by Bob Blanton
“So, Sophia is hiding from you.”
“That’s my guess,” Catie said.
“I do have a recording from her that she asked me to give you after you learned of the book,” ADI said.
“Why didn’t you say so before?”
“I was instructed to only give it to you after you inquired about her whereabouts,” ADI explained.
“Play it on the display,” Catie said as she sat in her father’s chair.
Sophia’s image came up on the display.
“Catie, I know you hate me right now, but please let me explain. I was approached to do the book last year by a major publishing company. They wanted to have me write it quickly and promised to have it printed and distributed in only one month after I finished it.
“It wasn’t the money; well, it was partially the money. But you know that if I didn’t agree to write it, they would have found someone else. Someone who didn’t know you or care about you as much as I do. ADI verified all the facts for me, so I know I was accurate. I don’t know how that woman can get so much done.
“Anyway, if you read it, you’ll see that it’s complimentary and I think quite good. I’m sorry to miss your welcome home party, but as you can tell, I’m afraid of you. I know you’ll be mad, really mad. But once you have time to digest it all, I’ll come back, and you can get even any way you want.
“You know I love you. Don’t stay mad too long. Bye.”
“Coward!” Catie snapped.
“Hey, she really must be afraid of you. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for her not to be here to cover the homecoming for the Gazette,” Samantha said.
“Ooooh, I could just strangle her!”
“It sounds like you have a bit of your mother’s temper,” Samantha said. “I’ve never seen you blow up like this. You’re usually more controlled, logical with your anger.”
The reference to blowing up like her mother set Catie back on her heels. “I don’t blow up like my mother,” Catie said. “But-- but she betrayed me!”
“Did she? Like she said, someone was going to write it. Who would you rather have written it, Sophia or someone like Barbara Kerr?”
Catie’s nose wrinkled at the mention of Barbara. “Gawd, that would have been awful. Barbara acts like she lives in a soap opera.”
“See, some people would say that Sophia did you a favor.”
“Alright, I won’t strangle her.”
“But you’re still going to get even.”
“Of course, Sophia will understand that I can’t break character.”
Samantha and Catie broke into giggles. “Be sure to tell her that after you get even!”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Blake, I’d like your assessment of Catie,” Marc said.
“Sure, what do you want me to assess?”
“How did she do on the mission?”
“She did fine,” Blake said.
“What would you say if she’d been leading it? I need an honest assessment.”
“She’s still young,” Blake said.
“Ignore that!”
“She doesn’t really understand the concept of chain of command,” Blake said. “Oh, she understands it, but it’s not burned into her like it is with our military pilots. She modified the scheduled arrival time to the first planet without consulting me.”
Marc nodded his head, digesting the input, “And?”
“She doesn’t yet plan deep enough. She comes up with a good plan but doesn’t go through enough contingencies, what-ifs. It didn’t occur to her to have a Fox guard the compound at night after we had the fence up. She had everyone go back to the ship, which was smart, but was counting on the fence being enough.”
“What about the issue during the Russian mission?” Marc asked.
“I guess she sees the answer so clearly, that she can get overconfident. She’s so smart and so quick, she’s used to making adjustments on the fly. That’s not necessarily a bad trait, as long as you don’t count on it too much.”
“Would a year or two at the Academy fix that?”
“It would, but you can’t seriously be thinking of having her go.”
“Why not?”
“She’s your daughter, the heir. I can’t imagine how that would go over.”
“But if she were in disguise, like when she did the undercover report?”
“I guess that would work,” Blake said as he stroked his chin. “But she’s still only fifteen.”
“She’ll be sixteen in the fall. And we can’t wait. If we don’t send her now, it’ll be too late. She’s already got that cargo company starting up. She won’t have time and won’t mentally be able to step down to the level of a cadet. It’s now or never.”
“You think she can handle being treated like a cadet now?”
“If properly motivated, I think so.”
“What’s going to motivate her?”
“The requirement that anyone in the chain of command of a starship be an Academy graduate.”
“Of our academy?” Blake asked.
“I assume we’ll accept equivalency from other academies,” Marc said. “But I’m sure you’ll come up with some short training regimen that will bring them up to our standards.”
