Launch

by Richard Perth

  He smiled. “Where do I sign up?”

  Naomi laughed.

  After she served David coffee, Claire sat down and looked at Naomi. “We applied for a license to be parents last night. Can you tell us anything about what happens next?”

  “That’s fast. You just got here.”

  Claire nodded. “It’s important.”

  “The Malibu PLC will probably give you an appointment in a few days. After they give you a provisional license, you’ll need to complete a parent training course to get your full license.”

  “A license to have a baby wasn’t required when we left,” Claire said. “Having to get one now seems like a terrible imposition, and the idea that somebody could take my baby is just . . . .” Claire shook her head. She could not find words to express her horror.

  Naomi put her hand on Claire’s and answered sympathetically. “I can understand how a parenting license is a big shock to you and David. But the required training prevents people from suddenly finding themselves with an infant human being and no clue about what to do next.”

  “What do they teach?”

  “The basics, of course: how to meet the physical needs of children. Then they get into more challenging and complex subjects: how to make a child feel loved and secure; developing self-esteem and the emotional strength necessary to realize full potential, and teaching self-reliance.

  “My husband and I have completed the courses. They’re comprehensive, but they’re not hard. You and David will do well and be glad you did it.”

  “I hope so,” Claire said.

  Naomi raised her hand to cover her mouth and appeared to cough or say something. Then she said, “Excuse me, please. I enjoyed meeting both of you very much, but I must go.”

  Claire and Naomi agreed to have dinner soon as they walked to the door.

  After Claire returned, Elf said, “Doctor Archer, General Archer, the Malibu Parent Licensing Committee wants you to have a physical examination and take the Parent Aptitude Test, the PAT, before they consider your application.”

  “That was fast,” Claire said. “What about the exam we got when we landed? Would that qualify as a physical? Can the results be made available to the committee?”

  “Yes to all three questions, ma’am.”

  “How do we take the PAT?”

  “You can take the written portion in your audio-video centers at your convenience. It takes about four hours. The lab portion also takes four hours, and it can be done at the UCLA Department of Psychometrics.”

  “Could we do the written this weekend and do the lab on Monday morning?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “What do you think, Buni?”

  “The sooner the better.”

  She said, “Schedule the PAT for Monday morning, Elf.”

  “Yes ma’am. You will need to be there at eight a.m. A taxi will be here at seven-fifty.”

  Claire said, “We’ll be ready.”

  After taking another bite of coffee cake, David said, “This is delicious.”

  “I love it,” Claire said. “Naomi gave me access to her recipe. Let me know when you want some more, and I’ll tell the robot to make it.”

  David grinned. “Getting modern already are we?”

  She nodded. “Yep. We’ve got a lot to do, and we need to take advantage of the tools available.”

  “With Elf’s help this morning,” he said, “I did some design studies for a starship to take settlers to Minor-four-b. Our old starship design is not a good choice. The best thing I can think of so far is something like a giant soup can with engines around the top. It will only need two particle impact shields instead of four.”

  “Does that mean we’ll have to learn to fly a whole new system?”

  David knew Elf was monitoring their conversation, and he raised a warning eyebrow.

  “No. The controls and control responses will be like Origin. I’ll have a maneuvering console simulator built so we can practice, and we’ll fly the real ship on test flights. Then we’ll train the people who are going to fly it to four-b.”

  Chapter 31

  After finishing their coffee-cake breakfast, Claire said, “For people who are supposed to be famous it sure has been quiet. Elf, have there been any calls or messages for us?”

  “Elf has been holding your calls and taking messages, ma’am, as instructed by the reception committee. You have more than eleven million messages.”

  “What? How are we supposed to deal with that?”

  “You might want to just take messages from people you know, ma’am.”

  “That sounds good. Do we have any?”

  “Yes, ma’am. You have one from Naomi Radin inviting you and General Archer to dinner tomorrow night, and one from Doctor Albert Masters inviting you to dinner Sunday night.”

  “I’m glad I thought to ask. Do you have a list of people who can reach us directly?”

  “Just President Saleh, ma’am.”

  “Okay, I want you to add Doctor Albert Masters, Doctor Dale Curt, Naomi Radin, and their immediate families. If anybody such as the PLC, UCLA, or NASA calls with business important to us, put them through, too.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I would like to accept the invitations. What do you think, Buni?”

  “Sure. Elf, could you connect us with Doctor Masters?”

  “I’ll see if he’s available, sir. Do you want visual?”

  “How do we do that?”

  “Videophone calls can be made from most places where there’s a video screen. The living room would be socially appropriate for this situation, sir.”

  Claire told Elf to tell their robot to clean up the dishes and kitchen. It came out of its closet and quietly went to work.

  They sat in the living room recliners facing the omniglass wall, and David said, “Okay Elf, do your thing.”

  “Yes, sir. Doctor Masters will take your call visually at his office.”

  The omniglass wall revealed a life-sized image of Dr. Masters. He smiled. “Hello, I see you’re getting acquainted with our video communications. What do you think?”

