Launch (20 page)

Two weeks after their provisional license was
granted, David was sitting at the breakfast table when Claire approached with a
big smile and kissed him.

“Good morning, Stud Buni.”

He looked at her quizzically. “Stud Buni? Are
you pregnant?”

She beamed. “Yes!”

“Outstanding!” he said with a delighted smile
as he stood up and hugged her. “When?”

“I will be outstanding before long,” she said
happily. “The baby’s due March thirty-first.”

“When did you find out?”

“Elf told me a few minutes ago.”

“How did it know?”

“Waste analyzers are built into toilets. Elf
uses them to help monitor the health of everybody in the world.”

“Yuck.”

“Don’t be so squeamish. You’re going to have to
put up with a lot worse when you start changing diapers.”

▼

Bernice Moore had been a top student in high
school and competed for honors against Mitzi Raines, who often won what Bernice
coveted. She blamed her failures on the fact that Mitzi’s father was a famous
movie star and came to believe that celebrities got everything they wanted.
More than once, she cried herself to sleep over the unfairness of it all.

When Elf routinely notified the members of the
Malibu Parent Licensing Committee that Claire was pregnant, Bernice Moore
called Jason Kim. “Did you file that appeal?”

“No. I didn’t feel I’d be successful filing it
on my own.”

“I’ll join your appeal. There’ll be two of us. We
can’t let those two ruin the life of a child just because they’re celebrities. Social
status shouldn’t confer rights, and we can’t let the virus of twenty-first
century barbarity gain a foothold.”

▼

A week later, Claire and David were each
studying in their individual audio-video centers when they were interrupted by
Elf. “Doctor Archer, General Archer, two members of the Malibu Parent Licensing
Committee filed an appeal to reverse the Committee’s decision to grant you a
provisional license. They have asked that the license be rescinded on the
grounds that it was granted in error.”

Claire exclaimed, “WHAT?!”

David said grimly, “What recourse do we have?”

“Official notification of the appeal should be
issued tomorrow, sir, after the court clerk has reviewed it. You have until January
31, 2554 to ask for a hearing date.”

“Can you recommend a good attorney?”

“The most successful attorney in Southern California
in these matters is Lauren Dobson, sir. Her waiting list is currently three
months and eleven days.”

Claire asked, “If we’re not supposed to be
notified until tomorrow, why did you tell us today?”

“Quicker notification sometimes prevents
injustice, ma’am, and Elf has a duty to prevent injustice.”

“Do you think rescinding our license would be
an injustice?”

“Elf is not authorized to have opinions in such
matters, ma’am, except in emergencies.”

She said, “Send us a taxi, Elf. We’re going for
a walk on the beach.”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s hot today. You should take a
hat, sunscreen, and sunglasses.”

▼

A quarter of a mile from the taxi, crashing
waves, the hiss of the retreating sea, and raucous seagulls provided background
noise. It was hot and bright, and Claire was glad they had taken Elf’s advice.

David said, “We’ll delay responding to the appeal
as long as we can and build the new starship. We can be in space when the
decision on the appeal is handed down. If the court rules in our favor, we’ll
come back so you can get the best medical care. Otherwise, we keep going to four-b.
Our assets on Earth can be used to build more starships and send more settlers
to join us.”

He turned to look at her. “Will having the baby
all alone on the new starship be risky?”

She shook her head. “I won’t be alone. You’ll
be there with medical robots and twenty-sixth-century medical care. I’ll be far
better off than I would have been even in the best twenty-first-century
hospital.”

After a pause, David said, “Nobody but the bank
and Elf know how much money we really have. If we make it look like we’re
spending a large percentage of our assets, people will assume we’re planning to
stay. We should buy a house, a big one, and whatever else will convince people
we’re settling in.”

Claire nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. Have
you settled on a design for the new ship?”

“The one I like best has two sections: a
tractor section and a housing section. Each will be a cylinder, like a giant
can of soup. The tractor will have the engines, fuel tanks, and control cabin. The
housing section will have the settlers and everything else needed for a
settlement.

