To Touch the Stars (Founding of the Federation Book 2)

by Chris Hechtl

  “Serves you right,” she grumbled when they finally got a chance to video chat. The minute time lag each way was annoying, but not as bad as she'd expected.

  “You just wanted a chance to show off. Wear something frilly, make me dress up in an itchy monkey suit for hours on end. You know how much I hate playing dress up,” Jamey grumbled.

  “What about your bride?” Hannah asked sweetly.

  Jamey was looking down at his tablet when he got that bit. He looked up and shrugged. “She's okay with it. We're both busy. We've been like an old married couple for over two years, kiddo. It's funny,” he paused, chuckling to himself.

  “What?” She demanded, half exasperated.

  “Oh, um, her reaction. I'm remembering it. I know she's been teased about being a cougar for a while now, robbing the cradle so to speak. We joked about getting married a few times, but then in bed the other day, we just …” he shrugged. “Decided to go through with it,” he said lamely.

  “Right. And no warning,” Hannah said darkly, eying his video image with scant favor.

  “Hannah, we mentioned it to the skipper and he said sure, pulled a book out and poof! I barely had time to get the camera set up and comb my hair!”

  “Well, you made history again,” she said as she thought about the scenario.

  “Oh?” he asked nearly a minute later.

  “The first marriage on an interstellar ship,” Hannah said, raising an eyebrow his way. “Just be careful you don't have the first pregnancy or you'll be shipped home or Kathy will.”

  “Probably why the skipper was so hot to do it,” Jamey muttered, looking away. “No worries about pregnancy; Kathy's got an implant. But we're not interstellar yet. I'm not sure the marriage will make it into the record books or not.”

  “Yet. You'll get there, bro,” Hannah replied. “And everything you are doing is going in the records,” she reminded him. “I know you guys are getting interviews daily. I saw the one Captain Locke did on the news yesterday,” she reminded him. He nodded a minute later when he got that bit.

  “I've got to go, kiddo. We need the bandwidth, and my time is up. Love you. Give dad a hug,” he said.

  “I will. Love you too, bro. And my new sister-in-law. Give her a hug and peck from me,” she said. She smiled and nodded as he cut the connection. She traced a finger around the bezel of her tablet, then pursed her lips and went back to packing.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Hannah got her chance to go into space just as news of Pavilion's keel laying ceremony and Daedalus headed out to jump hit the mainstream media. She'd buckled down and worked hard, taking on up to four classes a day along with her clinic time. Mister Hermal had thought she was insane, but she'd graduated in a record nine months. At times she'd thought her head would explode, but sleep teaching and her first class edict mind had made it possible. That and a stubborn will to succeed … as well as swearing off the distracting dating scene. She'd come to realize she'd have time to date and settle down when she was firmly wedded to her chosen career.

  She'd even skipped out on walking at her graduation to get the chance to come to space early. She loved the view; it had been fantastic on the way up. The shuttle had been a great experience, better than the beanstalk in her opinion. More exhilarating.

  Of her class she had been the best at handling herself aboard the vomit comet, even better than Isley who'd kept pace with her. She'd adapted well without barfing, but she did get nauseated. Isley, the space veteran, had tossed her cookies. She had been mortified, and Hannah had been supportive for a while, but malicious in ribbing her friend about it after she recovered.

  A few of the other students took longer to adapt. Fortunately Lagroose 9 was an older station with a centrifuge for the human habitats. The station was one of the original twelve space stations Jack Lagroose and his people had built. It had a long spindle with a series of wheels and modules circling it. Cargo containers were strapped along the main spindle. Docks for shuttles and ships were on either end. The station had been compared to some old Earth Space station called the Ark from time to time. Hannah wasn't sure about the reference, nor did she care. It was in Earth orbit, a staging point for personnel and freight moving to and from the Earth beanstalk. While the other students clutched their stomachs and headed to the gravity areas to get over sickness and adapt, she explored.

  It was a nice place, old, but still functional. There was a small hotel; she was amused by that. Also the tiny mall, quite quaint. She got a kick out of the coffee shop with the bamboo wood floor and paneling. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to import it … unless it was painted? She frowned thoughtfully and then shrugged such considerations off. She moved on.

