First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (19 page)

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

Mario
shakily got to his feet after giving his sacrifice to the porcelain
god once more. "Damn this sucks," he sighed rubbing at his
temples.

"You
all right in there?" the commander called.

He
hit the flush. "Yeah," Mario coughed and wiped at his mouth
with the back of his hand. "Give me a moment will you." He
cleaned and splashed water on his face. He took the towel and wiped
up then ran the blower on high.

"Sorry,"
he said as he opened the door to see the commander on the other side.

"Got
you again huh?" the commander observed.

Mario
sighed. "I was okay until I looked out the port hole. I guess
zero gee and the whole spinning thing doesn't sit well with me."
He closed his eyes.

"Come
on. I'm going to lock the portholes down for now at least while we
are spinning. Li is also having trouble so it is justified."

Mario
grimaced. "Tess had it but got over it," he grumbled in
irritation. He waved to her curled up in a window seat reading her
tablet.

"That's
because I'm not stupid enough to look," she replied.

He
chuckled. "Yeah okay. Best defense is not to look. Great,"
he sighed. "How much longer do we get to play Ferris wheel?"
He grumped as he carefully sat down.

"One
hundred fifty six days Mario," the commander responded, stating
the obvious. They all knew that. "Chess?" He set his tablet
in front of him.

"I
see you have the board all set up," Mario chuckled. The three
dimensional set was rather stunning to see. "I am so glad Luigi
managed to talk the game industry in to setting us up," he said.
He frowned. "You’re on. Let’s see." He tapped
the D2 pawn and moved it forward two spaces to D2. "Have at ye!
Revenge!"

The
commander chuckled. "He's on the mend."

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

"How
the hell..." the commander sighed and flicked the king into
submission less than twenty minutes later.”How did...” He
shook his head.

Mario
chuckled. "Try having a genius brother who just so happens to
love chess. I was good until he started beating me. I had to get
better just to keep within shouting distance," Mario smiled and
cracked his knuckles.

"Besides,
you thought you could take advantage of me because I was sick."
He sat back with a grin.

"You
know, it's not too late for me to open the view ports," The
commander growled.

Mario
closed his eyes. "God don't even joke about that."

"Joke
about what honey?" He opened his eyes to the beautiful sight of
his wife toweling off. She was sweaty and in good spirits.

"Have
fun?" he asked. Mrs. Han nodded then turned and bowed to Wanda.

"Good
work out Doctor," Mrs. Han said. Wanda chuckled as she returned
the bow.

"Doc,
how many times do I have to tell you to call me Wanda? We're all
family for the next three years after all," she smiled politely.

Mrs.
Han froze, and then nodded. "Please then call me Yung Lin."
She tapped her racquet to Wanda's "Same time tomorrow?" she
asked.

"You
know it! I want to learn that move you did in the fourth set!"
Wanda grinned. Mrs. Han chuckled.

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

They
piled into the living room and sat down. "Movie night?"
Tess asked.

"Yeah,
Hollywood sent along some real doozies for us to watch. We can't tell
anyone though," Wanda grinned.

"Da.
I remember. If I like it will go in blog anyway," Tess smiled.
Mrs. Han shook her head.

"Can
we watch Hero?" Mario asked.

"What
the TV show?" the commander asked.

"No
the movie," Mario replied. Mario patted his wife then went over
to the computer where the commander was looking over the list.
"Here." He typed Hero in.

The
commander looked up at him then to the Hans. "Are you folks okay
with it?"

Li
shrugged. "I always loved an action movie."

Mrs.
Han frowned. "What is it about?"

Mario
smiled. "The founding of China." Her eyes went wide. "It's
a bit stylized, but it helped widen western understanding a little."

Tess
and Wanda grumbled. "Not another action flick...”

"I'd
like to see something with depth..."

He
smiled. "Watch it and see. Who's got the popcorn?"

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

"Come
on doc kick like you mean it," the therapy nurse instructed.

Luigi
grimaced. "As much fun as it is to be in a pool with a beautiful
lady, I really do have other things I need to be doing," he
sighed. Now that he was recovering he'd begged and bullied Zubrin
into sending him paperwork to keep his mind occupied.