“Each section will launch separately with a reusable
booster. After both reach escape velocity, the booster for the tractor will
disconnect and return to Earth. The housing section will be joined to the
tractor section, and then its booster will disconnect and return to Earth.

“We’ll be in space in the tractor section with
full supplies and fuel when the judgment is rendered. If the decision goes
against us, we’ll ask NASA to launch the settlers in the housing section. But
with or without the housing section, we’ll have everything we need to sustain
us en route to Minor-four-b and after we land.”

“What if we win?”

“We land, refuel the tractor, and robots fly
the mission.”

“It sounds like a good plan, but the timing
will be tricky,” she said.

With a determined expression, David said,
“We’ll do whatever we have to do to keep our baby.”

Bottle-nosed dolphins played offshore as Claire
and David walked hand in hand. Pelicans flew in a line just above the water.

Claire said, “I was wrong about Elf. It’s
concerned about justice, it defers to authority, and it’s very helpful. We need
to take something like it with us to four-b.”

▼

The next day, Elf delivered the official notice
of appeal to Claire and David.

Cougar and Buni found a twelve-bedroom house on
an estate that occupied a nine-acre plateau in the Santa Monica Mountains. With
views of the Mountains, Santa Monica Bay, and the Los Angeles Basin, the estate
was appropriately named Broadview.

“I like it,” David said. “And if we fill all
the bedrooms with babies, it will really look permanent.

“That’s a good idea, Stud Buni. I’ll have the
first three. Then you can make medical history by having the rest.”

The main floor was built on ground level at the
southern edge of the plateau. Omniglass walls provided scenic views to the
west, south, and east. Because zoning prohibited more than one floor above
ground in a scenic area, two floors, a ballroom level and a pool level, were built
down into the ground under the main floor. Each had an omniglass wall with a
scenic view to the south.

Hangars for private taxis were hidden from the
house by the north garden.

A hangar for a small suborb was built under the
master bedroom at the southwest corner of the house. A launch pad was on a
reinforced ledge adjacent to the hangar doors. Suborb loading ramps were
accessible from the family wing elevator just outside the master bedroom.

A person could launch from Broadview and be
anywhere in the world with a suitable suborb pad in less than an hour.
Conversely, an exhausted traveler could suborb from almost anywhere on Earth and
be in bed in Broadview sixty minutes later.

The house and the estate were fully furnished. Because
the previous owners had entertained frequently, eleven robots came with the
estate. Despite the fact that the luxury tax on each robot was one hundred
thousand dollars a year, Claire and David decided to keep them all for the time
being as evidence of a commitment to permanence.

▼

Broadview was included in the Santa Monica
Mountains Wildlife Refuge, which included bears, cougars, wolves, and coyotes. A
jogging track with superb views circled the north garden. Claire and David
remembered Elf’s warning about wild animals when they decided to use the track
their first afternoon at Broadview, but they felt there would be no danger if
they jogged together.

Nevertheless, Elf instructed a robot to accompany
them, and it came running after them on the track. It looked odd as it jogged,
and Claire and David were distracted trying to watch it over their shoulders.

They stopped back at the house after several
laps. David asked the robot how fast it could run.

“About eighty-five miles per hour, sir.”

“That’s fast,” he said. “Let’s see one lap at
top speed.”

Claire and David’s eyes opened wide as they
watched as the robot take off at high speed. It disappeared in one direction on
the track. After a few seconds later, it reappeared coming toward them on the
other side.

When the robot stopped in front of them, David
said, “You didn’t take a shortcut through the garden did you?”

“No, sir. This robot stayed on the track to
avoid disturbing the cougar and the other wildlife in the garden.”

“A cougar?” Claire asked.

“A young adult cougar is in the garden, ma’am.”

“How do you know?”

“It has an imbedded microchip with a
transponder, ma’am.”

“What would you do if the cougar attacked?” Claire
asked.

“This robot would catch it and hold it until
other robots could bring a cage for relocation, ma’am.”

“Are you strong enough to do that?”

