Americans
messed it up during a follow-on maintenance mission. Then they had to fix it on
your mission in 2008. So, you broke it, you fixed it. Barely.”
Adam was taken aback and said, “I can’t comment on
that. It’s classified.”
He guzzled some ice tea and continued, “So Molly
Hemphill, tell us about yourself.”
Molly, naturally bubbly, said, “Sure, let’s see, I
graduated from the Air Force Academy with a degree in Flight Sciences and then
went on for my medical degree at Purdue. Um, I worked on the first Biosphere
and I’ve done years of research in life support systems for extended-stay
missions. Just like this one. I guess that made it an easy decision for Mr.
Tankovitch.”
Her effervescent personality came through and she put
her hand on the table to let them know she was going to divulge something else
about herself. “To be honest, I was on the fence about this mission, you know?
It seems extremely risky and I’m not the risky type. But I knew I’d kick
myself if I said no. I’ve tried hard to avoid regretting anything in life. So,
in this case, I had to go for it.”
Keller’s jaw dropped and he asked, “You try to do what?”
“I want to avoid missing great opportunities. You
know, I don’t want to look back on life and say I coulda, shoulda, woulda.”
Keller smirked. He said, “Well that’s like saying you
want to avoid learning. Regret is natural. It’s just something that happens
when we choose one path over another and things turn out crappy. The more
regrets you have early in life, the better off your life gets later on. Believe
me, I know a lot about regret.”
Adam jumped in. “Okay, okay. I think she’s saying that
she doesn’t want to waste this one-of-a-kind opportunity.”
Molly got serious and said, “Thank you Adam. That’s a
good way to put it.”
Keller pointed his finger at Molly.
“I gotta say, Molly, I do like your charisma.”
Keller smiled and looked at each one of them. He took
a big slug of coffee and continued, “Okay, my turn I guess. Let’s see. I never
went to college. I ran a burger joint for years and then stumbled onto a friend
who was making computer games for fun. I offered to help him turn it into a
real company and it did very well. Then we sold it for a fortune and I tried my
hand in other companies for many years until I started the rocket motor company
called Murch Motors. I guess that makes me the least qualified person on this
team; maybe even in this country.”
Everybody laughed and nodded in agreement. He was
right.
Keller added, “However, you will be riding on my vehicle
designed by my engineers. So, I get to go for free; think of me as your sugar
daddy.” He held up his hands to make air quotes around the word sugar .
Then Keller stood up and said, “If you’ll excuse me,
I’ve gotta go see a man about a horse. Oh, if the waitress comes back, can you
order me a salad with lettuce only?”
He walked off toward the restroom and locked the door
behind him. Keller pulled a pill from his pocket and threw it into his mouth.
Then he cupped his hands to catch water from the sink and wash it down. He
looked in the mirror. He was doing well.
The waitress came back with the food and asked,
“Where’s the chatty one?”
Adam explained, “He’ll be back, don’t worry. He has to;
he’s paying the bill. Oh, by the way, could you bring him a salad? Lettuce
only please.”
They were all digging into their food when Keller
finally sauntered back to the table and sat down.
Keller saw them eating their non-organic chow and he said,
“You like to live dangerously.”
After he sat down, he continued chatting, “Hey, the
bathroom here has one of those fancy ultra-violet hand dryers. Man, they may
look like a work of art, but they sure look like they’d spread the plague in a
heartbeat. Give me paper towels any day.”
His barren meal arrived.
Molly looked up and said, “Well, you know, on the Mars
spacecraft we’ll be
messed it up during a follow-on maintenance mission. Then they had to fix it on
your mission in 2008. So, you broke it, you fixed it. Barely.”
Adam was taken aback and said, “I can’t comment on
that. It’s classified.”
He guzzled some ice tea and continued, “So Molly
Hemphill, tell us about yourself.”
Molly, naturally bubbly, said, “Sure, let’s see, I
graduated from the Air Force Academy with a degree in Flight Sciences and then
went on for my medical degree at Purdue. Um, I worked on the first Biosphere
and I’ve done years of research in life support systems for extended-stay
missions. Just like this one. I guess that made it an easy decision for Mr.
Tankovitch.”
Her effervescent personality came through and she put
her hand on the table to let them know she was going to divulge something else
about herself. “To be honest, I was on the fence about this mission, you know?
It seems extremely risky and I’m not the risky type. But I knew I’d kick
myself if I said no. I’ve tried hard to avoid regretting anything in life. So,
in this case, I had to go for it.”
Keller’s jaw dropped and he asked, “You try to do what?”
“I want to avoid missing great opportunities. You
know, I don’t want to look back on life and say I coulda, shoulda, woulda.”
Keller smirked. He said, “Well that’s like saying you
want to avoid learning. Regret is natural. It’s just something that happens
when we choose one path over another and things turn out crappy. The more
regrets you have early in life, the better off your life gets later on. Believe
me, I know a lot about regret.”
Adam jumped in. “Okay, okay. I think she’s saying that
she doesn’t want to waste this one-of-a-kind opportunity.”
Molly got serious and said, “Thank you Adam. That’s a
good way to put it.”
Keller pointed his finger at Molly.
“I gotta say, Molly, I do like your charisma.”
Keller smiled and looked at each one of them. He took
a big slug of coffee and continued, “Okay, my turn I guess. Let’s see. I never
went to college. I ran a burger joint for years and then stumbled onto a friend
who was making computer games for fun. I offered to help him turn it into a
real company and it did very well. Then we sold it for a fortune and I tried my
hand in other companies for many years until I started the rocket motor company
called Murch Motors. I guess that makes me the least qualified person on this
team; maybe even in this country.”
Everybody laughed and nodded in agreement. He was
right.
Keller added, “However, you will be riding on my vehicle
designed by my engineers. So, I get to go for free; think of me as your sugar
daddy.” He held up his hands to make air quotes around the word sugar .
Then Keller stood up and said, “If you’ll excuse me,
I’ve gotta go see a man about a horse. Oh, if the waitress comes back, can you
order me a salad with lettuce only?”
He walked off toward the restroom and locked the door
behind him. Keller pulled a pill from his pocket and threw it into his mouth.
Then he cupped his hands to catch water from the sink and wash it down. He
looked in the mirror. He was doing well.
The waitress came back with the food and asked,
“Where’s the chatty one?”
Adam explained, “He’ll be back, don’t worry. He has to;
he’s paying the bill. Oh, by the way, could you bring him a salad? Lettuce
only please.”
They were all digging into their food when Keller
finally sauntered back to the table and sat down.
Keller saw them eating their non-organic chow and he said,
“You like to live dangerously.”
After he sat down, he continued chatting, “Hey, the
bathroom here has one of those fancy ultra-violet hand dryers. Man, they may
look like a work of art, but they sure look like they’d spread the plague in a
heartbeat. Give me paper towels any day.”
His barren meal arrived.
Molly looked up and said, “Well, you know, on the Mars
spacecraft we’ll be
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