  A ball came flying out of an open doorway and hit her in the side of the head. She was stunned by the ricochet impact and surprised that someone would leave the door open if they were playing a game. She reasoned it was horseplay; someone had been fooling around she thought as she rubbed head. Her ear stung and that irritated her. When no one came out after it, she went through door. “Hello?” She asked, tentative in her approach. She held the offending ball close to her chest. She realized from the blast of hot warm air that the room had some sort of life support issue; it was hot and humid. Beads of sweat sucked her clothes to her body. She immediately felt sticky. Even her hair, she thought, grimacing.

  To her surprise a bottlenose dolphin floated past her fast; it was a gray blur that startled her into an eep. “Let go,” a high pitched gurgling voice said. She blinked in confusion. A sweep of the small animal's tail knocked the ball out of her nerveless hands. The dolphin turned in place, examining her with its melon and blackish green eyes. It clicked and clacked, then ticked repeatedly like some sort of errant machine. Finally it sputtered from its blowhole. “New girl,” it said then took off.

  “Play!” another of the small gray and pinkish animals said from within the room.

  “Um, sure,” she said, feeling a sense of wonder course through her. This really was happening to her! She thought. She'd seen them on webcasts but … She watched the dolphins swim around in null gravity.

  “Play!”

  She reached out when a cetacean passed and grabbed its dorsal fin and was dragged in. She bounced the ball off her head and then rolled and took it on the chest. She laughed as she clutched at it. “I guess I'm it?”

  “Not it. Girl. Play!” The dolphin she was holding said. It clacked at her and twisted its body about, looking at her. She was pretty sure it could see her more from the echolocation in the melon than from its eyes.

  “Okay, not tag, what?” she asked holding the ball. “And is this the station AI?” she asked, thoroughly confused. “Is this a joke? Hologram?” A dolphin came up under her and knocked the ball out with its hooked beak then swam away brusquely, sending her spiraling away as it broke her grip on the other dolphin's fin. She caught sight of the brat as it ran the ball past another dolphin, then flicked the ball with its flipper to a third dolphin. This one spun in a spiral and then flicked his fluked tail to knock the ball into a netted goal.

  “Point!”

  “Oooh!” the girl said, eyes wide. “Zero G soccer! Now I get it!”

  She couldn't for the life of her figure out whose team she was on. If the ball came to her she tried to knock it to one of the fins who had been helping her. She recognized splodge, the one she labeled as splodge, by the birth mark on its head. That was the dolphin that had pulled her into the room.

  The teams tended to shift about though she realized. They didn't have a formal structure; they were just having a good time. Still, her competitive streak got to her when she was blocked from getting a goal twice. The fins were shrewd, and her last attempted fake out only got the ball stolen from her from behind.

  Still, she laughed in good sport and watched as the thief took it in and tried to earn a point. The goalie, a new one she judged, managed to block it and sputtered a raspberry. “Now that's just rude,” she murmured.

 
Six security guards entered the room. Four were robots, two were android bots, and another two were drones. The dolphins stopped the play, which was what alerted Hannah. She turned in time to see the guards approaching her. “Um, hi guys,” she said weakly, raising a hand to wiggled her fingers in greeting. Suddenly she realized she might be in trouble.

  “You shouldn't be in here. You were supposed to stay with your class,” one of the human guards growled. “This is a red zone, which means it's off limits.”

  “Um, sorry?” Hannah said sheepishly, letting them escort her to the hatch door. “Honest, I didn't know. I was passing by and got hit by a ball and well, one thing led to another and here we are,” she said spreading her hands in entry. “Honest, no harm no foul here, folks,” she said.

  “Leave girl alone. Play!” one of the dolphins sputtered.

  The two droids turned to scan the fins. The drones were classic chopper designs; she wondered when they'd get around to making ones that floated with antigravity. She doubted it would be soon; a propeller was easier and cheaper to make than a force emitter.

