by Bob Blanton
“We’ve got eight weeks to figure out how we want to respond,” Marc said.
“We could just ignore him and see what he does,” Samantha suggested.
“I’d rather keep poking him to see how he responds, but I’ll consider that,” Marc said. “Now, moving on. Fred, I loved your press conference.”
“Thanks. Peregrine Airlines started flying last week. All their flights are booked solid.”
“That’s excellent news. How’s our cash reserve doing?”
“What cash reserve?” Fred joked. “We’ve used up a lot of it. We need to take a breather or find another source of income.”
“We could sell more platinum metals,” Kal suggested.
“Liz is bringing you a load, along with about five million tons of our new wheat,” Marc said.
“That should help a lot. But what’s next?”
“You could borrow money from Catie,” Blake quipped.
“We’re overcommitted,” Catie said.
“How can that be?!” Marc gasped.
“I want to build another StarMerchant,” Catie said.
“Another one! We’ve barely got this one crewed!” Liz groaned.
“I know, but it will take six months to build. We just have to work on the hiring. If we’re going to trade with Paraxea, we can use the extra capacity. And don’t forget, they have other colonies and those other civilizations they’ve met; we’ll want to start trading with them as soon as we can, so we should be engaging in a lot of trade.”
“No one ever accused Catie of thinking small,” Blake said.
“You’re not asking for a loan, are you?” Marc asked.
“No, we just don’t have anything extra. We’ll use the profits from this run to build another Skylifter for the Paraxeans, then we have to build one for the Dutchman. That plus laying the keel for the next StarMerchant uses up most of our reserve.”
“What about ‘your’ reserve?” Blake asked, using air quotes to stress ‘your’.
“Oh, well I do have some there,” Catie said.
“Don’t worry, we won’t ask you for a loan. I hear you charge exorbitant interest anyway,” Fred said. “Besides, we can always borrow from Marc or Blake.”
“Don’t look at me,” Blake said.
“Back to the meeting!” Marc said. “Where are we with the jump ships?”
“We’ve just finished modifying the ships based on our last test. We should be ready to run another set of tests in a week,” Catie said. “After that we should be able to tell you more. I assume you want to get the Victory to Artemis.”
“You assume right.”
“I would predict by mid-May,” Catie said.
“Okay, we can’t afford to take much longer than that.”
“I understand.”
“Now, Dr. Metra, how are our clinics doing?”
“We’ve now opened one in every major country. That plus the regional clinics seem to be covering most of the demand. We’re expanding treatment to cover other diseases besides just childhood ones.”
“That sounds good. How about your birth control clinics?”
“Of course, all of the new clinics are offering birth control. We are getting some strong pushback in certain countries, but our underground clinics are managing the distribution there.”
“Are the women at risk?” Liz asked.
“There is some risk. There has been an uptick in violence against women who don’t get pregnant, but we’re doing what we can there,” Dr. Metra said.
“What are you doing?” Marc asked.
“I believe the general response has been to give the men the nanites as well. It curbs their testosterone level, which reduces their tendency toward violence.”
“All the men?” Liz asked.
“No, they just give the women who have been abused a bandage to apply to their husband,” Dr. Metra said.
“I think a 9mm bullet in the head would work better,” Kal said.
“We shouldn’t have to go that far,” Dr. Metra chided Kal.
“Okay. Keep us posted. Is your budget still adequate?” Marc asked.
“Yes, since the clinics are handling most of the need now, the budget is more than sufficient.”
“Admiral Michaels, how go things with the alliance?” Marc asked.
“The usual politics. It wouldn’t be worth it if we weren’t able to live in Nice,” the admiral said.
“We all have our crosses to bear,” Marc said.
“Thanks. We are making progress on the rules for engagement. We should be ready to start integrating the forces in a couple of months.”
“I look forward to hearing how that goes,” Marc said. “Blake, how about our discussions with the U.N. on the licensing situation?”
“Our discussions,” Blake said. “Our discussions are a royal pain in the ass.”
“You are royalty,” Catie messaged Blake.
“You just wait!” Blake replied.
“But we are making progress,” Blake continued. “I have a conference call with the G8 leaders tomorrow to review the latest proposal. Of course, the biggest sticking point is Russia’s and China’s complete disregard of the current patent and licensing laws.”
“That’s to be expected. This should help to garner some more respect from them,” Samantha said. “A new market should make the values of the patents and licensing they control more valuable, so the overall respect for the laws protecting them should go up.”
“One would hope,” Blake said. “I’ll keep you informed.”
“Kal, are you getting in enough surfing?” Marc asked.
“You bet. And our military force is doing well. We’ve got all four aircraft carriers in place and crewed. Our Marines are shaping up well, we’ve built a mock spaceship to practice infiltrations on. It’s in orbit just behind Delphi Station.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun,” Liz said.
“We’ll run you through it when you get back,” Kal said.
“What about me?” Catie whined.
“I think your Academy class will go through it in May,” Kal said. “You stick out too much to try and sneak you through.”
“Pooh!”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey, Alex, what are you doing on Saturday?” Yvette asked.