“Yes, ma’am. This robot and each of the other
ten robots on Broadview are stronger than an elephant.”

Claire said, “Broadview rule one, robot: No
person, no pets, and especially no children are allowed on the grounds without
a robot escort.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Do Elf and all the other Broadview robots
understand?”

“Yes, ma’am. This robot passed the
instruction.”

▼

The young cougar only vaguely remembered the
robot that had picked it up when it was a cub and implanted a microchip just
under its pelt. But the gangly creatures made the cougar feel uneasy, and the
one that ran so fast was scary. After they went inside, the cougar left.

▼

That evening, Claire and David placed orders to
buy two private taxis with manual flight controls and a fifteen-passenger
suborb. The taxis would be delivered the next day. The suborb would take ten.

David asked, “Do you think that’s enough
stuff?”

“Nope. People won't think we're serious unless
we redecorate. And I need a maternity wardrobe, a suit to fit my tummy when we
talk to Congress, and an evening dress for the reception.”

▼

Almost every day, Claire and David studied in
their audio-video centers to meet the requirements for their license to be
parents. Twice a week in the evening, they attended parenting classes at
Hollywood High School. Claire also began studying modern medicine, and David
continued to work on the starship design.

A suborb manufacturer, Bec Corporation, agreed
to deliver the new starship in February if construction began in October. To
insure the construction timetable could be met, David authorized the company to
start building two dozen pairs of the most powerful noise-canceling engines
ever built.

After redecoration of Broadview, Claire invited
Naomi, Mark, Amira, Omar, and Dr. Masters and his family to a housewarming.

David wanted to try Dr. Masters’ “unbelievably
complex, thermodynamic, two-beer steak recipe,” and ordered an elaborate smoker
installation for the East lawn. The smoker vented to a system that cleaned the
exhaust. Wood was stored in a waterproof box. Cabinets held utensils, gloves,
seasonings, and supplies, and a refrigerator stored beer and rib-eye steak. The
steak chef and his crew of hardy volunteers had comfortable chairs, a table, a
translucent canopy, and a large video screen to aid them during their arduous
task.

Claire smiled when she saw the finished
installation but made no comment.

▼

The guests arrived on a Saturday afternoon.
After a tour of the house, the kids went to the nearby outdoor swimming pool,
and the men went to the smoker. The women, including Amira, worked in the
kitchen and around the outdoor table to prepare everything else. Two lifeguard
robots watched the kids in the pool. Another robot, cougar patrol, was
stationed between the party on the lawn and the wooded area.

On the way to the smoker, Dr. Masters pulled
David aside and said, “You call the President of the United States Amira, but
you still call me Doctor Masters. What’s that about?”

“She asked me to call her Amira, and you’re my
boss.”

“If you don’t mind, General David Archer PhD, I
would prefer that you call me Al.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir what?”

David grinned, “Yes, sir, Al.”

Al laughed.

David put the steaks in the smoker, opened four
beers, and asked Omar, “How did you and Amira get all the way from Yemen to the
White House?”

“We met and married when we were in the House
Prep Program in Yemen. After we got our PhDs, she ran for Congress in one
district and I ran in another. She won and I didn’t. We moved to Pendleton when
she took her seat in the House. She served six terms in the House of
Representatives before being elected to the Senate. After two terms in the Senate
she was elected President in 2551.”

“What’s the House Prep Program?”

“It’s the House of Representatives Candidate
Preparation Program run by the Election Commission. Students are competitively
selected for the program, which pays them to get their PhD in government and
run for Congress: something like a congressional version of the Air Force
Academy. It’s based on the theory that democratic government works best when
the electorate has highly qualified candidates to choose from.

“Since the Senate is elected by the House of
Representatives, it’s natural for new senators to be selected from among representatives
who are graduates of House Prep. Almost all members of Congress now are
graduates of the program.”

“It sounds like politicians these days at least
know what they’re talking about. We mostly had lawyers for politicians in 21
^st
-century
America. They were trained to argue and spend their client’s money in law
school. They continued to argue and spent taxpayer’s money after they were
elected.”

