bit.”
“Some. Though I expect the frequent
flyer miles to start stacking up at an atrocious rate pretty soon.”
She smiled. “So, what exactly is it
that you would want me to do?”
“Frankly, you’d probably wear more
hats than anyone else in the company, except me. Aside from the obvious, flight
crew medical evaluation, you would be responsible for flight crew physical
training, nutrition, spacecraft and planetary habitat environment, exercise,
and psychological evaluation and training for a two and a half year voyage,
space suit environmental factors, and the list goes on and on.”
As he spoke, her eyes grew wider
and wider. “But I have no expertise in any of those areas.”
“But you can learn. You’ve already
proven that. Look, our first cargo launch is scheduled for eighteen months from
now, with crew launch in about four years. There is time, not a lot, but you
don’t have to hit the deck running. Honestly, we’ve all got huge learning
curves ahead of us. But to get there, I need a team that I’m certain will work
well together and get the job done. And I think you would fit in perfectly. But
on a bit grander scale, Susan, I’m offering you a seat at the table for the
most ambitious space mission ever attempted. One that will rewrite the books,
and in ways that we haven’t even foreseen yet.”
She lowered her head and slowly
shook it back and forth. “I don’t know. This is just so far beyond anything I’d
ever thought of or planned for. I just don’t know.”
“I understand and, trust me, you’re
not alone. In two weeks I’m having a small group of, let’s say, principal
players, gather at my place in Newport. We’ll go over the entire program and
plans in thorough detail so that everyone is on the same page and understands
exactly what they’re getting into. If you could come and see firsthand what
we’re going to do, I think it would help you make up your mind. And it won’t
cost you a dime, I’ll pay for everything.”
“I don’t know. It’s awfully short
notice.”
“Life altering event. Surely worth
a long weekend?”
She turned back to the window and
watched the river roll by. After what seemed an eternity to Jeff, she turned
back to face him. “Alright. I make no promise that I will accept your offer,
but I’ll come and hear you out.”
“I can ask no more.”
Lunch arrived and they both dove
in. Susan smiled at Jeff, appearing considerably more relaxed than she had earlier.
“I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”
“Me neither. Famished. Um, might I
ask, being born in China, I presume it doesn’t say ‘Susan’ on your birth
certificate?”
She laughed, “No. It’s Tianshu.”
“Tianshu. That’s lovely. And do you
speak, would it be… Mandarin?”
“Yes, and some Cantonese.”
“That could be useful.”
Friday, June 15, 2012
(T minus 1376 days)
“United Airlines announces the
arrival of flight 242 from Chicago.”
Jeff slid off the barstool in the Federal Tavern and
took his time strolling back to the security checkpoint at T.F. Green Airport.
He was excited, but didn’t want to look… too excited. He had spent the past two
weeks frantically preparing for their arrival and the big day was here. The
time had come to plead the case for his sanity and the jury was about to enter
the courtroom. If he could not convince this stellar pool of talent,
intelligence, and education that his idea had at least some reasonable chance
of success, it was over – and he could take a long vacation in Bermuda and rethink
his life. Perhaps he could get Abby to come along and keep him company. A
mental image of her in a bikini, stretched out under the sun on a long sandy
beach, suddenly popped into his head and, for a moment, Jeff thought that might
not be an entirely bad idea anyway. He savored the image for a minute then
shook his head and filed the thought away for future reference.
As Jeff stood in the midst of the
crowd of people anxiously
“Some. Though I expect the frequent
flyer miles to start stacking up at an atrocious rate pretty soon.”
She smiled. “So, what exactly is it
that you would want me to do?”
“Frankly, you’d probably wear more
hats than anyone else in the company, except me. Aside from the obvious, flight
crew medical evaluation, you would be responsible for flight crew physical
training, nutrition, spacecraft and planetary habitat environment, exercise,
and psychological evaluation and training for a two and a half year voyage,
space suit environmental factors, and the list goes on and on.”
As he spoke, her eyes grew wider
and wider. “But I have no expertise in any of those areas.”
“But you can learn. You’ve already
proven that. Look, our first cargo launch is scheduled for eighteen months from
now, with crew launch in about four years. There is time, not a lot, but you
don’t have to hit the deck running. Honestly, we’ve all got huge learning
curves ahead of us. But to get there, I need a team that I’m certain will work
well together and get the job done. And I think you would fit in perfectly. But
on a bit grander scale, Susan, I’m offering you a seat at the table for the
most ambitious space mission ever attempted. One that will rewrite the books,
and in ways that we haven’t even foreseen yet.”
She lowered her head and slowly
shook it back and forth. “I don’t know. This is just so far beyond anything I’d
ever thought of or planned for. I just don’t know.”
“I understand and, trust me, you’re
not alone. In two weeks I’m having a small group of, let’s say, principal
players, gather at my place in Newport. We’ll go over the entire program and
plans in thorough detail so that everyone is on the same page and understands
exactly what they’re getting into. If you could come and see firsthand what
we’re going to do, I think it would help you make up your mind. And it won’t
cost you a dime, I’ll pay for everything.”
“I don’t know. It’s awfully short
notice.”
“Life altering event. Surely worth
a long weekend?”
She turned back to the window and
watched the river roll by. After what seemed an eternity to Jeff, she turned
back to face him. “Alright. I make no promise that I will accept your offer,
but I’ll come and hear you out.”
“I can ask no more.”
Lunch arrived and they both dove
in. Susan smiled at Jeff, appearing considerably more relaxed than she had earlier.
“I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”
“Me neither. Famished. Um, might I
ask, being born in China, I presume it doesn’t say ‘Susan’ on your birth
certificate?”
She laughed, “No. It’s Tianshu.”
“Tianshu. That’s lovely. And do you
speak, would it be… Mandarin?”
“Yes, and some Cantonese.”
“That could be useful.”
Friday, June 15, 2012
(T minus 1376 days)
“United Airlines announces the
arrival of flight 242 from Chicago.”
Jeff slid off the barstool in the Federal Tavern and
took his time strolling back to the security checkpoint at T.F. Green Airport.
He was excited, but didn’t want to look… too excited. He had spent the past two
weeks frantically preparing for their arrival and the big day was here. The
time had come to plead the case for his sanity and the jury was about to enter
the courtroom. If he could not convince this stellar pool of talent,
intelligence, and education that his idea had at least some reasonable chance
of success, it was over – and he could take a long vacation in Bermuda and rethink
his life. Perhaps he could get Abby to come along and keep him company. A
mental image of her in a bikini, stretched out under the sun on a long sandy
beach, suddenly popped into his head and, for a moment, Jeff thought that might
not be an entirely bad idea anyway. He savored the image for a minute then
shook his head and filed the thought away for future reference.
As Jeff stood in the midst of the
crowd of people anxiously
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