"No,
you spend too much attention to that idiot box as it is, you need
this," she said. She held his waist as he kicked. He grunted in
irritation.

"I
know Doctors make the worst patients but you’re really pushing
it," she teased.

Luigi
grimaced. "I'm not a medical Doctor, I doubt it counts," he
tried to reply with a dignified expression but ended up trying not to
swallow a face full of water.

She
laughed. "Oh it counts. You're one cantankerous patient. Come
on, just pretend it is a goomba or turtle."

He
stopped and eyed her. He watched her blush suddenly. He turned back
to kicking. "For your information it is a Koopa. A Koopa
Troopa," he said with as much affronted dignity as he could
muster. She chuckled as he kicked. "And we jump on them, not
kick."

Her
chuckle turned into a laugh as he splashed more vigorously. "I
stand corrected,” she replied dryly. “Now kick!" she
ordered. He sighed and complied.

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

Wanda
held up a pair of her husband's boxers with her fingernails, touching
as little of the fabric as she could and wrinkled her nose. "How
does the boy do it? Nine million miles from the nearest greasy Tamale
shop and he can
still
do it," she muttered.

Mrs.
Han sighed. "It is a mystery." She folded the towel in
front of her.

Wanda
sprayed the drawers. "So much for the ultrasonic’s, needs
a lot more power to take out stains."

Mario
leaned in. "Did someone mention a need for more power?" He
pretended to adjust his tool belt as he puffed out his chest. "I'm
your man," he hammed.

"Get
out of here you goof. Go play with your tools somewhere else,"
Wanda waved. He smiled and moved on.

"It
isn't fair, I hold two Doctorates, you have two, and yet we are the
ones stuck with doing laundry," Mrs. Han grumped.

Wanda
chuckled. "Trust me, you don't want Mario to clean or cook. The
boy can burn water and he usually finds a way to shrink or destroy
any piece of clothing he gets his grimy paws on. I swear he does it
on purpose," she muttered darkly. She wrinkled her nose at
another set then wadded them up. "My god another?" She
shook her head. She heard a noise near the door and tossed the ball.

The
commander caught it and tossed it back laughing. "He's not
here," he said. She shook her head.

"Never
let a Mario eat Tex Mex food," Wanda grumped darkly.

The
commander sniffed. "Yeah, I can... smell it," he said,
waving a hand in front of his face. She waved a fist at him. He
chuckled as he exited hastily. "Thirty more days and we will be
on Mars. Then the tables will be turned and we will have our time in
the spotlight." Wanda looked over to Mrs. Han. The Asian woman
nodded.

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

"Why
did you stay behind?" Luigi asked Betsy as he moved his leg.

"More,
flex it," the therapist instructed. He grimaced as he followed
the therapist’s directions. He'd been in grueling therapy for
months. It had helped to keep his mind off of the unjust universe and
the trials. At least until he'd been called to testify. The defense
had tried to attack him but fortunately the Prosecution and Judge had
cut them off and limited them to the subject.

"I
just wanted to clear a spot for Wanda so they could go together,"
Betsy replied looking away.

"Okay,
we can take a break," the therapist smiled as she let his leg
rest. She rubbed his calf. "You’re starting to cramp
again, so we need to go a bit slower and do some stretching. I see
you're not doing your exercises on your own," the woman
admonished. The therapist sighed. "If you want to get back on
your feet you need to do them Luigi. That and drink a lot more
fluids." She rubbed at his calf.

Luigi
sighed as Betsy started to get up. He caught her hand. She stopped
and turned to him. "Give it up girl, spill," he ordered.

She
blushed. "I just didn't want to go without you," she said
softly.

Luigi's
eyebrow rose in startled surprise. His grip tightened. "Right in
front of me the whole time and I didn't see it. Some genius I am,"
he sighed bitterly and shook his head.

She
blushed. "Whoever said men we're smart?" Betsy teased and
then chuckled.

The
therapist chuckled. "I'll just give you two a moment," she
said. Lucy got up and left.

Luigi
pulled her closer. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"
he asked, voice softening as his thumb stroked her hand. Betsy
grimaced and ran her free hand through her hair.

