To Touch the Stars (Founding of the Federation Book 2)
Page 57
There was a general undercurrent of people who wanted to turn the ship into some sort of shrine, a floating museum piece for all mankind. They'd even attempted to crowd fund a purchase of the ship. Miss Cole had popped that bubble when she had pointed out that the price they were setting was laughably too low, and besides, they had other plans for the ship.
Even though the ship couldn't receive the new drive design, she could receive other upgrades Levare found out. He'd been surprised that Jack had been willing to invest in the ship further until he'd realized the intent. Not only would Icarus serve as a test bed ship, she'd also gain an extended range so she could hop towards the outer rim one thousand light years out and begin exploring the area Lagroose had staked out for itself. Such a trip would take decades to achieve one way, but as long as they stopped along the way to refuel, run maintenance, and orient themselves, they could in theory do it. At least once Icarus was refitted.
While the crew celebrated and enjoyed their fame, Icarus went through an upgrade while in port. Her power plants, hyperdrive, sensors, force emitters, software, and computers all went through an upgrade, overhaul, or replacement. She was upgraded to handle all of alpha band based on the latest findings and hardware that had been generated from both Icarus, Daedalus, and the home front science and engineering community. She would no longer be trapped in what the hyperspace physics community was calling the lowest octave of Alpha band any longer. The new more efficient equipment would allow her to hit the eighth octave, bouncing off the beta band wall. That would shave a third off her journey time in hyper. A trip one thousand light years out would now take thirty-two years instead of the initially projected forty-three.
Thirty-two years was still a daunting one-way trip. They were looking on ways to cut that down, but so far nothing had come up that seemed viable. The crew were going through a molt as they wrestled with the idea of such a long cruise. If it really worked out as expected, they'd be gone nearly seventy years. Even with the latest in anti-geriatric treatments and rich bonuses the company was offering as incentives that was a lot of a lifetime to use up cruising between the stars. Just the treatments to control telomeres could mean their bodies would continue producing healthy cells and not break down over time. The treatments would also go a long way to help prevent cancers.
Her hull length was extended by six meters to include additional cargo and fuel space. Additional external pods were added to her hull, each were filled with cells containing robotic probes and terraformers. Not only would she have the equipment, but the vats and limited printers on board would allow her to grow her own food and manufacture parts and equipment during her journey. As long as she found local raw materials to use, he reminded himself.
When she finished a six-week fitting-in period she took on stores and then began the long perilous journey to the gum nebula one thousand light years out as specified by the UN. The plan was for her to jump to systems along the way, refueling and exploring as she went. She would blaze a path finding trail for the colony ships to follow while also testing some of the new equipment.
It was entirely possible that they wouldn't make it the full distance. The ship could break down and be stranded or worse. They might have to turn back. Their morale might crack, a thousand or more different scenarios were there waiting for them. Some preyed on a few minds. Jack and the crew were aware of the risks. He was proud of the spirit of exploration and courage the crew showed.
-*-*-^-*-*-
Jack knocked on Wendy's door. When he heard a grunt of acknowledgment, he opened the door and stepped into wonder. It wasn't the rat’s nest that made him pause; that was a typical kid's thing, he thought. They hated cleaning up after themselves, and Wendy was not a neat freak. Wendy had tried for Japanese minimalism a few years ago but then got tired of it. When her mother had given her her first credit line and she'd discovered the joys of shopping, she'd started assembling quite the wardrobe. Which, on closer inspection he noted, about half was scattered on her bed, bureau, desk, night stand, shelves, and other places, he thought wryly. Anywhere but the closet or bureau come to think of it. Possibly the floor too, though he couldn't see the floor currently. He looked down at the source of wonder.
He blinked when he noted the rather realistic water lapping around her bed. Indeed, he was now wading through it which was the source of his wonder. “Sprung a leak?” He asked, looking at his darling daughter sprawled on her tummy playing with a tablet and her stylus. Her 4 furballs were playing or snoozing around her.