Omar shrugged a bit. “Sometimes we get bogged
down in our own jargon and arcane minutiae. When I’m considering candidates for
House Prep at UCI, I look for people who can bring new perspectives to
government: accomplished people with strong backgrounds in diverse fields . . .
like interstellar space exploration.”

“Poaching objection!” Al exclaimed. “David’s
spoken for. He has a job with NASA starting in October.”

Omar smiled and raised his hands in mock
surrender. “No problem. A few years of experience inside your department will
make him a better congressman.”

David laughed. “You’re at UCI? The University
of California at Irvine?”

“Yes. After we moved to Pendleton I went to
work at UCI as an instructor in government. I’m a full professor and chairman
of the Department now.”

“So you never ran for Congress again?”

Omar smiled and shook his head. “I’m quite
happy with the academic life and being First Gentleman.”

David got up to check on the steaks. Before he
reached the smoker, Al said, “David, get away from there! You’ll ruin the
steaks!”

“I was just going to look at them.”

“It’s bad luck. Get away from there.”

David shrugged and walked back to his seat
smiling and shaking his head. “Superstition in the twenty-sixth century.”

“Call it what you like,” Al said. “I know what
works.”

Mark asked Omar, “How did you get interested in
government?”

“I majored in religion as an undergraduate. My
advisor was a professor of philosophy who left after my junior year to go into
House Prep. He said he was tired of playing mind games, and the practical
application of religion and philosophy was to meet human needs. I thought about
what he said and decided to join him. Unfortunately,” Omar said with a wry
smile, “he was the one who beat me when I ran for Congress.”

Everybody groaned at that.

David finished the last of his beer. He held up
his empty bottle and looked at Al. “Now?”

Al took the last sip of his and said, “Now.”

▼

Amira, Claire, Naomi, and Sharon prepared food
in the main floor kitchen to accompany the steaks. After Sharon left for the
east lawn followed by a heavily laden robot, Amira smiled and asked Claire,
“When?”

Claire smiled happily. “March thirty-first.”

Naomi overheard the exchange and asked Claire,
“Are you pregnant?”

“Yes.”

Naomi threw her arms around Claire and hugged
her. “How absolutely perfect! I’m so happy for you!”

Amira embraced Claire and said, “It is perfect.
I’m very pleased.”

“How did you know?” Claire asked.

“I guessed. This big house, you’re drinking
nothing but water . . . and you glow. You just confirmed my suspicion.”

Just then Sharon returned to the kitchen, and Naomi
excitedly told her, “Claire’s pregnant!”

Sharon hugged Claire. “Oh I’m so glad. You’ll
just love being a mother.”

“I think so, too. I’ve wanted a family for a
very long time.”

▼

With Al’s supervision, David turned the steaks
and opened beers for himself and his crew. Then he said to Omar, “I don’t
understand the economic system now. Corporations and small business in a
dynamic economy make it look capitalist, but there are so many welfare programs
that it looks socialist: free education through graduate school, free medical
care, et cetera, ad infinitum.”

“We have a regulated free market economy with
programs to help people and businesses, similar to what you had in America in
the twenty-first century. But we have much more money, we don’t have a military
establishment to support, and our crime rate is very low. And with the help of
Elf, government is better, much, much better.”

“How?” David asked. “How is it better?”

“Four ways: First, Our programs for ensuring
fulfillment of human needs are comprehensive and effective.

“Second, the backbone of the economy is still
small business, and we put a lot of resources into helping it.

“Third, we regard public corporations as public
trusts. They must conform to high standards in dealing with their shareholders,
employees, customers, and society as a whole. We don’t tolerate unethical
practices or obscene pay packages for senior management.

“Fourth, our business regulations are
reasonable and don’t significantly add to the cost of doing business.”

David said, “When I was growing up, I used to
hear ranchers and businessmen complain about government regulation.”

Omar nodded. “Government regulation was clumsy
and heavy-handed in those days, but now we don’t require any of the paperwork
that was the bane of twenty-first-century business. We also don’t have the
heavy penalties that were once used as a substitute for enforcement. Elf
enforces compliance, and business taxes promote responsible management.”

