First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (17 page)

"So
it doesn't bother you?" Luigi looked over to see Benny as he
walked into his office.

"Not
at all, it is rather handy when the weekly publication posts when
they are going to do it," he replied. “Though my neighbors
aren't happy. Fortunately I'm never home so...” he shrugged.

Benny
chuckled. "And you are conveniently not home." He smiled.
"Nice."

...*...*...*...*...

“Senator,
as we explained in the brief, the money if any derived from the sale
of the helium three and deuterium will go first to paying for the
launch, then to paying for the space program, then the second launch
already in flight, then if any money is in the kitty left over to
either the designated countries or to a program of their choice,”
Luigi explained patiently. Everyone had ignored the possible economic
implications of the gas giant program, thinking it was wishful
thinking... that is until yesterday's little bombshell.

Senator
Byrd frowned. “I saw that, but that doesn't make a lick of
sense. Why should we share with the ruskies?”

Luigi
scowled but tried to hide it by ducking. “Because they provided
the power sir.”

“I
didn't quite hear that,” The Senator growled.

Luigi
looked up. “Because Senator, they provided the power. They are
providing the Topaz power plant for the flight; therefore they
deserve a share of the profits.”

“I
don't quite care for your tone son, you better watch it,” Byrd
scowled at him.

Luigi
nodded. “Noted sir,” he sighed. “Sir, they are
providing the Uragan rocket platform to get it up, the Topaz for
power, we provided the platform, and drive. Once we pay for the
previous mentioned things, there should be enough for each of our
countries to get a return on this first investment,” Luigi
explained.

Senator
Friday leaned forward. “This first investment?” she asked
carefully. Bryd looked over to her scowling. She waved him off. “You
had your turn,” she said. His scowl deepened. He was turning an
interesting shade of red Luigi noted before answering.

“Yes
ma'am, this first run. We now have a gas mining platform on its way
to orbit Saturn, and we can get a turnaround flight every four years.
Each flight brings back twenty five tons each of helium three and
deuterium. At current market prices that is nearly a quarter of a
trillion dollars, though we expect that to drop once we get it to
market,” Luigi explained patiently.

She
nodded looking skeptical. “And just how is this material worth
so much?” she asked suspiciously.

He
held up his cup. “Power ma'am. With a drop of water, we can
power this building for an hour. With Deuterium and Helium three we
can power the entire continental United States for a year,”
Luigi explained. Grantham grunted like he had been shot.

“How?”
she asked, suddenly aghast over the concept. The coal union was going
to flip their lids over this one.

“Fusion
power ma'am. With a fusion reactor running this mix of He3, and DE,
that is Helium three and Deuterium, we can get an eighty percent
return on energy. That is one thousand times better than current
generation fission reactors with the same transition of waste. We
could run the reactor in France with this fuel and power that entire
continent,” Luigi explained. She nodded.

“What
about contamination?” Grantham asked. Friday looked concerned
then sat back with a sigh.

“Contamination?
Sir we are doing our best to make sure the product is not
contaminated by exposure to Earth's biosphere,” Luigi replied.

Grantham
grunted. “Not what I meant at all,” he growled.

“Oh
you mean with us?” Luigi shook his head. “No sir, they
are both rare isotopes in shielded containers. We have deuterium on
Earth in water already.” He held the glass up again. “This
is just the pure quill.”

“Think
of it as Moonshine,” Friday teased. Byrd chuckled dryly.

...*...*...*...*...

""Want
to have lunch?" Luigi asked Betsy after the meeting. Her eyes
went wide in surprise then she smiled.

"Yeah,
I'd like that."

He
chuckled. "There is an Italian deli that serves the best gyros
in DC." He escorted her out.

...*...*...*...*...

"See,
eating with the boss isn't so bad," Luigi teased as he looked at
Betsy. She chuckled. They were standing at the cross walk waiting for
the signal to turn green so they could cross.

"Looking
forward to the launch? Four more days and we will be in space!"
Betsy said excited.

Luigi
chuckled. By rights right now they should be with the rest of their
team training and or visiting their families one last time. Instead
he'd been called here on the hill. "Yeah, I'm not all that fond
of the idea of weightlessness, but the trip is going to be exciting."
He shook his head. He remembered his trip on the vomit comet, for him
it had lived up to its nick name.