"I
don't know what to say," she said softly.

"Well,
have you staked me out for yourself?" he asked. Her blush went
right to her ear tips. "Hmmm, no not yet or even I would have
noticed." Luigi pulled her to his side. She reluctantly allowed
him. "What's been keeping you? Afraid of rejection?" he
asked, trying to meet her eyes but she shyly looked away. She nodded
not looking at him. He caught her chin with his right hand and made
her look at him. "I can't kiss you in this halo get up, but I'd
like to," he said softly.

She
smiled but her eyes glittered. "Me too," she said softly.

"Well,
we can figure something out. We've got time." Luigi replied
stroking her cheek.

"All
the time in the world," she agreed. She pressed her hand to his.
He smiled.

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

"Whatcha
writing? Another letter home?" Mario leaned over her shoulder.

"Will
you get out of here?!" Wanda tried to cover the display. Wonder
of wonders they hadn't killed each other in the long trip out. Now
that they were edging closer to Mars they were all anxious.

He
chuckled. “You know your messing up the e-mail right?"

She
sat back and sighed. "Look at what you made me do." She
grumped as she tapped on the desk.

He
sat on the corner. "Isn't it cool how we get to play with all
sorts of neat gadgets? Like this laser keyboard?"

He
waved to it with one hand. "Hey stop that!" she growled.
She smacked at his hands. He chuckled and snatched them back.

"Touchy
touchy," he teased grinning. He got up. "Commander says to
let you know we have about twenty minutes until we maneuver," he
said soberly. He got up and walked to the door.

"I
wonder how much fun we can have with the safety straps?" he
asked with a wicked leer.

She
spun and threw her Marvin Martian doll at him. "Will you get out
of here?" she said, fully exasperated but now blushing. He
chuckled as he ducked out. She colored and dimpled. "Gah, you'd
think he was sex starved or something," she sighed as she looked
at the hash. "Crap. Easier my left nipple," she growled and
then blushed at what she'd just said. She was starting to think that
using the Dragon speech thing would have been better. She highlighted
the text and deleted it. "Okay, blog entry round two," she
sighed.

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

Tess
waved her hands and then shrugged. "Dis is neat how they fix old
cars," she said. Mario smiled. Wanda was next to him, snuggled
against his side reading an e-book.

"What
are you watching? Is that a fifty seven Chevy?" the commander
asked coming in. He was a plane nut not a car buff but he still liked
the classics. Something he'd inherited from his dad.

Mario
looked over to him then back to the screen. "Fifty eight. The
show is called Wrecks to Riches. They find old beat up cars and
restore them."

Tess
shook her head. "Is much more than restore, make a whole new
car! Hot rod!" she said excited. Mario chuckled. He looked over
to the commander. The commander was in his basketball uniform.

"How'd
the game go?" Mario asked, lifting an eyebrow in inquiry.

"Yes
how did they do?" Wanda asked looking up. "They lose?"
she asked taking in his demeanor.

"By
six points," the commander replied, thoroughly disgusted as he
sat down heavily. "That sucked. Good game though. How'd you
know?"

Mario
smiled. "Well, if your team had won the entire Hab would have
been ringing by now," Mario answered wryly.

The
commander smiled. "Yeah. True."

Tess
smiled then turned back to the show. "Why do they still use gas
engines, why not electric?" She turned to Mario.

"I
have no idea," he sighed and spread his hands.

"These
shows are paid for by parts suppliers. They don't want them to make a
car they can't supply parts for,” the commander grumped.

"Capitalism.
Yes," Li replied with a knowing tone. They looked over to see Li
and Yung in the doorway.

"Show
over?" Yung Lin asked.

"Almost.
You can have it in a minute or two," Mario responded and went
back to watching. They watched as the team put the finishing touches
to the car.

"Nice.
Auction?" the commander asked.

"Yup,
whole point of the show. Fix it up then sell it. Capitalism like Li
said," Mario shrugged.

"Whatever
works, I just want to see a cool car." He looked over to his
wife then to Tess.

Tess
was watching the auction bouncing. "More, no thirty thousand
dollars go higher. Come on you can do it."