“You’re going to require me to take some classes?!”
“Just like Kal’s fast-track training.”
“Oh, alright, it does make sense. There’s a lot of technology in those starships that is totally new, besides the whole fighting in space thing with the need to really think three-dimensionally. But what about private ships?”
“Any starship has to be part of the reserve fleet, so all officers aboard her have to be military reserve.”
“I like that. It will keep some rich idiot from getting a starship and running it into a space station,” Blake said. “Do you really think Catie will be able to handle the Academy?”
“Oh yeah, the question is, will the Academy be able to handle Catie.”
“There is that. Who are you going to tell?”
“Nobody,” Marc said.
“Isn’t that risky?”
“ADI will know.”
“And Liz,” Blake said. “You know she’ll kill herself looking for Catie if Catie drops off the map. And Kal, he’ll need to know to deal with the security, besides you have to tell him something when you pull her bodyguards.”
“Sure, besides, Catie will tell them anyway.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Catie, could you join us in my cabin,” Marc messaged the next morning.
“Sure, is Mommy there?”
“No, you’ve managed to avoid that storm.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
Blake, Samantha, and Marc were waiting for Catie when she entered Marc’s cabin.
“Oh no, am I in trouble?” Catie asked.
“Not at all,” Marc said. “I wanted to talk about what’s next for you.”
“Cool.”
“What do you want to do?” Marc asked.
“I’m not sure,” Catie said. “I’ve got my cargo ship to design, but I’d be interested in going on another planetary exploration mission too.”
“In what capacity?”
“The same, I guess. I would like to be the captain someday, but it was fun being the second mate.”
“What if I told you that any officer on a starship has to be a graduate of the Academy?”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am.”
“But I almost have two degrees. I’ve flown dozens of missions in a Fox; I commanded the Sakira for two months; I’m still the best pilot.”
“We know,” Blake said.
“So why?!”
“You still need some training, some seasoning,” Blake said. “The type that you only get at the Academy.”
“Other militaries have an OCS thing, why couldn’t I go to that?”
“That wouldn’t be enough,” Blake said.
“Why not? Why is it good enoug
h for others, but not good enough for me?!”
“Because you’ll step into a much higher role than those others would. You’re already a lieutenant, so you’re not going to get the seasoning from being an ensign and then a Lt. JG.”
“But, doesn’t my experience count for something?”
“It does, and that’s why after a couple of years at the Academy, you’ll be able to step into a Lieutenant- or Lt. Commander-slot. But you need this Catie,” Blake said.
“What if I only want to fly civilian starships?”
“All starships have to be in the reserve fleet. And all officers on them have to be reserve officers, with academy experience,” Marc said.
“What about Uncle Blake?”
“He’ll go through an abbreviated OCS training,” Marc said. “Even you have to admit that he’s got the skills already, he just needs to tune them up for space-based operations.”
“Yeah, but how can I be a cadet? Everyone will hate me!”
“You’ll go in as Keala, or someone like her,” Marc said.
“So, nobody will know who I am?”
“Right. So, it’s your choice.”
“It’s not a choice!”
“It’s a choice, even if it’s a tough one. Besides, I’d like to know where you are while I’m away,” Marc said.
Catie stopped short, “Where are you going?” she asked, worried that she didn’t know anything about this.
“Artemis.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Samantha squealed as she pulled Marc into a hug and started kissing him.
Afterword
Thanks for reading Delphi Exploration!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the seventh book in the Delphi in Space series. If you would like to join my newsletter group, click here, Delphi in Space News. The newsletter provides interesting science facts for SciFi fans, book recommendations based on books I truly loved reading, and notification of when the next book in my series is available.
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Acknowledgments
It is impossible to say how much I am indebted to my beta readers and copy editors. Without them, you would not be able to read my books due to all the grammar and spelling errors. I have always subscribed to Andrew Jackson’s opinion that “It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word.”
So special thanks to:
My copy editor Ann Clark, who also happens to be my wife.
My beta reader and editor, Theresa Holmes.
My beta reader and cheerleader, Roger Blanton, who happens to be my brother.
