First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (18 page)

“Doctor,
is there any truth to this statement from the White House that Dr.
Irons was attacked?” the anchor asked turning to her guests and
smiling politely. The Senator's face was a polite poker face.

“Not
at all, and I deeply resent the implication that a green would harm
anyone! Despite the damage Dr. Irons and the space program has done
to our pristine solar system, we of the Green Earth party do not
condone violence!” He shook his head, doing his best to look
pious.

“These
allegations that they attacked him are ludicrous! They must have been
helping him and the interfering Federal agents misinterpreted their
actions!” He threw his hands apart.

“Senator,
do you agree?” The anchor turned to the Senator.

“Well,
first off, I was not there, so I cannot say what happened. Now, I
would think that five Federal agents, and my distinguished college,
as well as astronaut Betsy Lawless must have seen something to take
such drastic action as to draw their weapons and arrest the four men
and women,” she replied and then shrugged. “Until more
information is released I cannot tell you one way or another if their
actions were justified or the result of hysterical over reaction.”
She shrugged.

Drisco
seemed to immediately take offense. “That is preposterous!
Outrageous! There is no way anyone would harm the good Doctor no
matter what he could have done!” Drisco snarled.

“Apparently
the Federal agents and the Justice Department disagree with you on
that. After all, they were arrested were they not?” the Senator
asked mildly.

“A
miscarriage of justice!” Drisco bleated.

The
anchor raised his hand to his earwig. “We have breaking news,
it seems that someone witnessed part of the altercation and managed
to record it with their cell phone. Another network has released the
footage, we will try to get it to you shortly.” He looked down
at his monitor.

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

“And
here we have footage of Dr. Iron's alleged attackers being arrested
by the authorities. Mr. Ziar, can you tell us in your own words what
happened?” The reporter held a microphone up to the face of the
witness.

“Well,
I was coming around the corner and I heard tires screeching then a
thud. Then people yelling and screaming. I managed to get around to
see the four men and woman there,” he said. He pointed to the
intersection.

“The
alleged attackers?” The reporter asked, and then brought the
microphone back to the witness.

“Yes,
they had their hands up. I saw men with guns so I took out my phone
and started filming I wanted to make sure another Rodney King didn't
happen.” He bobbed his head up and down. “One of the men
got into the car and drove off. The agents were very agitated. They
arrested the others and secured the area.” The witness
shrugged.

“And
there you have it ladies and gentlemen, an eye witness to the alleged
crime... Back to you in the studio...”

“This
just in, another set of witnesses, a tourist family from Ireland here
on a working holiday were filming nearby and managed to record the
event.” Footage of the attack played out. The reporter stopped
it just before the car hit. “As you can see, there can be no
mistake. This was a deliberate, calculated attack on someone. This
was a murder attempt ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake about
that. No matter what the people at Fox try to do to spin this, and
yes they will try this proves without a shadow of a doubt that they
were trying to kill him.”

The
reporter grimaced. “Ladies and gentlemen the footage is
considerably graphic, you may not want to have your children or those
with weak stomachs continue watching,” She paused for a moment
and then continued. “We are playing this in slow motion. Now as
you can see, Dr. Irons heroically pushes his college out of the way
taking the full force of the impact.” She winced as his body
was flung up over the hood and flung off.

“Now
the real proof of intent is right here folks, right here...”
The car stopped and the occupants got out holding pipes and chains.
“As you can see, they are armed.” She looked into the
camera. “Fox may try to spin it anyway they can, but you can't
tell me they aren't.” She shook her head. The screen cut back
to the video. “We see here the beating and arrest.” She
shook her head. “We have a rumor that this was also caught on
the traffic cameras in the intersection but we cannot confirm this,”
she said, eyes angrily challenging her audience.

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

"Damn."
Mario stood in the doorway of the hospital room. His brother was in
the center bed, covered in cables, hoses and wiring. His head was in
a halo device, a set of padded restraints that were literately
screwed into his head to keep it from moving. Machinery surrounded
him. "Damn, what did you get yourself into this time squirt?"
he sighed as he sat down.