“No dad, it's just a projection,” she replied absently, tapping the tip of her stylus against her bottom lip. Scamper looked up with wide eyes, trying to bat at it. “Stop that,” she scolded softly. He eeped at her then rubbed the stylus, churring and lighting up with a purple glow.
Jack smiled as his daughter held the stylus out to let the little chimera have his way with the thing. She even wrestled with him when he grabbed it with tiny hand paws, smiling indulgently at his distracting antics.
Each of the chimerans were imps created by Aurelia and her team. These had been started out as Pygmy Marmosets and had been customized to be that size for life. They had cute wide eyes small grasping hands and long tufted tails like a gerbil. The girls were white with black ears and with long eyebrow whiskers that glowed along with the spots of bio-luminescence skin under the fur. Sadi had a red skunk streak down her back, more of a highlight than a deep color. The boys were black with white streaks where their bio-luminescence skin was, and glowing cheek whiskers that they constantly twitched like a mustache. Scamp was the most spectacular; he looked like an inverted tiger in the dark. Chitter had stripes going down either side of his spine and then turning into swirls in various locations on his body. The girls had spots on either side of their spine or in strategic locations.
Their glowing color changed with their mood too, something Aurelia's people had worked out. It had something to do with body temperature, blood pressure, and respiration if he remembered right, he thought. They could also control when they wanted to glow from time to time. Aurelia had engineered them with Doctor Timeki and Glass. It had been Doctor Timeki's last project, a final gift to the Lagroose children. Doctor Glass, a neo chimp and one of the first primate geneticists, had cut his teeth on the project.
Jack noted the gold and silver fish in the water and raised an eyebrow. Koi, obviously, and quite good highly detailed right up to realistic levels. The water was also impressive, it lapped around the girl's bed and furniture, waves splashed here and there. It even reacted to his presence. The waves rippled out from his legs as the Koi danced in and around them. “You've taken this pretty far. This is very impressive,” he said.
“It's just a school project,” she said absently. Chitter chirruped from her headboard then jumped to her back. She winced as he skittered to her rump and then wiggled, getting ready to pounce on his sister. Missy was busy grooming her long tail and rather involved in the process. She seemed to be getting testy with it, after all it wouldn't hold still. The cussed thing kept wiggling and moving, which meant she had to hold it still and that was getting annoying which fed the self-perpetuating loop. That loop was broken when she looked up just in time to see her brother pounce on her from above. Her shock was comical. The two tussled around, growling and churring before they came close to the edge of the bed. Missy went over the edge and then clung to the tussled sheet, stopping her from falling over. Chitter stopped and then played king of the mountain, keeping her from climbing back up until Wendy reached out and flicked his tail with a finger.
He turned to scold her, and the momentary distraction was all Missy needed. She got off the edge and then circled her brother. She flipped her tail in his face then went over to Wendy and rubbed under her chin. Wendy giggled at the touch. After a moment the imp went back to the serious task of grooming herself.
“Where is Sadi?” Jack asked, coming over to the edge of the bed. Chitter cocked his head at him this way and that as he moved. He snorted
at the little beasty. Chitter's bio-luminescence streaks under his fur glowed a bright yellow briefly before they dimmed. He turned and went to the edge of the bed, studying the fish. His head cocked this way and that, admiring them.
“She's here,” Wendy murmured, moving her right arm to expose the nook under her body. She had been propping herself up with her left arm. The chimera was curled up in ball sleeping right in the crock of the girl's elbow. He could just make out her purple spine spots glow as she breathed deep and even.
Missy studied her sister then eeped. “Leave her alone,” Wendy ordered. The little chimera looked up at her cocking her head, then purred again. After a moment she tried to burrow into the neckline of Wendy's shirt. “Stop that!” Wendy scolded, laughing as she tried to fend off the unwanted advance.
“Think he'll use his tail as a fishing rod?” Jack asked, clearly amused as he turned away from his daughter. He indicated Chitter who was dangling his tail at the fish then turning back and making snatching motions at them. He reached down to wash his hands but seemed confused that they weren't getting wet.
