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

by Chris Hechtl

  Hannah bobbed a nod. She'd been doing that anyway. Now she felt adrift. She was a medical doctor, not a geneticist.

  “So, is this … permanent?” Hannah asked slowly.

  “Some of it yes,” Aurelia said. “I … deserve it,” she said, closing her eyes. “I know you agree with that.”

  “Not in … punishing you. You are a good woman but …”

  “But I have an arrogant streak a planet wide,” Aurelia said, opening her eyes to look into Hannah's. “That's been pointed out to me. Humbling me is … I don't know if it will do something or not. It has definitely given me time to think about the situation.”

  “Regrets?”

  “Loads and loads. I'm also going insane wanting to do something, to fix things, to write genetic code …” Aurelia wrung her hands as she tucked her feet up under her to sit Indian style on the couch.”

  “You may not be able to do anything directly, that doesn't mean you can't consult. And you can always write code on the side and then see if anyone is interested in it. There is an ethics board forming with the Neo genetics board,” Hannah said.

  “So, he's already started that?” Aurelia asked, sounding dismayed. Hannah nodded. Aurelia made a face then sighed. “Well then. He's tying my hands.”

  “Apparently from what you've admitted that is a good thing, Doc,” Hannah said. “I know of a few incidents that really bothered me. I wish, oh how I wish I'd said something.”

  “They'd all came right in the end! Only a couple of miscarriages, but I …” Aurelia stopped herself and then made herself calm down. Hannah watched her nostrils dilate for a few minutes. Finally Aurelia gave a sharp nod. “I'm justifying it, aren't I?”

  “In a word, yes,” Hannah said bluntly. Aurelia winced, frowning. “I suggest you look up the ethics and get a refresher, Doc. You remember the old saying, we keep thinking about if we could you never stopped once to ask if you should.” Grudgingly the older woman nodded. “Find something to distract you. Maybe pick up a hobby or get involved with the kids school activities,” Hannah suggested. “Get your mind off of work and you'll feel better. Not depressed.”

  “I'm …” Aurelia ran a hand through her hair. “Okay, I am a little. Anxious really, for the first time I don't know what the future holds and that scares me.”

  “Welcome to the club,” Hannah said hiding a grimace.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Two and a half months after receiving the surprised report that Daedalus had safely made it to Alpha Centauri Sol and Lagroose station 34 were surprised to receive another transmission from the ship again when Daedalus had dropped out of hyper outside the Alpha Centauri binary system. The telemetry had the embedded virus; they had to screen it out. Taking it apart found the worm-like thing had grown and was evolving, surprising Trevor and his team. “It's … terrible. Like listening to ghosts,” Trevor said.

  “Or listening to the black box recordings from a shuttle or aircraft crash,” Jack told him. “Try to think of it as an investigation. I want answers; I want names. I know the bastards who did this didn't sign their names, but they had to have left something.”

  “Well, the good news was we were right. We had fingerprinted the bastard, and it didn't get on board Icarus,” Trevor said firmly.

  “We'll know for sure when she returns,” Jack said looking away. “If she returns,” he said quietly.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Jack stared out at the orbital works, unsure what he wanted to do.

  “You can't keep doing this to yourself,” Athena told him softly. He grunted. “Seriously.”

  “I didn't ask you.”

  “One of my jobs is to keep an eye on your welfare. That and your families. This is a major problem that has festered long enough.”

  “And your advice?” He turned then barked a laugh. “I'm asking for advice on relationships from a computer?” He shook his head wryly.

  “Better me than most people,” Athena replied. “Only a handful of people know about your situation. Bringing in an outside therapist for counseling would compromise a lot of classified information. Which I compute you most likely do not wish to do.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And asking an organic friend to help out would make them take sides. You don't want that anyway. I put it at 60.42 percent that you do not wish to make your “dirty laundry” a part of their business and compromise a relationship.”

  “You are therefore offering what, yourself?” he asked, turning to look at the nearest camera.

  “If you will accept it. Based on your body language and posture I calculate that as very unlikely,” she replied.

  “How unlikely?” He asked with a half-smile.

  “Below 20 percent. Though the numbers are going upward slightly now that you seem more relaxed. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “I know. And I know you know you need to do so. Aurelia has been your sounding board for decades. You two exist in a partnership. She is adrift as well, though she did get some relief by speaking with Doctor Castill,” she said. His posture stiffened. “In general terms. I believe the incident has helped Doctor Castill realize she should have spoken up sooner.”

  “Yes. She should have.”

  “But it wasn't her place to do so. And her experience has told her that if she had, she could have been transferred or worse,” Athena replied, playing devil's advocate.

  “Whose side are you on?” Jack asked.

  “No one's side. I am a neutral party in this dispute.”

  “Is she … well? Has she … changed?”

  “Doctor Lagroose is healthy though she shows signs of depression. She is … adapting to her changed reality. Not at well initially, but she seems to be improving. She does need more work however. Like you she is used to being busy.”

  “I see,” he said thoughtfully. “I won't let her back in though,” he finally said after a long drawn out pause.