  “This is stunning!” David said. “It’s like being in the same room!”

  “It is, isn’t it? Would you and Claire like to come over for dinner Sunday afternoon about six? We can smoke some steaks in the back yard.”

  “We’d love to,” Claire said.

  “Splendid! How are you doing?”

  “We’re fine,” David said. “There are so many new things. We’re going to be like kids in a candy store for a long time.”

  Dr. Masters smiled. “You’re lucky. Not everybody can have a chance for a second childhood.”

  They finished the call, and Claire said, “That was fun. Elf, can we get a visual connection with Naomi?”

  “Elf will try, ma’am.”

  After a short pause, Naomi’s head appeared on the omniglass wall with a kitchen in the background. “Hi Claire. Hi David.”

  Claire said, “Hi Naomi. We’re calling to accept your invitation for dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Great! Is seven okay?” Naomi asked.

  “Seven’s fine, thank you.”

  “My husband’s dying to meet you.”

  “It looks like you’re in your kitchen. Do we have a videophone in our kitchen, too?” Claire asked.

  “No. I’m talking to you on my wriscreen.”

  “Interesting,” Claire said. “Something else for us to learn about.”

  After they said goodbye, David asked, “Elf, what was Naomi using to talk to us?”

  “A wriscreen. It is a video communication device with navigation capability and a personal data assistant, sir.”

  David asked Elf where they could get one, and a list of places selling the devices appeared on the omniglass. They looked at several. Most wriscreens were held in place on the inside of the wrist by many different styles of bracelets: from plain and functional to bejeweled and expensive.

  While they were
shopping, they discovered things called transmitter rings and ear charm receivers that worked with wriscreens. Transmitter rings allowed people to put their hand over their mouth and have phone conversations in public without annoying others. Ear charms could be decorative like earrings or almost invisible.

  David picked out a transmitter ring, an ear charm, and a wriscreen. Claire chose several styles of each and asked, “How do we pay for these, Elf?”

  “You tell Elf what you want, ma’am, and Elf will transfer the money from your bank account to complete the transaction.”

  David said, “Speaking of money Elf, what's our account balance?”

  “You have more than six billion dollars in cash on hand at August Bank, sir. You also have more than one trillion, seven hundred and forty-five billion dollars invested in nine hundred seventy-six stocks, bonds, and funds.”

  “Did you say trillion?” Claire asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Are you pulling my leg, Elf?”

  “No, ma’am. Elf does not have a sense of humor.”

  “Where did we get so much money?”

  “One billion came from the government recently, ma’am. The rest is income from investments, salaries, retirement income, and other assets that have accumulated over the centuries.”

  David asked, “Elf, could you put that information in a financial statement on the wall?”

  A long, complex, series of numbers appeared on the omniglass, and Elf said, “This is your August Bank balance sheet as of today, sir.”

  They studied it in silence for several minutes.

  “President Saleh didn’t mention anything about this yesterday, Claire said. Does she know?”

  “It is common knowledge from history that you have or have had a trust, ma’am. But the law now requires financial records to be private. No one in government has any specific knowledge about your trust or your account.”

  “This is unreal,” Claire said. “What’re we going to do with so much money? Are there any charities that help meet human needs?”

  “There are many organizations raising money for special projects, ma’am. But the government ensures that all physical human needs are met.”

  “Nobody needs food or clothing or housing or medical care?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “What about inner city ghettos and schools?

  “Ghettos do not exist now, ma’am. High-quality education, housing, and medical care are available to everyone.”

  David asked, “Is out trust still giving 20% of its income away?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Let that continue. We can take a look at what’s being done with it when we have more time.”

  Claire nodded.

  “In the meantime,” David said, “Having this much money will make special projects easier to fund.”

  They were lost in thought when they heard the soft chime again. Elf asked, “Do you want to complete your order?”

  “Oh yes,” Claire said. “Do it, Elf.”

  Chapter 32

  Naomi was busy in the kitchen when Claire and David arrived for dinner, so it was her husband, Mark, who greeted them. Claire’s first impression was that if a Greek god could sculpt itself as a handsome, tall, tanned, blond, blue-eyed male, Mark Radin would be the result. Then she learned that he was a sculptor and painter with a studio and art gallery in Laguna Beach.

  The apartment was decorated with his art, and he took Claire and David on a tour. One of the paintings was of a cougar at the mouth of a cave overlooking a canyon.

  “We have one just like this!” Claire exclaimed.

  “You have a reproduction,” Mark said. “We sold a lot of them, but I couldn’t bring myself to part with the original.”

  Naomi served moist and delicious chicken amandine for dinner with salads and a good Chardonnay. While they were eating, Claire asked Naomi and Mark where they met.

  Naomi smiled. “We met on our walkabouts in a long line to get into the Taj Mahal. He was a surfer-painter dude from Huntington Beach, and I lived with my folks in L.A. I was in love with him by the time we got inside. He hung around to paint the Taj afterward, and I hung around to be near him. After we came home, I went to UCLA to study teaching and history while he studied art at USC. We married the following Christmas.”

