by Bob Blanton
“Yes, but only three months have to be right away,” Catie said. “The rest we can pace out, but it will limit how soon you can use the Sakira independently.” Catie walked Marc through what ADI had explained.
“I was putting off building the D.I.,” Marc said. “It’s a big investment, and we really don’t know enough about what we need to do.”
“We’re going to need to build one before you can use the Sakira anyway,” Catie said. “We can’t be without ADI, and if you start using the Sakira, she’ll be too busy to help us.”
“That means if we make the investment of three fabricators for a month, we can have ADI up on the station, and still use the Sakira, but with the penalty that it will compromise our abilities here. Which is true whether we move her or not,” Marc said.
“I think we owe it to her,” Catie said.
“I’m willing to invest the three months of fabricator time,” Marc said. “That will put us back to where we are today, and with ADI happy and in a safer location. Then we’ll see what we need to do to build up the systems she needs. You do realize we have to reproduce the full computer system on the Sakira for the space station.”
“Yes, but that’s eventually. We need to figure out how to build more of the parts we need using standard microgravity manufacturing,” Catie said. “That will free up the fabricator time to build the new computer system for ADI, and the new D.I. We’ll have to call it ADIN, for autonomous, digital, intelligence, next.”
“Okay, you work it out with ADI,” Marc said.
“You have to turn her back on,” Catie said.
“I already did,” Marc said. “Now you had better get ready for the move.”
“I’m packed,” Catie said.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey, Sam, are you packed yet?” Catie asked.
“Not even close,” Samantha said. “How are you already packed?”
“I don’t have as much as you do,” Catie said.
“But you still have to decide what you want to take up there and what you want to keep down here,” Samantha said.
“For my personal stuff, not clothes,” Catie said.
“Why not clothes? You’re not telling me you’re going to live in a shipsuit while you’re up there, are you?”
“No, but I just grabbed a few things for now, then I took a picture of all the clothes I like, and told ADI to buy me another set of them so I can have one set in each place.”
“I like the way you think,” Samantha said. “It will certainly cut down on the hassle of keeping two homes.”
“That is going to be a hassle,” Catie said.
“But as leader of the people, we have to spend time in all parts of the kingdom,” Samantha said in her best British accent.
“You’ve been watching too much Masterpiece Theater,” Catie said with a laugh.
“What are you going to do about your jewelry?” Samantha asked.
“I’m keeping the nice stuff down here,” Catie said. “I assume that if we have any state dinners, they’ll be down here,” Catie said. “But you should know about things like that in advance, so you would be able to get whatever you need where you need it.”
“You should write an advice column for Sophia, Catie’s tips on how to manage your life,” Samantha teased.
“Have you picked your cabin out?” Catie asked.
“Yes, I have,” Samantha said. “It’s ten units down from yours.”
“Why so far?” Catie asked. “I thought you would get the one next to Daddy.”
“You have to live next to your father,” Samantha said. “I, on the other hand, get to put some distance between us so that when I want to be in my own space, I don’t bump into him coming and going.”
“I can understand that,” Catie said. “I’m just glad he let me have my own cabin. Liz and I are sharing.”
“I knew that, and I think it’s a good idea,” Samantha said. “You can use a little space too.”
“I like it, although I never had that much trouble ignoring him,” Catie said. “I’d just work.”
“You get that from your father, and as nice an ability as that is, it can drive those around you crazy,” Samantha said.
“Liz just raps me on the head when I’m not paying attention to her,” Catie said.
“I’ll have to try that on your father, do you think it will work?”
“It’ll work, but sometimes I go into the other room and lock the door.”
“I could handle that better than the uh-huh that means he heard me talk but not what I said,” Samantha said.
“Don’t rap him too hard,” Catie said with a giggle. “You don’t really want to hurt him.”
“That’s true most of the time,” Samantha said. “And by the way, what should we do for your birthday?”
“I thought it was supposed to be a surprise,” Catie said.
“We can still surprise you, but are you going to have it down here?”
“I want to have it up at the station,” Catie said. “With just family and friends. No presents.”
“No presents,” Samantha said. “Why not?”
“They complicate things. I just want to have dinner with all my loved ones.”
“That will limit who you can invite,” Samantha said.
“I only want to invite seven people who don’t already know about the station, and I think they will all be safe to tell.”
“You should clear your list with your father,” Samantha said. “That way, you’ll know for sure. You could have two parties, one down here and one up there.”
“I know, but I’d rather have fewer secrets with my best friends,” Catie said.
“I understand that; it is hard having so many secrets,” Samantha said. “Now get, I’ve got packing to do. And thanks for your help.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hi, Catie,” Mrs. Zelbar said as she walked up. “Are you moving in?”
“Hi, Nikola,” Catie said. “Yes, we’re moving in today. You’ve been up here for a week, right?”
“Yes, as soon as they had air in here, Leo packed his bags,” Nikola said. “But I like it up here; we’re closer to the experiments we are running, and the air is so fresh.”