  “You were supposed to remain with the group. Exploring is not allowed,” the guard repeated. He turned to the fins. “Nothing to see here fish heads, just … go about your business,” he said, taking Hannah by her right arm. He pulled her out of the hatch. She practically slammed into another woman coming the other way.

  Hannah managed to catch the hatch combing when she saw a body in a white medical smock blocking it and use her hand hold to arrest her speed and pull herself to one side. Fortunately, the other woman was also alert. She moved to the other side, and they prevented a collision. “Sorry,” Hannah murmured. Hannah was instantly embarrassed when she recognized the other woman as Doctor Aurelia Lagroose, one of her heroes.

  “What's going on?” Aurelia demanded, looking at the girl and then to the two human guards. I got a page about a security alert in the dolphin quarters,” she said.

  “Nothing, ma'am, this young lady went where she wasn't supposed to. We'll deal with her,” the lead guard said.

  “Oh?” Aurelia asked, turning on Hannah. “Want some pictures for the press, I suppose? An interview?” she demanded, temper rising with her tone.

  “No. No, ma'am. I'm in the most recent class. The rest are recovering from their null gravity exposure and settling in. I was bored so I … decided to explore. I like to know where I am and where to go,” She said, feeling lame. She rubbed her right bicep where the guard had grabbed her.

  “And how did you get in?” the woman asked.

  “The door was open. I was passing by and a ball smacked me in the head,” Hannah said, rubbing her forehead. I went in to return it and well, they,” she indicated the fins behind the humans and robots. “Got me into playing their game. One thing led to another and then they showed up,” she said, indicating the robotic and organic guards. “Honest injun, ma'am, there was no evil intent here,” she said.

  “Her voice stress analysis indicates she is telling the truth,” one of the droids said with a female voice. The humans turned to look at it.

  “Thank you, Athena. That was my assessment as well,” Doctor Lagroose said, still looking at Hannah. “You said you came up with the most recent class? Engineer?”

  “No, ma'am,” Hannah said with a small head shake. She knew better than to move too quickly in null gravity. “Medical. Doctor Hannah Castill at your service.”

  “Doctor?” Aurelia asked, pursing her lips as she accessed Hannah's thumbnail biography through her visual implants. “I see. Indeed you are. Recently graduated too,” she murmured.

  “Well, I didn't get to walk. I'd had enough of that anyway,” Hannah said with a shrug. “I know dad was disappointed, but they gave me a choice with the shuttle since it was coming up this morning. Either take it or come up on the beanstalk a month from now. Since the beanstalk takes a week to get to orbit, I went with option A.”

  Moving people out of Earth's gravity was still a major headache for the space industry. Shuttles were fast but still expensive. At least they were single stage to orbit vehicles; they incorporated jet engines and could land or take off from any long enough runway. But there were only so many space ports around and regulations were getting tighter and tighter each year. The Beanstalk was cheap, but it took a week to get to orbit. It also meant you had to go to the middle of the ocean to start the journey. Then there was the issue of a storm hitting the beanstalk … she suppressed a shiver.

  “I'm sorry to hear you missed your own graduation. I know it is an important celebration of your hard work and achievements,” Doctor Lagroose said. “Doctor Aurelia Lagroose,” she said, finally holding out her hand.

  “I know who you are, ma'am; you are famous,” Hannah said, dimpling a little as they shook hands. “Hannah Castill, but I think you already know that since you are accessing my files. Visual implants?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  “Quick, you are definitely quick young lady. Do you have implants?” Aurelia asked. She pursed her lips. “No, no you don't,” she answered for herself, beating Hannah out by a half second.

  “Correct, ma'am. Well, other than the ID,” Hannah said, showing her the injection site where security had inserted a rice grain sized ID chip. “I'm assuming this got me in trouble?” she asked, turning to the guard.

  “No comment,” he said. “Ma'am, we need to move her …” He indicated Hannah.

  “She's fine where she is,” Aurelia said, waving a hand. “You can go. Athena, give Doctor Castill privileges with all dolphin spaces,” she ordered.

