what’s the issue?” Marc asked.
“I was getting to it. Uncle Blake and I discussed the final jump point. We were discussing whether to have a non-jump probe in the system to track what was going on and just jump the jump-probe in from an uninhabited neighboring system when we need to open a wormhole. But that begs the question of whether we should also have a non-jump probe in the alternate system so we would know what’s going on there before we jump back.”
“Why would we want to do that?” Marc asked.
“Well, the whole point of putting the jump-point into the neighboring system is so that no one can study it. What if someone were to enter the neighboring system while we were away,” Blake said.
“That seems highly unlikely. We can always add a probe later. Let’s just stay with the two. We need to be careful with how many quantum relays we use.”
“Okay, then the priority of deployment? Right now, we have Earth to Paraxea, Earth to Artemis, and Artemis to Paraxea, Earth to Mangkatar, Mangkatar to Artemis, and Mangkatar to Paraxea.”
Liz interrupted, “What about Earth to the Onisiwo system? I think we need to be prepared for whatever happens there. Who knows what the Fazullans are doing to them now?”
“When does the Solar Explorer get to Onisiwo?” Marc asked.
“It’s still a week out,” Catie said.
“Okay, let’s prioritize getting a set of jump-points from Earth to Onisiwo, then Earth to Artemis, then Mangkatar, and finally Paraxea. We can worry about the between-colony jumps later,” Marc said. “Blake, does that meet with your approval?”
“Yes, we can move things around later if we need to. What’s the story on our frigates?”
“The design is done, Ajda is starting to extrude the first hull,” Catie answered.
“Okay, timing is slower than I’d like, but I guess that would be true no matter when they were going to be done.”
“It takes time,” Catie said. “I’ll work with Ajda on the schedule. Maybe we can figure a way to speed it up.”
“Yes, and it takes priority over your next StarMerchant,” Marc said.
“I know,” Catie groaned. “I’ll start moving the probes we used for our test and place them along the path to Onisiwo. We’re already making the additional probes, so we should be able to start sending them out. It’ll take four or five weeks to deploy them.”
“Why so long?” Liz asked.
“They can only power a wormhole that’s four or five light-years distant. They can open one farther if they’re not going to jump through it. But since they have to jump through it, it takes two or three jumps to reach each jump point. We can cycle through the probes to expedite the jumps, using a different one for each jump, but they need eight hours to recharge, so we can just cycle through them once every eight hours, and the number of probes drops for each jump point since we’ll be leaving one behind.”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry I asked,” Liz said.
“Liz, are you ready to come pick up the Onisiwoens and Aperanjens?” Blake asked.
“I’m heading out on Sunday.”
“Are the accommodations ready?”
“We’ve got people moving, starting Monday. Should have the ring cleared by mid-week. Then they’ll spin Section II up to the higher speed. I’m not aware of any modifications to the cabins.”
“No, they’ve been happy with the accommodations here on Gemini Station, so that should work. Liz, how many Oryxes are you bringing out?” Blake asked.
“We’re going to use ten,” Liz replied.
“So you’re planning on four trips?”
“No, we’re going to set up a relay, so they show up at Delphi Station one at a time.”
“Smart, that will simplify the effort to bring them all out of stasis, and we don’t have room for that many here anyway,” Blake said.
“Okay, sounds like we have a plan,” Marc said. “Call if something comes up, otherwise we’ll chat when the Solar Explorer reaches the Onisiwo system.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Was that Lena I heard?” Liz asked as she came into the living room of Catie’s and her condo.
“Yes, she came to do my hair. She just left.”
Catie turned around to show off her hair. It was in a French twist. She’d opted to wear her evergreen party dress to the jazz club. Yvette had really liked it, so Catie thought she’d see if her wearing the dress would make Yvette jealous. It hit just above her knees, a snug fit that flared from the waist.
“You had her come to do a French twist? I could show you how to do it yourself.”
Catie gave Liz a glare.
“Oh, right, I forgot who I was talking to. Anyway, I love the dress. When did you get it?”
“Grandma-ma gave it to me.”
“I wish I had people giving me dresses,” Liz said.
“We’re the same size, if you need something else, grab one from my closet. I’ve got way more than I’ll ever wear. That’s a new one,” Catie said, nodding at Liz. Liz had opted for a blue cocktail dress that really hugged her body.
“I picked it up last week. I really like the new dress shop Ms. Shammas opened.”
“It is nice. Who would have thought making knockoff ship suits would lead her to owning the most exclusive dress shop in Delphi City.”
“She has an eye for style. Let’s go, our taxi is waiting.”
“Where’s Morgan?”
“At the club. She’s having Maxi guard us on the way over so she can scope out the club before we get there.”
“And that means she gets to enjoy the music,” Catie said with a small laugh. “That Morgan is always working the angles.”
◆ ◆ ◆
As Catie and Liz entered the jazz club, she nodded to Morgan, who had grabbed a seat close to the door. It didn’t give her the best view of the stage, but it gave her a view of the room and control over the door if necessary. The room was arranged in an arc in front of the stage. There were two levels, so the back tables had a nice view as well. A bar was along the side wall so the people there could sit sideways and see the stage.
“Wasn’t that Azem at the door?” Catie asked Liz.
“Yes, Morgan must have persuaded the club to let him be the doorman for tonight.”
“I’m
sure no one is going to mess with him.” Azem was 190 centimeters of solid muscle, and with his shaved head, he looked wicked.
“It’s kinda crowded,” Liz said as she observed the closely spaced tables.
“Are you worried about social distance?”
“Yeah.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. They just converted the airflow system in here to downflow. If you look, you’ll notice that some of the floor tiles are porous. There are return air vents along the bottom of the wall and along the step up to the back tier. Everything is designed to keep the flow moving downward. It actually makes it nicer, no drafts since the airflow is well distributed.”
“If the floor is porous, how do they clean it?”
“They mop it with muriatic acid. Then bots clean out the ducts.”
“How did you know about it?”
“MacKenzie Real Estate is paying to convert all the restaurant and bar spaces. So it came across my desk to review the design,” Catie said.
“No more shop talk, here they are.”
“You ladies look lovely,” Freddy said as Liz and Catie joined the trio at the booth they’d managed to grab. It was just off-center of the stage.
“Why thank you,” Liz said.
“I forgot to steal that dress before you moved out,” Yvette said as Catie sat down.
“If you want it, I’ll send it over next week.”
“Please, I’d like to wear it at least once.”
“You should come check out her closet,” Liz said. “Her grandparents like to give her dresses but Alex hates to wear them.”
“Drat, Yvette is always the lucky one,” Miranda said with a frown. She had a slightly thicker build than Catie, so wouldn’t be able to fit in her dresses. “Alex, did you finish your project?”
“Mostly,” Catie said. “Liz has to make a trip to Gemini Station next week, and I have some follow-up work to do. Why, do you have other plans?”
“No, just wondered. We’ll be back in training on Tuesday, so there won’t be time for much.”
“I’m still free,” Yvette said.
“Do you want to fly an Oryx?” Liz asked.
“Hmm,” Yvette mused. “Fly an Oryx for a week, or lounge around and go out to parties at night?”
“You mean you’re going to turn down the opportunity to fly to Gemini Station?” Catie asked, dumbfounded.
