First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (46 page)

Tess
looked around shyly. "I never had baby." She looked to
Wanda and Joyce for help.

"Don't
worry, we couldn't do bridal showers, but I think we can arrange a
baby shower," Joyce smiled softly.

"We
need crib..." Tess started. She'd printed a few things but
hadn't been happy about the quality of the binky and was a bit
suspicious of the bottle.

Wanda
laughed. "Oh a lot more than that honey, tons more. Bottles, a
rocker, suckers. Binkies, diapers, ointment, baby powder, toys... The
list goes on and on. When my sister had her brood it was a regular
three ring circus," Wanda chuckled.

Tess
looked alarmed. "Is all that?" She started to look
depressed.

"One
thing at a time. We can replicate a lot of the plastics remember?"
Joyce reminded her, giving Wanda a warning look. Wanda nodded.

"Yeah,
we can go through the model files like Mario suggested get a lot of
things, and if it isn't in there?" She made a brushing motion.
"I bet Toshi could whip up a model and you and Mario can make
it." She shrugged. Tess started to look relieved.

"Now,
let's start in on the vault..." Joyce nodded. "I wish we
had some granite or marble," Joyce sighed. Tess and Sergei were
roughing it in the vault. It was cool and dark; apparently they liked
snuggling together in their makeshift pile of bedding.

"Why?"
Wanda asked suddenly interested.

"Well
for counter tops...and floors. We could do marble floors or granite
counters or something," Joyce said and then waved to the
counters.

"Well,
I can see we can whip something up... As long as we get the men to do
the grunt work of course," Wanda grinned with the other girls.
After all, she had plenty of diamond saws.

"Oh
of course!" They chuckled together.

"Marble
on the floor?" Wanda waved to it. "I do not know if we have
a glaze..." She shook her head. "We'll see. We might get
away with ceramic." She nodded. "What about the cabinets?"
She looked around. There were several cabinets; most were from the
fallen MAV. Four were from the kits from the last delivery.

"Is
two more, but Mario say to have in bathrooms for sinks." Tess
waved to the bathroom and to the ceiling above.

Wanda
nodded. "I wonder if they can do anything with plastics yet?"
she asked thoughtfully.

Tess
shook her head. "Is small stuff or sheets, nothing this big."
She indicated the cabinet door.

"Hmmm.
Going to have to have a chat with Mario," Wanda murmured. "Let's
look upstairs." They went up the spiral stairs to the living
area. "Okay, what about carpets up here? It's just plastic
thread right?" Wanda asked.

Tess
frowned. "No machinery to make," she finally said and then
shrugged.

"Don't
count it out just yet; we might be able to make the machinery. I for
one would love carpet in my bedroom," Joyce answered. She didn't
like tile expect in a bathroom or kitchen. She much preferred wood or
carpet.

"Okay
so this is your room? And next door is the nursery?" Wanda
waved.

"Da."
They looked at the first door. "Is plastic sheets around metal
frame I know." Tess shrugged.

"Well,
it does offer some privacy." Joyce shrugged. They opened the
door. "Oh wow, I didn't know they were this big! Wow! You could
land the SSTO in here!" Joyce joked.

"No,
but a king sized bed would fit just nicely Mario said. Is why we made
so big." Tess waved her arms. “Is for us, so why not?”

"Oh,
okay, gotcha." Joyce chuckled.

Wanda
started to get increasingly excited. "I told Mario we could
paint the walls, I could do a mural in the baby’s room."
She opened the nursery door.

"Is
good," Tess said.

"We
can do a baby monitor with walkie talkies... not that you will want
to let the baby out of your sight for the first couple weeks Tess,"
Joyce said. Tess smiled.

"We
can put crib over there, maybe a changing table here?" Wanda
blocked out the room with her hands. "Closet here, chest of
draws here?" She looked to Tess who nodded.

"Am
not sure we can make all that," Tess admitted.

Wanda
waved. "Don't worry about that, that is what yelling at men is
for."

Joyce
chuckled. "I think Toshi is going to be glad he specializes in
computers."

Wanda
chuckled. "Yeah." She looked around and nodded.

