head. "Tell that to my teenager.”
Li
looked confused. "Teenager?" She looked over to him. Nick
pulled out his wallet.
Luigi
groaned sitting back down hard. "Oh great." He rolled his
eyes. "Might as well clear the rest of the day, Nick just got an
excuse to show off his girls...” Luigi groaned theatrically.
Benny chuckled. Julia slapped him on the shoulder then leaned over to
see the photos.
"She
is quite a handful now, but she was a gorgeous baby. Still is."
Nick smiled. "Here she is as an infant... look at those eyes..."
Luigi
groaned. "You’re killing me here Nick honest." Julia
wrinkled her nose at him then back down.
"Here
she is at her Halloween party last year. She was going for a punk
Goth zombie mummy I think."
"The
tutu is a nice touch," Julia giggled.
"Don't
look at me; I just pay for it all. Somehow," Nick grumbled.
Julia sat on Benny's arm rest. "Here's my most recent photo..."
...*...*...*...*...
"So
you finally met the Hans?" Zubrin looked Luigi over.
"Yeah.
Pretty reserved." Luigi picked up a beer and popped the cap.
"Chinese
usually are at first. Hell, we all are on unfamiliar ground and in
unfamiliar situations. Give it time."
Luigi
nodded. "It is going to be interesting to see how they do in the
exercises. I am not sure how well they can speak English."
Zubrin
chuckled. "Yeah. Just be glad you don't have a really mixed bag.
Indians, Pakistani, Ugandan, French, Spanish... Portuguese..."
Nick
took a pull of his beer then sputtered. "Wait, Uganda? How did
they get invited?"
Zubrin
smiled. "Politics. They didn't donate a lot, but they want in.
They are pretty far down the list though."
Nick
shook his head. "As if we can get there."
Zubrin
smiled. "You never know..."
"This
cycler plan and SSTO aren't going over well." Zubrin grumped to
Luigi. "I still say a single shot ground to Mars is a better way
to go. At least for the first dozen missions." He sat back and
sighed.
"You
and I both know we're only going to get one shot at this in our life
time. Best to get as much as we can squeeze out of it." Luigi
nodded to the mock up on Zubrin's desk.
Zubrin
picked it up. "It looks like the Venture star." He set it
back down. "Will it fly?"
Luigi
nodded. "As long as we can keep the special interest groups from
cutting funding. She'll fly only on Mars; we'll have to launch her
with a special booster here on Earth. She'll dock with a ferry and it
will transfer her and supplies to Mars," Luigi explained. Luigi
sat back. "If the space planes on this end get off the ground
then we will see the price drop to under a mil per person," he
said. Zubrin nodded thoughtfully. Already space planes were getting
more and more popular. Burtan's beauty, the Voyager series was ahead
of the pack. But already there was talk of a deal with Fed Ex for a
shipping craft, and some muttered about a few rich jet setters
wanting their own versions. Getting from one side of the world to the
other in a short time just got a lot more interesting.
"I
would love to see that happen," Nick sighed.
"We
took as much as we could from the X planes. Shape design, the aero
spike engines, carbon skin, ceramics, new fuel tanks, state of the
art flight suite... She'll fly herself and even dock with the AI on
board." Luigi nodded to the model. "She's got the latest in
diagnostics too, and she is designed for easy field repair on
Mars...or at least as easy as we can make it." He shrugged.
"If
we can make a hangar there then we can extend her service life by a
decade or two," he finished and then shrugged.
Zubrin
nodded. "Think that can be done?" he asked, thoroughly
serious.
Luigi
sighed. "With a lot of work, and the right materials, and a
healthy dose of luck, yes sir. I've got Dover industries working on
an inflatable hangar." He shrugged. "But one step at a
time."
Nick
saluted him with a beer. "Words to live by."
· Chapter 4
Testimony:
"Don't
worry about the crew from Texas; we have their support since ground
control is
Li
looked confused. "Teenager?" She looked over to him. Nick
pulled out his wallet.
Luigi
groaned sitting back down hard. "Oh great." He rolled his
eyes. "Might as well clear the rest of the day, Nick just got an
excuse to show off his girls...” Luigi groaned theatrically.
Benny chuckled. Julia slapped him on the shoulder then leaned over to
see the photos.
"She
is quite a handful now, but she was a gorgeous baby. Still is."
Nick smiled. "Here she is as an infant... look at those eyes..."
Luigi
groaned. "You’re killing me here Nick honest." Julia
wrinkled her nose at him then back down.
"Here
she is at her Halloween party last year. She was going for a punk
Goth zombie mummy I think."
"The
tutu is a nice touch," Julia giggled.
"Don't
look at me; I just pay for it all. Somehow," Nick grumbled.
Julia sat on Benny's arm rest. "Here's my most recent photo..."
...*...*...*...*...
"So
you finally met the Hans?" Zubrin looked Luigi over.
"Yeah.
Pretty reserved." Luigi picked up a beer and popped the cap.
"Chinese
usually are at first. Hell, we all are on unfamiliar ground and in
unfamiliar situations. Give it time."
Luigi
nodded. "It is going to be interesting to see how they do in the
exercises. I am not sure how well they can speak English."
Zubrin
chuckled. "Yeah. Just be glad you don't have a really mixed bag.
Indians, Pakistani, Ugandan, French, Spanish... Portuguese..."
Nick
took a pull of his beer then sputtered. "Wait, Uganda? How did
they get invited?"
Zubrin
smiled. "Politics. They didn't donate a lot, but they want in.
They are pretty far down the list though."
Nick
shook his head. "As if we can get there."
Zubrin
smiled. "You never know..."
"This
cycler plan and SSTO aren't going over well." Zubrin grumped to
Luigi. "I still say a single shot ground to Mars is a better way
to go. At least for the first dozen missions." He sat back and
sighed.
"You
and I both know we're only going to get one shot at this in our life
time. Best to get as much as we can squeeze out of it." Luigi
nodded to the mock up on Zubrin's desk.
Zubrin
picked it up. "It looks like the Venture star." He set it
back down. "Will it fly?"
Luigi
nodded. "As long as we can keep the special interest groups from
cutting funding. She'll fly only on Mars; we'll have to launch her
with a special booster here on Earth. She'll dock with a ferry and it
will transfer her and supplies to Mars," Luigi explained. Luigi
sat back. "If the space planes on this end get off the ground
then we will see the price drop to under a mil per person," he
said. Zubrin nodded thoughtfully. Already space planes were getting
more and more popular. Burtan's beauty, the Voyager series was ahead
of the pack. But already there was talk of a deal with Fed Ex for a
shipping craft, and some muttered about a few rich jet setters
wanting their own versions. Getting from one side of the world to the
other in a short time just got a lot more interesting.
"I
would love to see that happen," Nick sighed.
"We
took as much as we could from the X planes. Shape design, the aero
spike engines, carbon skin, ceramics, new fuel tanks, state of the
art flight suite... She'll fly herself and even dock with the AI on
board." Luigi nodded to the model. "She's got the latest in
diagnostics too, and she is designed for easy field repair on
Mars...or at least as easy as we can make it." He shrugged.
"If
we can make a hangar there then we can extend her service life by a
decade or two," he finished and then shrugged.
Zubrin
nodded. "Think that can be done?" he asked, thoroughly
serious.
Luigi
sighed. "With a lot of work, and the right materials, and a
healthy dose of luck, yes sir. I've got Dover industries working on
an inflatable hangar." He shrugged. "But one step at a
time."
Nick
saluted him with a beer. "Words to live by."
· Chapter 4
Testimony:
"Don't
worry about the crew from Texas; we have their support since ground
control is
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