Launch (15 page)

After introducing Claire and David to the other guests at the White House
dinner, Amira excused herself and left them talking to Dr. Albert Masters, the
Director of NASA. He said, “We have begun to review the massive amount of data
you've brought back. The specimens you collected on Minor-four-b have been
taken to a biologically secure lab. Robots are searching the ship for samples
of the space rocks that hit
Origin
. Their composition will give us
priceless information.

“The President told me you’re scheduled to speak to a joint session of
Congress on Friday, October fourth, and a ball is scheduled here in your honor
on Saturday, the fifth. We'd like to hire both of you starting on Monday,
October seventh. That will give you three months of vacation and a day to rest
up after the ball.”

Claire said, “I appreciate your job offer, Doctor Masters, but medicine
is my first interest. I want to go back to medical school and bring my skills
up to date.”

“We’re sorry to lose you. Will you have time for a debriefing after your
vacation?”

“Yes, sir. I will do my duty to complete the mission.”

“Thank you, Claire.”

“What does NASA do now?” David asked.

“Of course we monitor and regulate space: suborbs, satellites, resort hotels
in orbit and on the moon, and active exploration and mining operations on planets
and moons in the solar system. The advent of suborb travel led to the merger of
the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA, so we also monitor and regulate
Earth’s airspace.”

“What kind of work will you have for me?” David
asked.

“We want you to help us with mission planning
and development. Many people are excited by your discovery of Minor-four-b, and
we want to send robots there to thoroughly explore it. We also want to use your
prestige to help us communicate with Congress and get our programs approved.”

“What about flying?” David asked.

“We don’t need astronauts or pilots, but you
can fly for recreation.
Robots perform our extraterrestrial activities
except for aspects of research and development that require human intuition.
For that, we have scientists who travel as passengers in space and don’t
undergo the training that you had.”

“Robots don’t have intuition?” Claire asked.

“They have access to too much data,” Dr. Masters answered. “They see so
many possibilities that they wind up in an endless loop.”

A soft bell called everyone to dinner.

▼

Dr. Dale Curt, Dean of the UCLA School of Medicine, was sitting on Claire’s
left. He told her that virtually all diseases, including heart disease, cancer,
Alzheimer’s, pneumonia, flu, and the common cold, had been eliminated as
serious medical problems.

She asked, “What are the major causes of death now?”

“Old age and accidents,” he answered.

“Accidents! I hope they aren’t taxi crashes.”

He shook his head. “No. Most accidents are in the home or are recreation
or sports related. People are determined to enjoy life, even if it kills them.”

“How is the practice of medicine different now?”

“Doctors and nurses interface between the patient and Elf. It knows all
there is to know, but it can’t feel what we feel. Medical professionals put a
human face on medicine.”

“What do I need to do to get back in?”

“We’d have to do a detailed assessment to give you an accurate answer.
Come see me, and I will introduce you to admissions. Our staff will be thrilled
to meet you.”

Robots served Dr. Curt a smoked salmon fillet as Claire was served her
barbecue. He looked at her plate and said, “That looks good.”

“It was flown in from El Paso, she said. We like West Texas style
barbecue that has been slow cooked over a wood fire for several days.”

Dr. Curt smiled and said to David, “I’ve heard you never eat anything
that swims. Is that true?”

David shook his head. “When I was a kid, we had a steer fall in the
river.”

Dr. Curt laughed.

June Ward, wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was
sitting on Claire’s right and attacking a large prime rib steak with gusto.
“This is superb,” she said. “I’m going to need an extra metabolism pill
tonight.”

“You have a great figure,” Claire said. “Why will you need a pill?”

“I’m a member of the Laguna Niguel PLC,” June said. “I spend most of my
time in the office. I don’t get any exercise at work, and with two teenagers, it’s
hard to find time for the gym.”

“What’s a PLC?”

“A Parent Licensing Committee.”

“Is a license required to be a parent?” Claire asked with a note of
alarm.

“Oh yes,” June said. “Parent licensing began after the Catastrophe.
Restricting childbirth helped solve the overpopulation problem.”

“Catastrophe?”

June nodded.
“The world population was
more than thirteen billion in 2081. People were dying from thirst, disease,
starvation, and wars. America went bankrupt, the world economy collapsed, and
things got much worse.”

“That’s awful!” Claire said.

“It was.”

Claire asked, “Was America overpopulated?”

“Parts were. High water consumption depleted
groundwater in some parts of the country faster than nature could replace it.
The western drought moved north and east, destroying potential reserves. Some
aquifers collapsed. Low-lying coastal areas and aquifers in and near large
cities were flooded with salt water as Arctic, Antarctic, and glacial ice
melted and ocean water levels rose. Damage to Earth’s environment in the oceans
and on land curbed markets and economies just as many American cities,
counties, and states went bankrupt.”

Claire’s fears about overpopulation and the
environment had been realized. She was stunned.

“How could America fail?”

In a more sympathetic tone, June said, “Beyond
the idea of political freedom, America lacked a comprehensive philosophy of
government. One fervent political group would get elected and try to move the
country one way. The next equally passionate political group would get elected
and try to move it another. Americans elected congressmen and senators to go to
Washington and bring back money for local projects, regardless of what was best
for the country. Campaign contributions from special interests and political
parties mocked the idea of one person, one vote. Fierce political competition
stopped government from finding and implementing solutions to many critical
problems. The one constant was a growing national debt that finally became too
much. The American dollar collapsed. That caused the world economy to collapse
and plunged the world into the depths of the Catastrophe.”