He
nodded as the lights changed to red and the cross signal changed to
green. "Here we go," he murmured checking left and right
and then stepping off. They started walking across the street. He
heard an engine rev and turned. A gray sedan was peeling up the
intersection right for them. He pushed Betsy backward and felt the
impact. Betsy screamed as he was struck, catapulted up over the hood
to bounce off and hit the pavement.

The
car squealed to a stop and people piled out of it. Luigi moaned.
"He's still alive," a voice said.

"I
can fix that." Someone kicked him in the abdomen. Then the
kidneys. He groaned as a pipe smashed into his arm. He groaned,
feeling blinding pain.

"Stop
it what's the matter with you? SOMEONE HELP!" Betsy screamed.

"Shut
the bitch up. She's one of them," one of them turned on her.

A
trio of men in suits came running weapons drawn. "Federal agents
drop the weapons!" The pipe hit the ground by Luigi's ear with a
clang. He groaned again and felt someone kick him once more.

"Do
it again and your dog food," someone growled.

"He's
an anarchist; he's going to ruin the universe!" a woman
shrieked. “Pollute Mars!”

"Put
your hands up where we can see them nice and slow..." The car
peeled out suddenly. "Their on the move, gray sedan Lincoln,
plates, 35GRN09 Georgia plates. That's three, five, Georgia, Richard,
North, Zero, Niner." Luigi could hear an agent talking.

He
felt someone grab his thigh and groaned. "Back," he mumbled
spitting blood. He coughed. Something went around his leg and
tightened down. "Back," he sighed, feeling cold all of a
sudden.

"He
said back, he must mean spinal injuries," Betsy said. The last
kick had knocked him onto his back. He could feel his airway closing.
The blood in his mouth was dribbling down his throat. He couldn't
move, his limbs felt numb and unresponsive. "Get the other leg,
I'll protect his neck." Betsy said to someone else. He could
feel her kneel with her thighs on either side of his head. Gently she
squeezed, protecting his head and neck from moving. Her fingers
checked behind his head, feeling his neck before she grunted. He
coughed blood. He sighed as she tipped his head back so he could
breathe easier. "Hold still Luigi, help is on the way,"
Betsy said.

"Someone
get paramedics here now!" She looked up and yelled. He groaned
softly. His eyes were almost swollen shut. His face hurt, he knew he
hit the pavement hard. He felt droplets on his cheek and face. He
cracked an eye open to see the open sky and sun above. Betsy leaned
forward shielding him with her body. "It's going to be okay,"
she murmured voice shaking.

He
felt a droplet touch his lip and trickle into his mouth. It was
salty. It must have been her tears. "Senator, you need to get
out of here now, you may be endanger," an agent said off to one
side.

"Like
hell I will, do you know who that is? That's Luigi Irons, get some
help for him. God this is a mess," the Senator said clearly
furious and concerned.

Luigi
chuckled. "Sorry Senator, I guess I have a knack for giving
politicians headaches," he mumbled.

"What
did he say?" The senator asked moving into his field of view.
Betsy gave a watery chuckle.

"He
said he's sorry he gives politicians such headaches." She looked
up into the eyes of the Senator who snorted.

"Like
hell he is," he laughed. "He's always causing mischief."

A
paramedic moved into view. "Sir, we're here to help, lie
perfectly still," the paramedic ordered. Luigi sighed as he felt
them set a C collar around his neck. "Possible spinal injuries,
vehicle impact, lower leg injuries to both fibulae and tibia of both
legs..." One paramedic started to list his injuries. He groaned.

"Okay,
you’re in good hands Luigi, I'll check in with you later."
The Senator waved as an aid latched onto his arm. Luigi sighed.

...*...*...*...*...

"Who
the hell were they?" Zubrin asked the FBI agent who shook his
head.

"Greens,
that's all I can tell you without compromising our investigation.
It's a mess. They are real whack jobs," the agent replied.

Zubrin
sighed. "Did you catch them all?" he demanded.

The
Fed shook his head. "I can't tell you that...”

Bob
snarled. "Damn it I need to know! I have personnel scattered
over four continents and a rocket about to launch in three days!"
He smacked his fist into the wall.

