“Is that the best position for them?” Samantha asked.
“Yes, with our high acceleration profile, they’re better positioned to reach any area of the solar system from here deep in the gravity well. If the Roebuck were out on the rim, they wouldn’t have the ability to accelerate to a new location as fast if something is detected. Although, we assume we’ll actually have months if not years to respond to anything we detect.”
“I can never get used to how huge the distances are,” Samantha said.
“Anyway, we’ve assembled a barracks down on the planet and offloaded our livestock, so things are moving along.”
“Thank you,” Marc said. “Catie, anything new on the jump ships?”
“I have just now gotten the privacy I need to be able to start checking on things, but they’re tuning the drive size and the capacitors and reactors. They’re going to need an antimatter reactor, but we want to scale it down. We have Dr. Nakahara working on that.”
“Yes, and he’s making significant progress,” Nikola said. “I think he’ll have what you want by your October date.”
“Great,” Catie said.
“Now for Artemis, I’m sorting through all the applications from would-be colonists,” Marc said. “We’re not having any problem attracting them. We’ll need to figure out what to do with the ones we bring in to Delphi City that won’t be going out until Catie’s and Liz’s new cargo ship can ferry them out.”
“What about the Victory?” Kal asked.
“It won’t be ready until after the first of the year, especially now that we’re going to have to replace the cabins in the Sakira.”
“What?!” Fred asked.
“Oh, those clever Paraxeans figured out that the cabins represented quite a bit of cargo and supplies that they could use. They’re going to pull them all out. We’ll do the same on Artemis,” Marc explained.
“And you just gave in?”
“It’s a great idea. I couldn’t very well say no to them, then turn around and do it myself.”
“Exactly!” Dr. Metra said, giving Fred the evil eye. Her ears were forward and raised in what they had all learned was a state they struck before the Paraxean pounced on its prey.
“Yes, of course,” Fred conceded. He definitely didn’t want to find out what happened when a Paraxean pounced.
“Sam, how’s training going?”
“Still working the new people in. The teachers are doing a great job of keeping the kids busy. I’m using the ones who’ve been here from the start to help coordinate with the new people.”
“That hammer still working?”
“Yes.”
“Hammer?” Blake asked.
“She had to threaten to leave people behind if they didn’t measure up on fitness and cross-training,” Marc said.
“Woo, who knew Sam could be so tough?”
Samantha stared Blake down until he coughed, encouraging Marc to move on.
“Back to Artemis: The aliens who are approaching Artemis have not made any changes in course or speed since we exchanged messages; of course, they’re assuming we haven’t received their answer yet. They are still on target to arrive in system late May to early June,” Marc continued.
“Admiral Michaels, update on our surface fleet?” Marc prompted.
“We’ve deployed three as of today. One in the Mediterranean Sea, one in the Atlantic Ocean, and one in the North Pacific. Each has two frigates accompanying it. We have minimal crew aboard each carrier; we’ll send crew and aircraft to them as needed. Hopefully, we’ll not need them,” Admiral Michaels said. “How are we feeling about the G20 group?”
“First, have you decided if you’re going to take the position as Military Chairman?” Marc asked.
“I think so. Pam is still trying to decide if she wants to move to Brussels.”
“We could force the issue and have them pick another city to host the alliance,” Marc said.
“I think you’d play hell trying to get them to change to a city like Nice,” Admiral Michaels said. “And given a choice, we’d prefer a European location.”
“It’s only one thousand kilometers,” Blake said. “With a hover Lynx, you could commute. At Mach four, it’s only fifteen minutes from Nice.”
“But I have to get to the airport,” Admiral Michaels said.
“I said hover Lynx,” Blake said. “It can pick you up at your country estate just outside the city and drop you off at the office. We could require that they provide a helipad.”
“That would probably swing the deal with Pam,” Admiral Michaels said.
“What about Sophia?” Catie asked.
“She’ll come with us, at least for most of the year. She and Pam can split their time between there and here in Delphi City,” Admiral Michaels said. “So, you two will be able to continue to torment each other.”
“Dr. Metra, is there an update on our new enterprise?” Marc asked, ignoring the little drama about Sophia and Catie.
“We’ve registered with the IRODaT, which stands for International Registry of Organ Donation and Transplantation. They say they’re excited to work with us, and we’ve received twenty requests for organs that we are currently growing. Once we have success with those, I’m sure we’ll get many more requests.”
“Excellent. Again, let me know if you need anything. We’ll close here. Everyone, have a good day.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey, Brainiac, do you have some time to help me with this problem?” Yvette asked Catie.
“You don’t sound like you want help,” Catie said.
“Why? . . . Oh, I meant it as a term of affection. I’m frustrated with the math on this heat dispersion problem. And you know how I love math.”
“Okay, link to my Comm, and I’ll look it over with you.”
Yvette linked her Comm and put the problem up on their HUDs.
“You did the integration wrong,” Catie said.
“That’s it?”
“Yes. If you fix it, your answer will be correct.”
“How can you know that? It took me longer than that to read the problem, much less figure out what they were asking for.”
“I’ve had to solve problems like that before,” Catie said.
“You have? Is that why you’re not in this class? All first- and second-class cadets are required to take Basic Structure of Starships. There are three of these classes running, and you’re not in any of them.”
“Yeah, I had a class like