"Okay,
so what's next? I remember the mural Mario pitched to me during the
blow out, but we never got into it, we could practice with the
nursery maybe... I'll make sure nothing is toxic of course,"
Wanda said hastily, hand over her heart.

Tess
looked alarmed, and then nodded as her face cleared. "Is good to
have friends," she said softly.

Wanda
smiled. "All for one, one for all." She smiled at Tess.
"Come on, we need to get this all down so we can start nagging,
I mean,
encouraging
...” She grinned at the other women
who grinned back. "The men to get them done."

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

"Did
anyone think of a suit for the kid?" Wanda asked Mario softly as
they lay in bed together later that evening. He sighed. They were
tangled together and he was too comfortable to think.

"No.
Professor Newman mentioned it, but we left it at that. The problem is
that kids grow, there is no way a skin suit would work, and they
would need to be refitted monthly," he said and rubbed her
shoulders.

"That
feels nice," she murmured then rolled out of his grasp to face
him. "So, what is the kid to do? Grow up inside and never go
out?" she asked, totally aghast at that idea.

Mario
shrugged. "Until we can think of something better yeah."

Her
face worked for a moment then she looked into his eyes. "I don't
want that, neither does Tess," he sighed.

"One
of the pressure suits might work; we can contact mission control and
see if they can make one that can be easily refitted, or modified,"
he said. She kept her eyes locked to his. "Yes, I doubt they
would send it, we'd have to make it," he said. She started to
shake her head but he put a finger to her lips. She stilled. "That's
a problem for another day Hon,” he said firmly and then kissed
her. "Now, let's get some rest, tomorrow we have a lot of work
ahead of us," he said with a rueful sigh. The girls had come up
with a long list and it was only getting longer by the minute.

She
chuckled. "All work and no play makes Mario a dull boy...”
she teased.

"No
play huh? Come ‘ere then!" He grabbed her and pulled her
into his embrace. She laughed as they play fought.

 ...*...*...*...*...

"Hi
big brother, I was wondering if you and the crew could do something.
Money is getting tight, and well, we were wondering if you could
forgo your paycheck. Bob wants to do it for some other reason, I
think it has to do with an argument we've been having with the hill
over resources," Luigi sighed. At least the time lag was slowly
evaporating the closer they got to Mars. "I hate to dump that on
you. But the reasoning Bob pointed out is pretty good in my book; by
no longer working for the program legal can argue that anything you
build is yours." Luigi shrugged.

"I'm
not sure about that really, you'd need some legal experts of your own
to go over it tooth and nail and view all the angles. Nick says it
can be spun either way." Luigi shrugged. "It's up to you.
We could rework your contract as well, give you a stipend for work
you do for the program." Luigi sighed. "Or we could do a
buyout method. Were your money is applied to the debt of the colony
start up and maintenance allowing the colony to buy itself out."
Luigi waved his hands up in the air.

"Personally,
I am in favor of that," he smiled. Mario frowned. He and Wanda
had a comfortable nest egg now, and their investments in the programs
affiliate businesses we're bearing some fruit. But if his brother was
right, they would end up losing out if the program started to fold.
The buyout was a good idea, but at three hundred thousand dollars a
year each, it would take centuries for the crew to pay off even one
percent of the debt.

He
sighed, now thoughtfully trying to think of a way out of this
debacle. He wasn't the man with the head for finance. "Great
Luigi, thanks for dumping this headache in my lap." He shook his
head then hit record. "All right, I don't know yet, I think the
buyout is a good idea in theory, but the mechanics..." Mario
shrugged. "I'm not a business major Luigi, neither are you. I
can't speak for the others, but I will talk it over with them,"
he sighed and hit stop, then transmit.

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

The
colonists assembled in Hab one living room and sat down. Mario turned
a chair around and straddled it. "So what's up?" Joyce
asked.

Mario
sighed. "Well, the program is in a tight squeeze. Luigi is
asking if we can opt our pay checks to a buyout scheme." He
shrugged and laid out the conversation to them.

"A
buy out scheme?" Joyce asked wrinkling her nose. "Sounds
fishy." Wanda nodded.

"Well,
each of us make three hundred thousand dollars a year. The six of us
is what, one point eight mil? I think it is a drop in the bucket, but
Luigi is trying to save a buck while getting us some autonomy and
letting us buy out our debt," he said and then shrugged. “It's
more of a public thing than anything that would really help.”