"I'll
check with my supervisor. I would suggest you lay on additional
security," the agent suggested then moved off down the hall.

"Damn,"
Zubrin sighed pacing. "Damn." He looked in on Luigi in the
hospital bed enshrouded with tubes and machines. "Stupid fools,"
he sighed sitting down.

Betsy
came up behind him. "Bob, everything all right?" He looked
up and sighed.

"The
FBI won’t let us know anything. I need to make some calls,"
he growled. She nodded. He hugged her briefly and then left.

Betsy
entered the room quietly and sat in the chair watching the readouts.
"Live," she murmured. "Live," she sighed stroking
his hand with her fingers.

...*...*...*...*...

"He's
lucky." The Doctor looked over to Mario and Wanda. "He has
a broken seventh vertebra, crushed ribs, broken right arm, broken
fingers, both tibia and fibulae in both legs are shattered..."
The Doctor shook his head. "Bruised kidneys, ruptured disk
vertebra, punctured lung, broken cheek, cracked skull..." She
grimaced. "He has some of my best work in him. Twenty hours of
surgical repair and counting."

Wanda
nodded. "Thanks doc. Why don't you get some rest, putting up
with an Irons takes it out of anyone," Wanda smiled.

"Yeah
that's certainly true," The Doctor smiled weakly. Mario wasn't
in a joking mood.

"Can
we see him?" Mario asked looking forlorn.

"He's
out now; I believe his partner is in with him now. You can take a
peek, but he won’t wake for a couple hours," the Doctor
replied. Mario nodded.

At
the door Betsy noticed them and got up and came out. "He's not
fully awake." He's in and out," she said softly. She looked
over to the Doctor who nodded.

"We
should put him in a medical coma, but the possible injuries to his
brain are just too much of a risk, I don't want to chance putting him
under and have him go under for life." She shook her head.
"Injuries this extensive will take years to fully recover from."

Wanda
nodded. "But he will recover right?"

The
Doctor nodded. "Without anymore unforeseen problems, yes. He's
got a long road ahead of him," she cautioned and then sighed.
Mario grimaced.

"Why
don't we go get a cup of coffee and something to eat Betsy while
Mario checks in?" Wanda gripped her husband's hand briefly then
caught Betsy's. She looked torn, turning back to Luigi.

"He'll
be okay, trust me." The Doctor urged pushing her on. After the
girls had left the Doctor sighed. "She's been here from the
beginning. I had to give her that top; hers was spattered with his
blood. She won't leave his side."

Mario
looked down the corridor. "Well, will wonders never cease?"
he said with a slight smile. "Thanks doc." He reached for
the door handle.

...*...*...*...*...

“We're
taking you live to the press room of the White house where word of
Dr. Iron's condition will hopefully be released...” The anchor
raised his hand to his earwig and turned to a monitor.

“Ladies
and gentlemen, Press Secretary Gibbs.” The aide nodded politely
to her boss as she stepped away from the podium. He stepped up and
nodded.

“Ladies
and gentlemen at one PM eastern standard time Dr. Luigi Irons was hit
by a vehicle while walking back to work after his lunch break.”
The clicks and flashbulbs came fast and furious. “After being
struck he was catapulted to the ground. The vehicle stopped and the
occupants got out and proceeded to beat the astronaut with fists,
feet, and lengths of pipe.” The press secretary scowled as the
room became utterly quiet. “A group of Secret Service and FBI
agents on their own lunch breaks, as well as Senator Branth's
security team apprehended the assailants in the act,” the
Secretary paused.

“Ladies
and gentlemen this is one of the most heinous acts I have ever seen.
Dr. Irons is in critical condition...” He didn't get to finish
as the reporters began to clamor for attention with questions.

“And
there you have it, the White House alleging that the four men and one
woman deliberately attacked Dr. Irons three days prior to the launch
of Mars Hab one.” The anchor looked up into the camera then
over to the side. The screen split between two people. “Joining
us now are Dr. Anthony Drisco renowned activist and author of My life
My world, how to take back the planet, and Republican Senator Friday.
Nice to speak with you once more.” The anchor nodded politely
as they both murmured assurances that it was nice to be on the show.