“Well, that might be because you are the only people breathing it besides the algae,” Catie said.
“Oh, I don’t think so. It’s always fresh in the hub, and there are over two hundred people living there.”
“I’ll tell Natalia that she’s doing a good job,” Catie said. “Are you looking for someone?”
“No, I’m just out walking for exercise,” Nikola said.
“You know there is a track on the basement floor,” Catie said.
“I know, but if I was down there, I wouldn’t get to bump into my neighbors to say hello.”
“When I’m exercising, I don’t want anyone to see me,” Catie said.
“That’s because you really work out and get all sweaty,” Nikola said. “I’m just getting a good walk in for my heart. Come over and visit us when you have time.”
“I will,” Catie said. “Have a good walk.”
“I always do.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Daddy,” Catie said as she knocked on the door to her father’s office.
“Come on in,” Marc said. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk about my birthday,” Catie said.
“Okay.”
“I would like to have it up here,” Catie said.
“Oh,” Marc said, raising his eyebrows. “You know your mother wants you to invite kids your age.”
“I do, that’s why we have to talk. I’d like to invite seven people who don’t know about the station.”
“Who?”
“Sophia and David Michaels,” Catie said.
“Those two are easy,” Marc said. “I assume that’s why you started with them.”
“Yes,” Catie said as she mentally said, darn. Her father knew all her tricks. “And Crystal Tate.”
/> “Another easy one.”
“Artie Gillespie,” Catie added, “and Mom’s boyfriend, Zane.”
“He already knows,” Marc said, “and I think Artie would be okay.”
“Annie Halloway.”
“Isn’t that Jason’s girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it would certainly make his life easier,” Marc said. “Her father already knows, and her mother works for the Zelbars, so they’d like her to be able to come up. I can live with that.”
“Chaz Murillo,” Catie said. She had saved the most difficult one for last.
“His mom’s one of our doctors, right?”
“Yes, and his dad is the foreman in the polysteel plant where we make the beams,” Catie said, “and he’s Sophia’s boyfriend.”
“I need to talk to Kal,” Marc said. “You do realize that Sophia’s probably going to start dating someone else eventually.”
“Yes, but she’s dating Chaz now, and it won’t be fair to her if everyone has a date and she doesn’t.”
“What about Artie and Chris?” Marc asked. “Are they dating each other?”
“They’re not dating anyone,” Catie said.
“Okay, I’ll get back to you tomorrow,” Marc said.
“Thanks, Daddy.”
Chapter 25
Birthday in Space
“I cannot believe that you kept this from me,” Sophia said as she met Catie at the passenger terminal in the space station.
“Hey, I finally got you up here,” Catie said, “but you know you can’t publish it in your Gazette.”
“I know, but I get first rights to report it,” Sophia said.
“I think I can give you that, but Leslie Walters will be right behind you.”
“That’s okay, as long as I’m first,” Sophia said.
“How are you doing with the microgravity?” Catie asked.
“I’m doing okay, but I’ll be happy to get into the gravity section.”
“Well, your mom’s a pro,” Catie said, “she’ll get you there.”
“Come on, Dear,” Mrs. Michaels said. “Gravity is right this way.”
Chris and Artie came through the entry port next.
“Hi, Catie, fancy meeting you up here,” Chris said.
“You seem to be adapting well,” Catie said.
“I am; Artie’s having a little trouble, but he’ll be fine in a bit,” Chris added.
Catie led Artie and Chris to the transition area. “Just grab a strap, and it’ll take you down to the gravity section,” Catie said. “Then we can take an elevator to the first ring where your rooms are.”
“Okay,” Artie said. “Can you go back and help my parents? I think Chris has me.”
“Sure,” Catie said. “Are they having a hard time?”
“I don’t think so; they were having fun turning flips,” Artie said.
“I think that made Artie more uncomfortable than the microgravity,” Chris whispered to Catie on a private comm channel.
Catie went into the Lynx to get the Gillespies; they seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were tossing a lipstick tube back and forth. “See, it goes straight,” Mrs. Gillespie said. “There is no arc since there is no gravity.”
“Of course, Dear,” Mr. Gillespie said. “Watch it bounce.” He threw it against the floor, and it bounced just a little bit up toward Mrs. Gillespie.
“Don’t break it. There might not be gravity here, but that doesn’t mean my lipstick tube won’t dent instead of bouncing,” Mrs. Gillespie scolded.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Mr. Gillespie said.
“Are you two ready to go inside?” Catie interrupted.
“Yes, we are looking forward to seeing the station. We can play anytime,” Mrs. Gillespie said. The Gillespies rode the zipline down to the gravity section with relish. They actually asked Catie if they could go back up and do it again. Catie just shook her head, thinking they were worse than the twins.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Everybody, thank you for coming up here for my birthday,” Catie said to her guests. Everyone was gathered in the boardroom next to Marc’s office.
