all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by... (Part 2)

[ChairmanHal]

ChairmanHal watched his disguised captain's cutter Amilia blast into space, primitive solid rocket motors burning furiously, providing what amounted to trivial thrust in comparison to what her Heplar drive main engine. All around the launch facility near the northern tip of Madagascar, there were celebrations. Members of the New Haleenstar Republic's space program were excited at the prospect of their nation entering the space race. For the members of the crew of the battleship Constellation, it was but a small step on the way home.

ChairmanHal wished he was on board the Amilia, but he knew that the charade would have to be maintained for the foreseeable future. Kyra was at his side, as always searching for some clue what he was thinking. He considered himself fortunate that her psionic talents weren't as fully developed as they could be. He had been told she was empathic, but her abilities mostly lay elsewhere. He allowed himself, if just for a moment, to consider the possibility that the priest had been right and she was Gabree-el, incarnated in another universe and dozens of generations before she would become the Priestess of the Faith, predictor of the Apocalypse, and leader of his Earth.

"Amazing, isn't it?" remarked Kyra.

"What? Oh yes, quite," replied ChairmanHal, his train of thought broken.

"I sense that you wish you had gone with them. Aren't you a bit...?"

"Too old to train for the astronaut program?" he asked, a wry expression coming to his face.

"Well I wasn't going to say it exactly in those words, but yes."

"Someday, ChairmanHal replied, "I think that I shall go along for the ride at least. Maybe take you with me."

Kyra let out a hardy laugh at the suggestion. "I barely fly anywhere, hate rollercoasters, and find Science-Fiction sort of boring. Get on one of those?"

"Now hear me out. This operation is only getting started. Selling it to science junkies will be easy. Selling it to the general public will require someone who can make it a priority in people's minds, not just something we don't have the money to spend for while we're still rebuilding from the war." ChairmanHal paused and took Kyra's hands. "That's going to require people who understand what it means to take a leap of faith. "

"Why does Rice play Texas?" asked Kyra.

ChairmanHal looked at Kyra puzzled.

Kyra continued, "something you said to me recently, you quoted it from some book or web site, I forget the source. There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?"

"Ahh yes, I remember now," said ChairmanHal thoughtfully. We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. John Kennedy, he was someone of importance once a long time ago."

"Did he ever get to the Moon?"

"Kennedy? No, I'm sorry to say he was killed a few days or so later."

"Pity." Kyra looked back up at the trail rapidly dissipating column of smoke that followed the Amilia high into the sky. "I shall help you get into space, ChairmanHal. I will go with you. I sense that the experience...it will be more than I can possibly imagine." She continued looking up into the sky.

A few moments later, ChairmanHal noticed Kyra's expression change. It seemed pained. "Are you ok, Kyra? asked ChairmanHal, concerned. Kyra seemed to grow weak and her knees began to buckle. He supported her weight until she could regain her balance.

"Just a flash of an image. it's ok. For a moment, I thought I saw...a spaceship. It seemed to be waiting for us. An orbiter from another nation or alliance maybe?" Kyra struggled with the image as it raced through her head.

"I'm sure that's all it is, Kyra. Any number of nations have space programs and any one of them could have an orbiter in orbit when we eventually go up."

"Ok, "said Kyra smiling weakly. "Let's go inside and meet with your public."

"I suppose some words are necessary. Maybe I'll quote Kennedy."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, ChairmanHal sat at his desk. Ordinarily he would be going over briefing from rebuilding projects around the Republic and winding down for the day. This evening he was Commodore George Haleenstar of the Terran Republic and not in the mood to shuffle paper.

There was a knock at his office door, followed by the entrance of his aide. The aide closed the door behind him.

"Tell me good news, John."

Commander John Kaga knew when to cut to the chase with his commander. They had served together too long for him not to have a sense of all of Haleenstar's moods and what to say and how to say it as they came up. The Commodore would trick him on occasion, but not often.

"Ok, the Amilia made it safely into orbit. All systems are functioning normally. Artificial gravity is being a bit twitchy, but it's not exactly like we can send a quartermaster request for parts. Nick thinks he can do something with it whenever he can leave it on long enough between live shots back to Planet Bob for the benefit of mission control and the general public."

"Wouldn't want them seeing a pen drop to the floor and conclude that we faked the launch, eh?" said ChairmanHal.

"No sir, that would be a bad thing."

"Have you considered faking some communications problems with ground control long enough for Nick to run some diagnostics?"

"Already on it," replied Kaga, winking.

"Good. So when can you fit me into the launch schedule?"

Kaga's expression changed. "Well sir, I don't know that..."

"Is there is problem?"

"World leaders as a rule don't go up in space orbiters."

"You promised I could go up with the first salvage team to the Constellation. I am going with them, Commander," said ChairmanHal sounding more like a commanding naval officer with each moment.

Kaga knew there was no point in further debate. The Commodore had made up his mind. "Ok sir, the Amilia will need to go back up a few times, as well as her sister orbiters under construction right now. How does 18 months sound?"

"Like way too damn long, that's how it sounds. We're going up sooner. Also, I'm taking a guest, Kyra."

"Sir, with all due respect is that--"

"John, she's seen the Constellation in her mind already. Don't ask me how, she just has."

Kaga's mouth fell open.

"It's a matter of time before the images of the future become clearer to her. She'll piece it together from there. Look, I don't believe she any sort of precarnation of the Priestess of the Faith anymore than I buy into the whole Gabreelism religion thing. But psions are psions and they have ways of finding out things beyond our ability to prevent it. I'm not prepared to kill this one in order to keep our true identities secret. She has to be brought in to the inner circle."