"So
I hear your going to Mars." Luigi said weakly.

"Yeah,
they gave me your spot I guess," Mario replied. He put his head
in his hands and sighed. Tears dripped on the floor. "It's not
fair, you deserved it!" He looked up ashamed. He had to leave
soon; he and Wanda had to be in Russia in less than a day.

Luigi
stared back through blackened eyes. "Don't worry about it big
brother, just make sure you keep up the family tradition."

Mario
smiled weakly. "Yeah sure, you betcha," Mario joked weakly.
Luigi smiled back. His was a crooked smile since a tube ran into one
side of his mouth.

"Remember,
if you see any tubes, don't go down them, and squash any goomba's you
find."

Mario
chuckled sitting back. "Damn. You’re a stitch you know
that?"

Luigi
rolled his eyes. "Oh bad pun. No points for you. Next time jump
higher."

Mario
chuckled. A voice cleared its throat behind him. He turned to see a
nurse tapping her foot. "Visiting hours were over an hour ago,"
she said pointedly. He nodded and got up.

"Get
going, you have a flight to catch," Luigi said and tapped his
fingers. Mario lightly tapped the back of Luigi's IV covered hand
with his. "Mario wait for me there, they say when I get this
halo off I will be as good as ever."

Mario
nodded. "No problem, I'll save you a beer."

He
went to the door. "Make it a case! Or better yet a keg!"
Luigi called after him.

Mario
chuckled. "Now that's what I'ma talkin about." His fake
Italian accent made his brother chuckle.

"Oh
don't make me laugh, evil," he sighed weakly, trying to clutch
at his abdomen. "Good luck big bro, you’re going to need
it." He closed his eyes and wept. "Damn, I wanted to be the
first."

The
nurse patted his forehead, and then wiped the tears away. "You'll
get your shot Doctor, just have patience," she said softly.

Luigi
smiled. "I thought I was the patient."

She
grimaced. "Oh ha ha. Guess I walked into that one. Get some rest
now." She put the buzzer near his hand. "Call if you need
anything."

He
smiled. "Even if it is a beer?"

She
chuckled. "Good night doctor..." The lights dimmed.

"Damn
this sucks," he murmured closing his eyes.

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

The
nurse came in with a tray of materials. "Ah doc, I already had
my physical, and they brought me up to date with shots...”
Mario said, hands up. He started to get up alarmed at all the
needles. Sure his ass was numb from the twenty hour long plane ride
but not that numb!

"Oh
sit down you big baby," Wanda teased.

"Take
it like a man you mean?" He turned to her. "You first,"
he growled.

"Ah,
but I'm not a man..." she fired right back.

"I
hadn't noticed. Besides ladies first remember?"

She
blushed. "All right you wuss..." She rolled up her sleeve.

"These
are the latest vaccines for the Rhino virus, Swine flu, and general
flu," the nurse replied as she readied a shot. She turned to see
Wanda bearing her arm. She cleared her throat. "Well, actually
most of these go in the other way," The nurse replied. Wanda's
eyes went wide.

Mario
chuckled. "And you were saying?"

She
turned a glare on him and he ducked laughing. "Oh shut up,"
she sighed. "All right, let's get this over with." She
stood and started to pull down her pants.

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

"We're
filling this out for our mail right? And IRS. Will, voting, crap
that's a lot of paperwork," Mario grumbled. He rubbed his rear,
it still hurt. Did they have to jab him all over? Damn!

Wanda
chuckled. "Oh, it's not all that bad. Just be glad we're going
to be gone and they will filter our mail, imagine all the junk mail."

Mario
shivered. "No thank you. I'm just glad they are holding it."

Joyce
rolled her eyes. "What did you think they were going to do with
it throw it away?" she said exasperated.

"I
was hoping," Mario answered with a growl. "Nothin but bills
anyway," he muttered.

Getting there:

Luigi
sat in the bed, eyes tearing as the news channel showed a tight shot
of the Uragan rocket. His brother and sister in law, dressed in
orange flight suits waved to the cameras as the crew and attendants
passed the gantry cameras. “Damn.”