“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“Just a reminder, the space station is still a big secret. That means you have to keep this to yourself for a few months. When it’s no longer a secret, you’ll see a notice in the Delphi Gazette,” Catie said.
“I also want to thank Bettie’s for catering it for us; there still aren’t very many options for dining up here. And you all know the rule, no presents,” Catie said. “My presents are the stories we are going to be able to share about your experiences up here and my being able to talk about what this all means to me. Of course, we’ll have to do that in private; maybe we’ll have to come back up here to talk about it.”
Catie got a laugh from everyone for her last comment.
Marc got up and dinged his spoon against his glass to get everybody’s attention. “Just a few words about our guest of honor,” he said. “It was fourteen years ago that I first held you in my arms. It was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced in my life. My daughter. Of course, you cried right then, but even that didn’t ruin the experience for me. And throughout your life, holding you has always been the experience I cherish the most. Your mother and I agreed early on that we wanted you to grow up to be a strong, independent woman, to have experiences that would challenge your intelligence and character. I think we’ve accomplished that, definitely the part about being independent-minded.”
The whole table gave Marc a laugh at that.
“And you’ve been a wonderful daughter. You’re kind and thoughtful. You’re also willful, and way too smart for your own good, but your mother and I love you. And although there are supposed to be no presents, we have decided to give you just one,” Marc said. “Therefore, by Royal Decree, you are hereby awarded the status of Youth with all the right and privileges.”
Everyone at the table applauded.
“Now we do hope you take the opportunity to remain in our loving care and take our advice, at least as much as you do now,” Marc continued, “but, we recognize that you’ve become your own person and want you and everyone to know that we recognize it.”
Catie got up and ran crying to her father, “Thanks, Daddy,” she said as she gave him a hug. “And thanks, Mommy,” she said as she turned and hugged her mother. “I can’t believe this.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The next day after the party, Catie met Artie for breakfast at Bettie’s diner, the first restaurant in space.
“Here are two pairs of specs for your parents,” Catie said.
“Thanks,” Artie said. “They’ve always wanted to have some.”
“Well, now that we can make them more efficiently,” Catie said, “we’ll be able to give everyone a pair.”
“How do you make them?” Artie asked.
“We make the frames in Delphi City, then they get shipped up here, and we make the lenses: One layer of transparent polysteel, one layer of coloring, then another layer of transparent polysteel so they can’t be scratched. Then we ship them down to Delphi City to be assembled and distributed. We’re just ramping up the production in anticipation of VIT releasing their new phone.”
“What’s the layer of coloring?” Artie asked.
“It’s the layer of material that changes color when it’s excited by a laser,” Catie said. “It’s transparent until the laser hits it, then it radiates its color; there are three colors in a tight pattern like your TV.”
“So that’s what we see when we’re watching a movie on our specs?” Artie asked.
“Yes,” Catie answered, “and the whole thing can be made to go darker or lighter; that’s what happens with the privacy shades when you make them dark so people can’t see your eyes.”
“Why don’t you assemble them up here?” Artie asked.
“Why would we? Almost all of them have to go down, so we don’t have to ship the bow
s up, and we don’t have that many people working on the station. We’d rather use people up here for jobs that can only be done in space, or jobs that have to be done to keep the place running.”
“That makes sense,” Artie said. “Why pay for shipping when you don’t have to.”
“Yeah,” Catie said. “We went round and round about whether or not to make the frames up here; it finally came down to the people. We didn’t want to have to staff the frame manufacturing in space. It would actually be cheaper to not have to ship the frames up, but the space and workers needed to manufacture them tipped the balance.”
“You’re turning into a captain of industry,” Artie said.
“Not me,” Catie replied, “Uncle Blake ran all those numbers. All I cared about was making enough specs so everyone in Delphi City and on the space station could have a pair.”
“It’s hard to tell who has specs and who doesn’t,” Artie said. “Almost everybody who doesn’t have specs wears the wraparound glasses that look like them.”
“Makes them feel like they fit in better,” Catie said.
Chapter 26
Protesters on Corners
Catie was going into the office on Monday morning when she saw that their protester was back. He had set himself up on the median and was just starting his diatribe when she reached the office. Constable Nawal was keeping an eye on things from a distance.
“Daddy, our protester is back,” Catie texted to Marc.
“What’s he saying?” Marc asked over their comm.
“He’s got a whole list of things that are bad about totalitarian regimes,” Catie replied. “He’s done his homework this time.”
“I’ll be right down,” Marc said.
Two minutes later, Marc came out of the office carrying one of those fold-up camping chairs. Catie wondered where he had come up with that. Kal was right behind him. Marc walked across to the median and opened the chair, and sat down right in front of the protester.
The protester stammered to a stop, shocked to see Marc sitting in front of him. “Are you trying to intimidate me?” he shouted.
“No, Constable Nawal told me you were making some good points,” Marc said. “She thought I might be interested. I’m here to take notes.”