“I don’t have specific plans. I thought I might go hang out with my Academy Family,” Catie replied.
“Want to go with Miranda and me for a golf lesson?”
“Golf?”
“Yes, all aspiring officers need to play golf.”
“Since when?”
“Since they just got a new golf pro, très beau.”
“You’re hopeless.”
“Hey, I like to shop,” Yvette said. “So, are you in?”
“Sure. But I’ve never played before.”
“That’s the best, lots of hands-on instruction.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“So, you ladies want to learn how to play golf,” Victor, the golf pro, said. He was a very nice specimen as Yvette had suggested. Tall, broad shoulders, small waist, and a handsome face.
All three of the girls were wearing a mid-thigh skirt and a light cotton blouse. Yvette had taken them shopping the day before so they would be properly attired and attractive.
“Yes.”
“Have any of you ever played before?”
“I have,” Miranda said. “I only took a few lessons. I never had enough time to spend on it, so I stopped playing.”
“Okay, that should help. Let’s get each of you a six-iron, that’s what we’ll be using until you have the basic swing down.”
Victor led them into the pro shop where he selected the appropriate club for each of them. Anytime she could get away with it, Yvette took up position behind Victor where she could signal her approval of his various attributes.
Victor led them back onto the driving range. “Today, we’re going to focus on the swing; your swing is the single most important aspect of your long game. Once you have that down, we’
ll move on to putting. After that we’ll address things like sand traps and chip shots.”
The three girls nodded their heads.
“First let’s get the grip right. Each of you hold your club like this, right hand extended, left hand behind.”
“Like this?” Yvette asked, prompting Victor to wrap his arms around her from behind and help her adjust her grip.
Once he had all three of them gripping the club correctly, he had them stand back. “Now, let me show you what a proper swing looks like. There are seven parts. First, address the ball.” Victor approached the ball that was teed up and described his stance.
“Next, there is the takeaway.” Victor described the moves as he brought the club back until it was horizontal to the ground. Yvette pointed to his butt and signed her approval.
“Now the backswing. Your hips need to rotate evenly, keep your arms straight, let your left knee flexed . . .” Yvette pointed out that Victor had very nice legs.
“The top of the swing . . . on the downswing, your hips should start moving first, twisting . . .” Yvette let Miranda and Catie know that she really liked Victor’s hips.
“Now impact,” Victor said as he hit the ball, “and follow-through. You need to keep the swing going. Your body will anticipate the follow-through, so it has to be right or you’ll mess up your downswing.”
The ball shot out about one hundred meters before a drone caught it to bring it back. The driving range was on the side of the city, facing the ocean. Similar to the course, a drone caught each ball before it hit the water. However, the player’s HUD showed the full flight path giving them the satisfaction of seeing how far their shot went.
The girls all clapped. “Nice.”
“Who wants to go first?” Victor asked.
Yvette pushed Catie forward. “Alex is first.”
Catie just rolled her eyes as she walked over to Victor.
“Now let’s get you set up.” Victor took position behind Catie and positioned her in front of the ball. “Bend your legs . . .” Victor used his knee to bump Catie's knee forward until it was bent correctly. “Lean over.” Victor held Catie's hips and used his thumbs to indicate when she’d reached the proper angle. “Keep your back straight.” He used his forearm to get Catie to straighten her back, prompting her until her spine touched it all the way up and down.
“Now, the take-away . . .” Victor guided Catie through the process; she hit the ball and it traveled about twenty meters before the drone caught it.
“That was very good. Let’s look at the replay,” Victor said as they all turned to the display to see how Catie had done. Unfortunately, the camera had also caught Yvette’s antics of appraising Victor as he wrapped his arms around Catie to guide the swing.
“You should pay more attention to the golf swing,” Victor said, giving Yvette a stare. She smiled demurely and ducked her head. Victor just shook his head and turned back to Catie. “Alex, you did a nice job for your first swing. Let’s do it again.”
Victor worked with each girl on her swing until she had it down. Of course, Miranda got hers down in almost no time and Yvette took the longest, asking for clarification of every minor detail.
“Now, let me set you up here,” Victor said, as he led them to three stations that were partially enclosed. “This station has cameras and sensors; it will check your swing and give corrections to you via your HUD. They also have several large electromagnets which will correct minor errors in your swing as you’re practicing. The head of the clubs you’re using has a magnet in it that allows it to couple with the electromagnets so they can make the necessary corrections. The more your body makes the correct swing motion, the more ingrained the muscle memory will be.”
Victor got each of them set up at their station, worked them through a few swings, then left them to practice. “Try to hit two dozen balls. If you’ll come every day and hit two dozen, you’ll have your swing down within a few weeks. I’ll leave you to practice. The computer will alert me if you’re having trouble.”
“Alex,” Miranda said, “I just realized you’re driving right-handed. Aren’t you left-handed?”
“Yeah, but I thought it would be easier on Victor if we all played right-handed.”
“You should have said something,” Victor said. “We should go and change clubs.”
“Don’t worry, I’m ambidextrous. I do lots of things right-handed. I shoot right-handed and I play pool right-handed.”