"Da,"
Tess replied rubbing her swollen belly.

"I
see where this is going. So if we consider all the expense of the
international partners to date as investment capital, we have a debt
to buy them out correct?" Toshi asked.

Mario
nodded. "Right. However, none of us are legal or business
majors, so we have to tread carefully. Luigi's gas giant scheme is
supposed to pay us off, but there are some loop holes that you can
drive a truck through," he sighed in exasperation, rubbing his
hair. When he and Luigi had dreamed this up this part had been a
little distant and hazy so therefore hard to plan on. They'd been so
filled with enthusiasm for the idea they hadn't gotten this far
ahead.

Wanda
smiled. "Typical fine print." She looked at the others.
"Well, I'm in it for the long haul."

Tess
nodded. "Me too." She patted her growing belly.

Sergei
nodded as well. "Agreed." They looked at Joyce and Toshi.

"So
much for getting my own plane," Joyce sighed. She looked to
Toshi.

"And
my new computer for Christmas," Toshi chuckled. "We're in."

Mario
nodded. "Thanks guys." He got up and left.

 ...*...*...*...*...

"All
right Luigi, what is this about? We agreed, but the payout is a bit
high!" Mario waved a tablet.

Luigi
chuckled and hit record. "Well, let me explain. Bob and I, and
about two hundred other people, most of them astronauts are also
joining the buyout plan. Most of us already have a pretty hefty nest
egg, and those of us remaining on Earth are doing a partial waver,
deferring half their pay," He smiled. "That leaves them
half for their living expenses. Unlike you, we still have to pay for
rent, food, and fuel." Luigi shook his head. "But not for
some of us in a few weeks," he grinned. He was only a few weeks
out now. "Some of the Mars Underground heard, and we've been
getting donations as well. Nearly thirty million so far." He
chuckled.

"The
annual deferment comes up to about eleven million," he smiled.
He'd invested a lot of his money so the interest was being folded
into the buyout now. "Not too shabby. If we can scrounge up an
export we could be in the black before Tess's kid graduates high
school." He shook his head. "I'll get you the revised plan
later today. Out." He hit the stop and send key. "Still a
drop in the bucket though," he muttered.

"It's
a start." Betsy replied from his doorway.

He
looked up and smiled. "Yeah, I know. A start on a whole new
future on a new world." He smiled up at her.

She
smiled softly. "Getting excited mate?" she teased.

He
chuckled. "Just a bit."

Brothers reunite:

Sergei
said something in Russian and Mario looked up. "What'd you say?"
He looked over to Sergei but he shook his head. He was holding Tess's
hand and looking rather pale.

"Is
he going to pass out?" Wanda asked, a mixed note of concern,
annoyance, and amusement in her voice.

"I
dunno, he just said something in Russian," Mario replied. Tess
was sweaty and panting. She looked at her bulging abdomen then said
something in Russian as well.

"I
don't know what she said, but I bet he was muttering about her
crushing his hand," Wanda replied with a smile.

Mario
glanced up to see both hands were white knuckled, hers from gripping,
and his from being crushed. "Yeah," he chuckled.

"Dis
may be amusing to you but it hurrts!" Tess panted.

"Just
practice your breathing Tess." Doctor Waldecker soothed as she
knelt and checked her cervix. She was thrilled now about this, the
first Doctor to oversee a birth on another world. "You’re
fully dilated. Do you feel the urge to bear down?" she asked.
Tess nodded frantically. "Okay, wait for the next contraction,"
she instructed. Tess groaned, deep and long.

"You
have to time it or you'll be here for days dear,” Wanda
cautioned. She blotted at Tess's forehead with a towel. She groaned
again.

"Contraction?"
Mario asked, voice concerned.

"Eyeyyy!"
She half screamed, nodding frantically.

"Then
push!" Doc Waldecker ordered then watched as she pushed and bore
down. Her face screwed up as she strained. In a moment the Doctor
could see something. "Okay, I think I see something, yup, looks
like some hair, the baby is definitely crowning," the Doctor
replied professionally. Tess fell back exhausted.