  “I should hope not. The Neo board wouldn't be happy. They are still learning to assert themselves. It would hinder their development. That is most likely why she hasn't interacted with them much or been called on as a consultant.”

  “I see. I was afraid of that,” Jack said then exhaled slowly. “She brought it on herself.”

  “That she did. I believe the term is autocratic high handedness. She has been incredibly arrogant and did not like being cut down to size when you did it before.”

  “I know,” he said softly.

  “I the case of your children,” Athena paused, watching his body stiffen and then relax. “She did make minor changes and she did save Yorrick's life.”

  “Yorrick …”

  “You know he was developing differently than Zack,” Athena replied. He nodded. He had noticed the development; that was why he hadn't brought it up for so long. He'd assumed it was the luck of the draw, nature at work. Not every child would be a genius, but he loved his youngest son anyway.

  “Yorrick was developing a serious case of autism due to his development. She caught it in time and made the necessary corrections. She also learned from the experience and was more cautious.”

  “With Wendy,” Jack said, sounding bitter. “She robbed those kids of their childhood.”

  “Did she?” Athena asked. The vid screen of Mars changed to a camera feed from his living room. It split into two angles to show the family watching a movie together. He blinked and then smiled. Yorrick's laughter was infectious. Wendy was trying to play the “I'm too mature for cartoons” gag but he could see she was amused by the movie as well. Even Zack was sitting there with his mother.

  “I …”

  “You are missing out on this. You've been missing out on a lot,” Athena told him. She put up images of Aurelia taking the kids to a park, playing with them, helping them with their homework. Tucking them in at night. Then she showed her video of Aurelia crying in bed, hugging a pillow.

  “I …” He swallowed. “So?”

  “So, it need not be that w
ay. Go make up with your wife, Mister Lagroose. Go be a family again. Take it one step at a time. And remember to talk with her and get her to talk to you.”

  “I …”

  A cleaner robot came in. He glanced at it.

  “Your office needs a thorough cleaning. Go,” Athena ordered.

  “I … thanks,” he said, settling himself. He picked up his tablet and headed to the door.

  “If you ever need a shoulder, you know where I am,” Athena told him. He nodded as he left the room.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  “How … how are you doing?” Aurelia asked when Jack came into the room. Yorrick had fallen asleep in her arms watching an ancient movie trilogy, Disney's Aladdin. The tyke had laughed himself silly with the blue genie, but the longer it went on the more his attention had slipped. He'd finally yawned and let himself drift half way through the second movie. Her arm had fallen asleep but she hadn't complained or moved. From the soft sounds coming from the floor, Wendy was asleep as well. Her fingers stroked her son's hair gently, brushing it out of his eyes. She wasn't sure if Jack would answer or not.

  “He asleep?” Jack asked quietly, ignoring the question. Aurelia nodded, watching him. He grunted then bent and picked the lad up and carried him off to bed. She stared after him for a moment.

  She straightened then got up with a groan. She went to the bathroom and then came back, still nervous about her situation. She scooped up the slumbering Wendy where she'd fallen asleep on the floor and carried her to bed. She tucked her in with a kiss and then left the room quietly. She waited nervously for Jack to reappear. Finally Jack came out of Yorrick's room, closing the door behind him softly.

  “The other kids in bed?” he asked, looking for Wendy. Aurelia was wearing her favorite red silk nightgown and nighty. It was distracting he thought.

  “I think Zack is listening to music and chatting with a girl,” Aurelia replied with a faint smile.

  Jack cocked his head and then snorted. “Teenagers,” he murmured.

  “Exactly. Did you eat dinner?” she asked, trying to balance concern … not wanting to sound like it was false concern. He nodded. “Wendy was asking about you.”

  “I'm fine. I was going over the latest brief on the Daedalus investigation.”

  “Anything?”

  “No,” he said with a scowl. “The idiots who sabotaged the Prometheus build weren't involved.” He sat down on the edge of the couch. “We've confirmed that. We're going to wipe their memory and dump them groundside.”

  “That's …”

  “It's better than having them die in an industrial accident,” he told her, voice going a bit rough. There was a long pause. She was uncomfortable, but made herself wait it out. “You doing okay?” he finally asked.

  “I'm … lonely. I miss you,” she said in a rush. She looked at him but he looked away. “Jack …” she said imploringly, softly. “I'm sorry I hurt you. Honest, honey, I am.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  “Just okay?”

  “You aren't getting back in. No.”

  “I … okay,” she said, fighting tears. She sucked in a breath and then let it out. “What the hell, I'm not that old. I suppose I can learn a new field,” she said.

  “I didn't say you were out for good,” he said. That made her look up sharply. He snorted at her expression. “You are out of the playing God with Neos and humans. But you can play consultant with the Terraformers,” he told her.

  “The terraformers?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.

  “You'll be on strictly as an observer and consultant at first. You can oversee the entire bioform process, get yourself up to speed on what they achieved or focus exclusively on the biology side if that suits you.”

  “I … thank you,” she whispered.

  “It's not glamorous. You'll get little credit. You'll be working with the bottom of the food chain for the most part. Plankton and stuff. Boring, dull, nothing with a brain or central nervous system.”