“It's a fog generator with a projection over it,” Wendy explained, getting control of the handful of puffball. She waggled a scolding finger at the chimera then tucked her under the edge of her blanket. She propped it up like a tent. Scamper yawned and then went in to the tent to look. There was some scolding sounds then a bit of a tussle then silence. Jack turned a glance there way and saw two pair of glowing gold eyes briefly.
“Watch this,” Wendy said, grinning. She tapped at her tablet then pointed her stylus to Chitter. Jack frowned as he turned. Just in time he caught sight of a Koi morph into a gator on the off side of the bed out of view of the imp. He watched it stalk the playful imp. Right when Chitter was distracted it leapt out of the simulated water in an attack. The chimera eeped in alarm and jumped back, clearing nearly a meter in the leap. It eeped in fear as it went to its mistress, shaking and pulsing light. Wendy cupped it in her hands and cooed, soothing it while she giggled at his misfortune.
“That wasn't nice,” Jack scolded mildly, chuckling. “But funny,” he admitted with a smile.
“He had it coming,” Wendy said as the little one settled down. She nuzzled him with her nose, giving him an Eskimo kiss. He responded in kind, purring. After a moment he went back to grooming his shoulder, then he looked up and patted her chin and went back to exploring the rest of the bed. He seemed a bit more cautious as he picked his way through the clothes and blankets though, and probably for good reason Jack thought with another smile. “He's been a brat all morning. He kept me up half the night,” the teenage Wendy said in disgust, shaking her head.
“If he's that much trouble …”
“Oh it's okay. I didn't realize the bio-luminescence would be a hassle at night, Dad. I don't think Mom realized it either, though Aunt Hannah did try to warn me,” she said, making a face.
“This projection … it's obviously interactive,” Jack said cautiously, looking at it, then up to the ceiling. “Quite the system,” he said.
“Zack helped me with the hardware,” Wendy replied. “It's all off the shelf really. I think you have something like it in the board room?” Jack nodded. “Thought so. That's where I got the idea,” she said.
“And the hologram?”
“Actually a projection, Dad. An interactive volumetric projection that I programmed, but it was easy once the hardware was connected. The cameras note the room layout and inhabitants and the computer adapts the shapes to match. These days everything is modular and plug and play,” she said with a shrug. “I used a series of canned modules and layered them,” she explained. She taped at her tablet and then turned it to show him. “See?”
He turned to look at the display. He came over and sat on the edge of the bed, bending it slightly under his weight. Chitter scolded him. The other 3 looked out in curiosity, but then went back to nesting after a moment. “I did this for school. I got an A,” Wendy said, smiling coyly.
“I see that,” Jack said, taking the tablet to examine the exploded diagram. The whole process was tricky, the coding … he shook his head. And it was interactive, he realized as he touched the Koi. A fish was highlighted, then a menu option came up as well as a controller. “See, I can program them to do different things,” Wendy replied, taking the tablet. She used the stylus to draw a pattern on the tablet then hit the execute script button. After a moment the Koi changed directions and then flowed into a new pattern. It took him a moment to realize they were swimming in a HI formation. He chuckled in appreciation.
“Good job, honey,” he praised her. It really was a good job; one he hadn't thought of. It was definitely an interactive application with merits he thought.
“They use this in a lot of venues. Mainly medicine and entertainment,” Wendy explained. “This application takes up a lot of processors, memory, and graphics. Fortunately, the electronics are cheap these days,” she said with a diffident shrug.
Jack nodded. They made a lot of electronics cheap currently. The plastics were easy … he cocked his head. A possibility was presenting itself to him. “Well, Wendy lady, I bet you can do a lot with just the fog machine. You can really simulate flying with Peter Pan,” Jack teased.