“And
we see the brave astronauts climbing into their vehicle. Not since
the Apollo era has the hopes and dreams of an entire world been
riding on a single push of a button...”

The
reporter droned on and on over and over until he hit the mute. He
knew it would be that way, the media building up the suspense and
filling in the time before the launch with talking heads. Still, he
flipped through the channels finding similar on all the major
networks. Amused he stopped to watch MSNBC as they talked with a
panel of astronauts. Some were retired Mission specialists from the
shuttle program. Sitting with them was a whack job claiming the space
program is a vast conspiracy. He chuckled as Lenny put him down hard.

“He's
in here room two oh nine,” a voice in the hall said. He looked
at the open doorway to see a reporter and camera crew come in. A
nurse down the hall screeched in indignation, and then tried to chase
them out. “And here we are with famed Mars assistant program
director Luigi at his bedside. Sir Do you have a few words for the
public?” the reporter demanded, thrusting a microphone in his
face. The scowling nurse had contacted security and a guard was
coming in.

“Sure,”
Luigi waved the guard off weakly. He stopped and backed up scowling
at the intruders. “I am here because someone with as little
vision as spirit put me here.” He feebly waved to his halo and
broken body. “But out there the future is happening. Men and
women from many nations are holding their breath as their brothers,
sister's, wives, daughters, husbands, sons, mothers, and fathers,
ride into the stars.” He looked directly into the camera. “Now,
where do you think you should be?”

The
nurse smothered a chuckle. The crew panned around. He clicked the
remote to the CBS feed. “The countdown clock has begun. Thirty
seconds to lift off.” The reporter started backing out. The
sound man was the last to leave. As the craft rumbled into the sky
only the equipment caught Luigi mutter. “Go baby go. Good luck
big brother.”

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

Mario
lunged and grunted as the sword dug in to the hilt. "Crap,
caught," he growled. He pulled back but the sword was stuck.

"Gotcha,"
the commander grinned as he swooped in for the kill.

Mario
groaned as he fell to his knees and dropped the remote. "Darn."

The
commander chuckled wiping his brow. "Good match." He pulled
his goggles up and looked around. "Isn't it nice that we have
these? Nintendo is going to make a fortune with them."

He
examined the remote. "Yeah. Especially with us doing the
commercials for them," Mario grumped as knelt.

"Oh
get up," the commander said in mock disgust. The commander held
out a hand and helped Mario to his feet. "Nice job but next time
not so hard."

Mario
nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe the sword stuck in a tree,"
he sighed then turned to see Wanda and Mrs. Han in the doorway.

Wanda
clapped. "Not quite the shining knight I had in mind," she
smiled as he stuck out his tongue at her. She hefted her racket
remote. "Watch it or you will get it bub," she growled.

Mrs.
Han shook her head. "If you don't mind, we have a match here,"
she said softly. She waved her Wii racquet.

"Yeah
yeah," Mario tossed his wife his goggles. The commander was a
bit more chivalrous, he handed his to Mrs. Han with a polite bow.

"So,
no more space sickness?" Mrs. Han asked, sounding curious. Mario
looked over to the spinning stars on the other side of the porthole
and closed his eyes. Now that they were underway and beyond the
terrifying boost phase they had unreeled the tether and spun the
craft up to simulate gravity. With some predicable results for any
who happened to look out a porthole.

"Awe
crap," he muttered, feeling his stomach lurch. Hurriedly he
moved out of the room.

"You
had
to remind him," the commander sighed. He looked out
the port. “Nice, but he's right, it is a bit upsetting."
He pushed a button and the LCD’s within the window darkened.

"Well,
his motion sickness seems to be visually stimulated. Perhaps that is
best," Mrs. Han replied and then nodded.

"Yeah."
Wanda looked on after her husband. She wrinkled her nose and hoped he
remembered to turn the fan on when he was done.

Mrs.
Han touched her racquet to her. "Ready?" Wanda looked up
startled.

"I'll
check on him in a bit Wanda. Get your exercise," the commander
replied as he walked out.