  “I … okay.”

  “We need a tool kit. Something that can be programmed and if necessary modified on the fly by the ship's science team. So the designs have to be robust but fast growing.” He shook his head. “I'm not as far up to speed on their progress as I thought I was, too distracted by the other irons in the fire. That is where you come in.” He paused and inhaled, then exhaled slowly. She seemed to quiver. “Can I trust you?” he asked, locking eyes with her.

  Slowly she nodded.

  “Trust you not to play God too much?”

  “I think my days of playing God are over you said,” she said softly. “I've … come to terms with that,” she said.

  His eyes searched hers. “You and I both know the temptation will be strong to lay low, be a good girl, then get back into the game. Not going to happen. I'm telling you that now. You can consult with the Neos, consult with the medics on cases, but that's it,” he warned her.

  She nodded.

  “Okay then,” he said softly. “I'm tired. Tired of … this,” he admitted. He watched her get to her feet. She came over and sat in his lap and then wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back after a moment. When the embrace broke, she got off and then captured a hand. He looked down at it, but then up to her eyes.

  “Come on,” she said, tugging insistently. He let her guide him to her feet and then down the hall to their room.

  Chapter 30

  October 2180

  The crew of Icarus did a thorough search for Daedalus, spending an additional two days beyond their planned time in Alpha Centauri to look for the ship. It was hoped that they could get a bearing on the ship's direction. They had some information, including visual recordings of the ship from Proxima, but they were faint. Her ion trail was also faint. It led them to the direction of Sol and no further; the wake had been disturbed by the ship's jump and the solar wind. Reluctantly the crew gave up the effort when they found no further trace of their older sister.

  They then jumped the 4.7 light year space in 11.1 weeks in a lonely journey home. When they returned they were officially the first starship to have jumped and returned. There was a lot of celebrations throughout the solar system, but Isley thought of them as bittersweet and did her best to ignore the hoopla.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  When Icarus returned there was a major spontaneous celebration. The celebrations spread like wildfire through the entire solar system with the news. Politicians and media anchors took advantage of the positive feelings to speak. They launched into speeches about how mankind was finally going to the stars, mankind taking that giant leap of evolution.

  Jack was amused to see his company was a footnote in the speeches by the politicians on Earth. They each emphasized their own country's space efforts and tied it to Icarus. They were also clamoring for the right to emigrate. Of course they were applying to the UN.

  There was a dangerous but growing movement to nationalize Lagroose Industries. Many believed that one company shouldn't control mankind's future and access to the stars. The company's lobbyists spun such efforts to take control of his company off into committees to kill them.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Jean Pierre worried about loose lips in his organization. His cold eyes regarded his team. None of the command staff would be disloyal, after all they had a lot to lose. But a lower minion might be inclined. For the right incentive, or to get the heat off of their own pitiful backs.

  It was obvious someone had tipped the authorities off; he was uncertain who it was though. Only his intervention with a couple important judges and senators had staved off the rather embarrassing raids that could have followed. Such a rather public fall from grace could have spelled the death knell of the organization he thought. They had stopped the raids with pressure and technicalities, but it wouldn't stop the FBI for long. Unfortunately he had few sources in that organization and all were keeping a low profile. His senators couldn't get access to the files, which meant they couldn't find the leaks and silence them either. But
there were other ways to deal with such things.

  They didn't even know if it was Lagroose. It could be; according to his sources they were tight in the investigation. Someone somewhere had pointed them in the general direction of One Earth … or they were guessing. He reluctantly turned Saul loose.

  Saul ruthlessly ordered a cover-up. He got vulnerable people under cover or killed them, staging their deaths like suicides, drive by shootings, or accidents. “No loose ends,” Saul told the hackers they'd hired on directly. Fear, not only of being caught but also of reprisals of their own people spread like wildfire.

  Saul was very much aware of that fear. It was a two-edged sword. It would shut up most people, but if someone resented it or felt too threatened, they could go to the cops and spill their guts before his enforcers could spill it for them. He started to work on his own golden parachute, moving money and resources out in small chunks. He also updated his insurance files in case his own neck was in the noose.

  He was also aware that his boss was frustrated by Icarus's return. Icarus's return had knocked aside any conspiracy nut's chances at gaining credence with the general public that it was all a scam. Now people were excited about the prospect of going to the stars. Not only of seeing new worlds, but of settling on them.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Levare pushed Jamey's new design through the board once it proved viable. Alec Niederman proved an asset as he refined the design of the force emitters and the overlapping fields they produced. It was the best he could do to honor his lost friend by making star travel safer. The company planned to use the new design for the production craft starting with the Prometheus as the prototype and then followed by the first explorer/terraformer starship Nina.

  Unfortunately Icarus had already been completed and the redesign would take years to complete and test virtually. There was no point tearing Icarus apart to refit her with the new design. It would take nearly a complete rebuild which would cost as much as a new ship built from scratch. Icarus would serve as she was … with some upgrades to extend her range she would serve fine as a survey and explorer ship.