Wendy snorted as she reset the program. Her brothers had stuck her with the Wendy lady moniker when she had been younger and gotten under their skin with what they termed her “nagging.” She didn't nag; she just saw what needed to be done and told them to do it. They just didn't want to do it on an appreciable time table. She hadn't understood the name until she'd read Peter Pan when she had she'd taken it on as a challenge. “It's fun,” she said.
“A good system,” Jack said. “Did you do research on this? Is anyone making it I mean?” he asked carefully.
She frowned thoughtfully. “Not the way I'm doing it,” she answered after a moment. “I think they tried a couple of times … I'll have to check.”
“Well, you could, and this is just an idea mind you,” Jack warned, holding a finger up. “You could sell it. Either as a prototype to a manufacturer or create a start-up and sell it. But the start-up would need everything, right down to a business and marketing plan,” he warned.
“Business, manufacturing blueprints, marketing, strategy,” Wendy nodded thoughtfully, eyes shifting as she thought about the scenario. “Wait,” her eyes widened. “Is my dad offering me a job?” A thrill of excitement coursed through her. A door was opening sooner than expected. She had plans, long ranged plans, but this would go a long way to achieving them. This could serve as a baby step into the adult world she thought. A step in the right direction if she handled it carefully. She did her best to temper her enthusiasm.
Jack smiled. “I think you can handle something like this. If you are interested that is. I can shift some resources and funding to you if you can come up with a business plan and the other paperwork. We make some of this hardware, right?” he asked, pointing to a projector in the corner of the room.
She looked up and then nodded.
“Okay then. So, no licensing negations there, though we can work something out long term I suppose,” he said with a grin at her expression. “Are you interested?”
“Are you kidding me?” she squealed, grinning as she hugged him. She jostled the chimerans but didn't seem to care. “Yes!” she said ecstatically. Her father chuckled as he hugged her back.
“You don't know how many problems this solves! I can use it for my business thesis too!” Wendy went on, making him chuckle.
“I'm always in favor of killing multiple birds with one stone, short stuff,” he said dryly. She nodded and hugged him again. “And I was going to remind you that your schooling comes first, but you obviously know that,” he said, rubbing her back. She nodded again. “Smart lady,” he murmured, nuzzling her hair.
“Dinner is ready,” Bonnie said from behind the closed door.
“Think you're too big for a piggy back ride?” Jack asked, looking Wendy in the eye.
“What about them?” Jack asked, turning in the doorway to indicate the imps.
“They're fine Dad. The projection acts like a great moat doesn't it?” Wendy asked from behind his shoulder. She pointed to the four imps lined up protesting their mistress's unauthorized kidnapping.
“And if they have to go potty?” he asked.
With her small hand she pointed to the headboard, then to her bookshelf nearby which led to a raised platform where their nest was. He chuckled. “Okay then,” he said, jostling her again. “Let's eat!” He said as they left the room.
-*-*-^-*-*-
By the time Icarus returned, Daedalus had been reported officially overdue and considered lost. The company insurance had been paid out, but not with a lot of wrangling and hand wringing for the bean counters and attorneys involved.
Icarus, however, had carried independent confirmation of Daedalus's loss; they hadn't found any sign of her in either system and had confirmed she'd jumped for home. Daedalus's last transmissions had been dutifully recorded while enroute and then passed along to the company and the media as independent verification.
Since the company had gone forward with confirmation of the virus sabotage to the media, Icarus's verification reheated and reopened old wounds. An interview with Miss Fraser by a grief stricken widow lit up the net that no one had been found and arrested for the crime. That kicked off a controversy; some accused the company of faking the attack while others screamed of a cover-up.
The conspiracy nuts and doubters got on Jack's nerves. He finally bit back, taking the podium during a press conference much to Miss Cole's dismay. He glared at the media hounds in the room and attending virtually. “I'm here because I'm tired of the bullshit. You know I am a straight shooter. This happened. I'm not making that up. We lost people. Friends of mine lost their lives because small minded people wanted them dead. They wanted the dream of going to the stars dead.” He paused to look about the room.