“So you don’t have the billionaire tycoons we
had?” David asked.

“Sure, we still have people who manage to
accumulate great wealth, but they do it with talent and hard work
—
not manipulation. Last year, the CEO of a public
corporation died and left an estate valued at ninety-six billion. Her solid
record of achievement reflects that she truly earned every penny.”

“I thought how much money a person has is
confidential information, even after death,” David said.

“It is, but her estate chose to make the
information public during an award ceremony.”

“Was she the richest person in the world?”

“Only Elf knows,” Omar said

“There was a ballot initiative process in
California when we left that I thought would be a good idea for the federal government,”
David said. “Is there anything like that now?”

Omar nodded. “There is an initiative process,
but it’s much stricter than the one California had. Then you could set up a
card table in a public place, and voters were flattered to sign almost anything
without a clue about what they were signing. If a pretty girl smiled, she
didn’t have to make any sense at all to get guys to sign. Many initiatives were
nearsighted, for narrow interests, and sometimes counterproductive.

“Democracy is the most reliable way to choose governments
that will put the interests of the people first. But governing is challenging
even for highly trained and experienced experts with the help of Elf. Letting
amateurs do it makes about as much sense as letting toddlers fly spaceships.
How many voters are truly qualified to run a multi-trillion-dollar government?
How many could do a rigorous cost-benefit analysis?”

“So how do you prevent bad public initiatives?”

“Two ways: Anyone who signs an initiative must
take a simple test to show they understand what they signed. And once the
initiative gets enough valid signatures, it has to receive a majority of votes
in the House of Representatives and the Senate and be signed by the President
to become law.”

David nodded and toasted Omar with his last sip
of beer. “That does sound like a better system.”

▼

Claire and David seated themselves among the
three kids who were flanked by Al and Sharon. Naomi and Mark were seated with Amira
and Omar.

Nikki took one bite of his steak and said,
“Daddy, these steaks are as good as yours.”

“Your Daddy supervised the cooking,” David
said. “He’s the boss.”

“Not at my house,” Nikki said. “Mommy’s the
boss.”

The adults at the table laughed, and Sharon
almost choked on a bite of steak.

Dianne asked David, “Were you a cowboy?”

“No, but my father was.”

Alison was sitting between Claire and David.
“Why were cowboys heroes?”

“They had the spirit of the pioneers who
settled America,” David said. “They were brave, self-reliant, and worked hard.”

Amira nodded. “American pioneers were
everything you say. They helped each other build a life and a great nation in a
relatively short period of time. But what if you took one of those pioneers and
made him totally self-reliant: put him all alone in the middle of a huge
wilderness and took away absolutely everything he obtained in any way from
someone else? All of his tools would be gone: his plow, axe, saw, knife,
shovel, hoe, pick, hammer, nails, and spinning wheel. Everything made by
somebody else would cease to exist. His knowledge would be gone. He would not
be able to think clearly because he wouldn’t have the language his parents and
others gave him. His house would be gone because he would not have the
knowledge and tools to build it. His clothes and shoes would be gone because he
couldn’t make those either. He would be naked, he would not know how to make
fire, and for however long he lived, it would be a pre-Stone-Age existence.

“The point is that we human beings are
interdependent. We learn from each other and depend on each other to meet our
needs, including what we are sharing here this afternoon. We are all much
richer for it, because we directly and indirectly benefit from all human
experience.

“Despite the fact that we are social beings and
we are interdependent, we have a human spirit, a need to be both physically and
mentally self-reliant. First, we must rely on ourselves as adults and interact
with our environment to meet our physical needs. And doing that contributes to
fulfillment of our emotional need for self-esteem. Second, we must rely on
ourselves to think, to be, to use our senses and understand the information
they give us, determine for ourselves what is real and what is not, express our
personalities, do what we want to do, teach ourselves, learn and exercise
self-discipline, maintain a work ethic, be creative, be moral, be joyful, be
loving, and be kind.