“What’s the population now?”

“About one billion, but over the years the
goals of parent licensing have changed from population control to ensuring that
children have good parents.”

“How?”

“Screening, education, and support,” June
answered. “We make sure applicants want to be and can be good parents. Then we
teach them how and give them whatever help they might need.”

“What happens if a baby is born and the mother
doesn’t have a license?”

“If she and her husband don’t get a license,
the baby is adopted by parents who do have a license.”

Claire was horrified. “She loses her baby?!”

“Yes, but that doesn’t happen often.”

The conversation was interrupted as robots
cleared away the dishes and brought dessert. Claire thought her peach cobbler a
la mode looked delicious. She turned her spoon in it, but she had lost her
appetite.

After dessert, the party went outside to seats
that had been put on the front lawn for the fourth of July, Union Day,
fireworks. Claire and David sat in front with Amira and Omar. It was a truly
spectacular show, the best fireworks display Claire had ever seen, but she
didn’t enjoy it.

She was numb. She had wanted to be part of a
family for as long as she could remember. Now, some unknown bureaucrat using
who-knew-what standards would have to approve her application before she could
be a parent.

What kind of a society is this?

▼

The taxi was halfway back to their apartment
when Claire said, “Elf, take us back to the beach where we were this morning. I
want to go for another walk.”

The taxi banked to change course as Elf said,
“Yes, ma’am.”

David raised his eyebrows. She took her
slippers off. He took his shoes and socks off and rolled up the legs of his
pants without comment.

The taxi landed. As both doors opened, small panels
slid down beside each door revealing flashlights.

Claire said, “Wait here, Elf. We’re going for a
walk, about an hour or so.”

“Yes, ma’am
. Because
there’s no moonlight tonight, it’s rather dark and you might want to take a
flashlight. A communications transceiver is built into each one. It’s on when
the flashlight is on. A button light is on one end that will stick to your
clothes or skin and let you see well enough to walk without the flashlight.”

Claire and David both took a flashlight. Though
big enough to be held comfortably, they were lightweight. A sliding switch
turned the light on and varied the brightness and beam width. When the switch
was pressed down, the light began to flash.

Claire removed the glowing button from her
flashlight and stuck it to her upper chest. She laughed when she saw David had
put his button on his forehead.

As they stepped out of the taxi, Claire asked, “Are
there any dangerous animals in this area?”

“Bears, cougars, wolves, and coyotes, Ma’am. But
they all have implanted transponders. A taxi with police robots will find you
if a dangerous animal gets too close.”

“Wolves?”

“They were native to this area, ma’am, and they
have been successfully reintroduced. Farm animals are protected.”

“Is a transceiver built into the buttons, Elf?”

“No ma’am.”

“How far can you hear our voices?”

“About a quarter mile under current conditions,
ma’am.”

“If we’re in danger and you need to find us,
how will you do that?”

“Thermal imaging, ma’am.”

The tide was out, and the surf was light as Claire
and David walked along the beach and around a curve. Los Angeles was farther
ahead to the east, but the lights of the city were not visible.

Both experimented with their flashlights, which
had a long range, but starlight and the button lights were all they needed to
walk comfortably.

Claire looked over her shoulder and said in a
loud voice, “Elf.”

They continued walking, and there was no
response.

After a few minutes, she said, “Have you
noticed that Elf has cameras and microphones in every room?”

“It does seem to be everywhere,” he said.

“And it controls all doors and robots and
communications and has police power. What’s to keep it from becoming a dictator,
or a dictator’s tool?”

David thought about that. “Government controls
seem to work well.”

“Tonight I discovered we have to get a license
to have a baby. A license! It may take months for a committee of strangers to
decide if we can be fit parents while my biological clock ticks on and on. What
if our application is denied?”

After a pause, she continued. “Even if we have
a baby, can you imagine trying to raise a child with Elf looking over our
shoulder at everything we do? What if we make a mistake? Do we lose the baby?”

As David put his arm around Claire, she began
to cry. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “I’ve wanted to be part
of a loving family since I was a little girl. Now . . . that may never happen.”

They continued side by side with an occasional
sniffle while she regained control. After several minutes of silence, she
whirled around in front of him. “Say something! Don’t just stand there like a
dumb piece of driftwood on the beach!”

He looked at her sorrowfully. “I don’t think
that was called for, Cougar.”

Claire was immediately filled with remorse. She
threw her arms around him and started to cry again. “I’m sorry, Buni. You’re my
only friend in the world. I love you. I love you.”

“Minor-four-b.”

She froze, then stepped back with her arms on
his and regarded him quizzically. “You think?”

“We can build another starship. We already know
how to fly it and don’t need most of the fuel for a one way trip. That means
there’ll be a lot of extra space onboard that we can use for fertile couples
who can come with us. Our kids will marry their kids. We can take taxis and
seeds and farm equipment and a medical clinic and a wood shop and a metal shop
and supplies. You can be doctor in charge, just like you have been. We can
begin to colonize four-b, maybe even make Smiley a pet.”

She studied his face. “You really think we can
do that?”

“NASA wants me to work on mission planning and
development. Amira says we have access to a hundred billion dollars, which is
more than
Origin
cost. We can pretty much do what we want.”

Claire was thoughtful as they walked with their
arms around each other. After a few minutes she said, “I don’t want anybody to
try to stop us. We must use the utmost discretion. Act like we plan to stay,
even apply for a license to have a baby. We should learn about advanced
medicine and technology and take whatever we can use with us.”