  “Athena?” Hannah asked as the guards scowled and checked with their own chain of command. She ignored them like Doctor Lagroose did. After a moment the group left the area. Doctor Lagroose indicated they should go back into the dolphin habitat. Hannah nodded and followed her inside. They floated near the lock.

  “You obviously don't have any problem with them,” Doctor Lagroose said, looking her over. “And they seem to like you,” she said. “You'll need to work with them.”

  “Well, I do have one problem with them,” Hannah said, eying the fins as they continued their game where they had left off. “I didn't get a chance to score!” She complained, directing it to the fins as she shook a mocking fist their way. That earned a squee of laughter from the fins.

  Aurelia grinned when Hannah turned back to her. “You'll get your chance,” she said, making a note to Athena through her implants. This girl was definitely one to keep an eye on, definitely one she wanted for her projects. She oofed when a dolphin nudged her in the rear. She patted the dolphin and then pushed it away. “Keep your legs together or they'll swim through them. Or they'll snag you for a ride,” she warned.

  Hannah cocked her head. “Okay, I don't mind a ride, Doctor, honest,” she said.

  “Oh it's fun in theory, but when you get that dorsal up the wrong part of you, then the fun ends quick,” Aurelia said with a half-hearted chuckle. “And if they are moving at speed, trust me, it bruises all sorts of um … delicate areas,” she warned.

  Hannah grimaced and locked her feet together. “Um, good point. Thank you for the warning,” she said.

  Doctor Lagroose took her under her wing as a new understudy. “I thought they were in the habitat orbiting Mars?” Hannah asked.

  “Oh, most of them are. We have some of the fallow first generation dolphins in a couple of the O’Neill colonies. They work in the waterways keeping them clean while eating up the fish.”

  “Okay,” Hannah replied with a small smile and nod.

  “This pod is headed groundside. They want to join the three pods that are working the storm cleanup. Now that the rescue work is done though we're not sure where to put them.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  “And, well, truth be told, I'm not sure they are ready. They've spent almost their entire lives in null gravity. We've had some health issues from dolphins in the water and a couple close calls with sharks and other wildlife,” Doctor Lagroose said darkly.
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  Hannah got her personal introduction to uplift program direct from Doctor Lagroose, much to her chagrin. A lot more was there than what was known to the public. It fascinated her.

  The dolphins were not bottlenose dolphins; they were fresh water Tucuxi dolphins. They resembled bottlenose dolphins but were smaller, shaded differently, and could handle freshwater.

  Doctor Lagroose pointed out differences in fallow Tucuxi with the Neos. Their skulls had been reshaped slightly. Their melons were more developed; the skull had been enlarged and changed to handle their altered brain. “We tried to leave the brain lobes that process their sonar and other senses alone. We instead isolated the various parts of the brain through observation during MRI and EEG scans. Since we had their genome mapped, we then modified them with gene grafts from humans,” Doctor Lagroose explained.

  “It couldn't have been easy,” Hannah said. “To do it over, what, generations?”

  “Oh, you'd be surprised. Dolphins, chimps, gorillas, they were the easy ones. We're still struggling with the canines and the felines,” Aurelia said shaking her head. “Some of the birds worked out well at first, but we've run into all sorts of issues with them. I've had to freeze their development indefinitely. It's not just the small bodies; it's also the almost completely alien mindset too,” she said, shaking her head.

  “I see.”

  “I think it is as much a view point … a failing of our people to be able to let them develop as they should,” the older woman said, grimacing. “I was overruled, and the project has been sidelined.”

  “I see.”

  The girl was floored by communication with another intelligence and it showed. Mrs. Lagroose explained the project, and how the dolphins were going to be ship helmsman among other careers.

  “I heard there is a pod of a dozen on Daedalus,” Hannah murmured. She finally understood the need for vet medicine and marine biology training to compliment her human medical training.

  The Dolphins interested her as did the apes. She wasn't so sure about the wisdom of the dogs and cats, but she decided to reserve judgment. The otters cracked her up. “We were going to do raccoons too; in fact, we still might,” Doctor Lagroose told her over her shoulder.