  Claire was delighted. “Falling in love at a glorious monument to love. How perfect!”

  “Walkabout,” David said. “What’s that?”

  Naomi answered, “It’s a year of travel and study after high school. Many people meet their future mates on walkabout.”

  “It was perfect that Naomi was there for me after we graduated,” Mark said. “Without her and her teaching job, I would have been a real starving artist.”

  “It looks like you’re doing okay now,” David said.

  Mark nodded. “It took a while. The constant battle for grants and exhibit space took a lot of time away from my art. I really didn’t start making money until the Small Business Administration helped me get my own gallery and studio.”

  “Did they give you a low interest loan?”

  “They gave me a zero interest loan, schooling to help me learn how to run a successful business, and expert help at no cost to get me started. I would have fallen flat on my face without their training and help.”

  “Will they do that for anybody?” David asked.

  “For anybody who’s willing to make the effort and to present a decent proposal. Small business is the source of most new jobs. I have two employees now, and I rent out some of my exhibit space, which helps support other artists. Everybody wins.”

  David said, “It sounds like you got a good deal from the government.”

  “I did,” Mark said with an easy smile. “I understand you got a pretty good deal, too.”

  “You’re right,” David said. “I’ve been feeding at the government trough since I started at the Air Force Academy. They had the school and work I wanted. One thing led to another and to Origin.”

  Mark said, “Be that as it may, the news said you guys found and explored a planet with life and fought off a monster with your bare hands and were almost shot down by rockets and were hit by asteroids. Is all that true?”

  David grinned. “It was more like a large turtle, and I used a big stick.”

  Mark shook his head. “It had wicked looking teeth in the pictures I saw. Your adventures are mind-boggling.”

  Claire said, “Adjusting to this new society is as challenging as anything we’ve faced yet. It’s very different for us.”

  “You shouldn’t have any trouble at all,” Mark said. “But if there’s anything Naomi or I can do to help, we’ll be pleased to do it.”

  Claire and David both said, “Thank you, Mark.”

  ▼

  The California Current is a cool flow of Pacific Ocean water along the western coast of North America and a migration route for grey whales. It begins off the southern coast of British Columbia and ends off southern Baja California. An onshore breeze from over the cool water made Dr. Albert Master’s back yard near NASA Headquarters in Pendleton, California a very pleasant place for a summer-evening dinner party.

  Claire was delighted to meet the children of Albert and Sharon Masters: Alison was eight, Nikki was six, and Dianne was four.

  Nikki was a precocious high-speed comet with a random orbit. He stopped long enough to ask Claire, “Are you really five hundred years old?”

  “I was born more than five hundred Earth years ago.”

  “Are you as old as my grandma?”

  “I was born long before your grandma’s grandma’s grandma.”

  He thought about that for a second, and then asked, “Why don’t you have any wrinkles?”

  She smiled. “I’ll have them soon enough, thank you. I’m in no hurry.”

  Nikki zoomed off, and Sharon introduced Claire and David to two other guests, Jack Benton, PhD, and his wife Melody.

  ▼

  The three wo
men went into the kitchen to prepare everything but the meat, and the men went to a smoker in the back yard. Al said, “I’m about to show you my unbelievably complex, thermodynamic, two-beer steak recipe, but you have to agree to keep it a secret.”

  David and Jack agreed. Al showed them prime rib-eye steaks, put them in the smoker, and closed the lid. Then he opened beers for himself, David, and Jack. “When we finish these beers, we turn the steaks over and have another beer. After the second beer the steaks are done.”

  They sat down in lawn chairs close to the smoker, and Al told David that Jack was head of mission planning and development at NASA.

  “He has been working on plans for exploring and colonizing Minor-four-b.”

  David asked, “How do you plan to do it?”

  “A three stage process,” Jack said. “One, we set up transmitter relay stations in space for telecommunications between Earth and four-b. Then we surround the planet with navigation/communication satellites and put robots and equipment on the planet to explore it. Two, we prepare the planet for human habitation and make it self-sufficient. Three, we send settlers.”

  “What time frame?”

  “Five hundred and twenty-five years to finish the communication and exploration phases. The preparation phase will also take about 525 years. If we can get funding and things go well in the first two phases, settlers can begin launching for four-b in the latter half of the third millennium.”

  That's no good to us, David thought. Then he asked, “What about four-a?”

  “According to your data, nobody can live there for tens of thousands of years,” Jack said.

  “True, but missiles were fired at Origin from there by an unfriendly intelligence that might threaten settlers on four-b. We should find out what’s there and take any necessary defensive steps.”

  “What do you suggest?” Al asked.

  “Include four-a in the exploration phase for four-b,” David said. “Initial surface landings and reconnaissance should be on the opposite side of the planet from the radar station. Robots sent to explore four-a should be programmed to report to satellites orbiting beyond missile range. The satellites should relay with non-directional transmitters so the signals can’t be tracked. The robots should not have any compromising information or know anything about Earth or four-b, so they can’t reveal anything if they are captured and interrogated.”