“Why?”
“My teacher was right-handed, so that’s how I learned.” Catie’s Uncle Blake had taught her to shoot pool and shoot a handgun, and Kal had taught her how to shoot a rifle. Both of them were right-handed.
“If that’s how you want it,” Victor said, “but I can teach both ways.”
“No, this will make it easier for us to help each other.”
Victor shook his head as he started back to the office.
Catie focused hard on her swing, and after a dozen balls she was able to hit it about seventy meters. Since she was the first to set up, she finished first and turned to watched Yvette and Miranda. Miranda was getting her balls to travel about ninety meters, but Yvette was nailing hers. Each ball traveled at least one hundred ten meters.
“Yvette, your golf swing has improved remarkedly since Victor left,” Catie said.
“Maudit, these computers, they take all the fun out of a golf lesson,” Yvette said. She hit her next ball over one hundred twenty meters.
“What’s your handicap?” Miranda asked.
“Six!” Yvette said, sounding very unhappy. “Well, there’s always putting.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Paul,” Marc greeted his friend.
“Hey, Marc, you wanted to talk?”
“Yes. You’ve seen the Skylifter?”
“Oh yeah. It sure makes short work of bringing an asteroid down to the surface,” Paul said.
“Yes, so?” Marc prompted.
“I’m guessing you’d like to have more asteroids coming in.”
“Right. I knew you were the man for the job,” Marc said. “We should be able to handle at least ten per day.”
Paul shook his head. “You’re not asking for much are you?”
“There has to be a way to speed up delivery.”
“I’m sure there is. I’ll look into it.”
“Thanks, let me know if you need anything.”
“Don’t worry, you’re on my speed dial.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Nattie.”
“Yes, Paul.”
“Marc has asked me to figure out how to get more ice asteroids delivered here.”
“I assume you mean he wants them to show up faster,” Natalia said.
“I knew there was a reason I married you.”
“How are they delivering them now?”
“Using the tried-and-true method you and Catie developed.”
“And Liz,” Natalia added.
“Sure, and Liz. But it takes half a day to rig one up. We fly them here where we have to break them up before we can lower them to the surface. Now the Skylifter can bring them down in one piece.”
“So they don’t need the grav drives on this end.”
“Right, but we have to use them to fly them here.”
“ADI.”
“Yes, Cer Natalia,” ADI replied.
“Can we accurately plot a course that will send an asteroid to Artemis without grav drives on it?”
“If you can accelerate it onto a prescribed trajectory, I can calculate one which will bring them into Artemis’s orbit,” ADI answered.
“So we just need to push them,” Paul said. “You thinking of using an Oryx?”
“No, too much fuel,” Natalia said. “But we don’t have to go through all that effort to mount the gravity drives and everything. Maybe we can just make a framework with them on it, then grab the asteroid and push it.”
“Grab it with what?”
“We just need to make sure it doesn’t
slip off. Let’s go out there and check it out.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Natalia and Paul took the Sakira to the asteroid belt. With the Sakira they had a manufacturing facility to prototype whatever they needed to push the asteroids around. Captain Desjardins was happy to get out of orbit and give his crew something to do. Training opportunities were never to be taken lightly.
“So, are you going to share your idea?” Paul asked.
Natalia brought up the image of the last asteroid they’d sent toward Artemis on the display in their cabin. “What do you see?”
“The asteroid, the grav drives, the reactor with the control module,” Paul said.
“Now what?” Natalia used her HUD to erase the asteroid from the image.
“Just the grid of all that equipment.”
“So?”
“So, you want to make a frame and mount them all on it. But the asteroids are all different shapes. How are you going to make it fit any of them?”
“Three points define a . . .?”
“Plane,” Paul answered.
“So if we mount the reactor and control module on top of one of the drives, then we should be able to find a section of the asteroid where the three points can anchor without causing a problem. Four points, would make it likely that one of them wasn’t anchored. But with three . . .”
“Oh, yes. Unless it were a really wonky asteroid, you’d find one side that would let you do that. But how do you keep the frame from slipping off?”
“Just put some points on the end of each leg. Use the grav drives to drive them in. Then you can start to maneuver it.”
“And to pull them out?”
“Newton’s first law.”
“Newton’s first law? You’ve gotten pretty damn smart with all those classes you’ve been taking.”
“Thanks, I think. Anyway, Newton’s first law says that what’s moving, keeps moving.”
“You could have just said inertia. So that means you just reverse the gravity drives and let the asteroid pull itself free.”
“ADI, will that work?”
“I am certain of it, Cer Natalia,” ADI replied.
“So, we just need to make up a few of these,” Natalia said.
“You know we could have done all this on Artemis?”
“Yes, but then you and I wouldn’t have this nice cabin to stay in with a steward running around to bring us stuff and a nice wardroom to eat in.” They were staying in the owner’s cabin on the Sakira. Once they had started using the Sakira for missions, they had divided the huge captain’s cabin into two separate cabins. The captain still had room for two guests, but the owner’s cabin also had three separated sleeping cabins as well as a large day cabin.
