He soaked in the beauty of the cathedral in space and the peace it offered, and he found himself wishing that he could somehow stay. At least there wouldn't be the fear, the loneliness and confusion, he thought. But some inner voice told him that maybe later far later this would be a place to seek, but for now there were other things to face.
Tanya made the sign of the cross, then stood up and walked to the door..
"Now, can we behave ourselves?" she asked with a teasing smile.
"Sure, the Bells are always gentlemen," Justin replied with an amicable laugh.
She looked at him curiously and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. Her hand lingered for a second, then dropped.
"Come on, or we'll be late for the ride back. Remember, we've got a study date tonight." Smiling, the two bounded down the stairs.
Chapter IV
"Commander Thorsson, sir?" The commander of the Academy looked up from his holo screen. At the sight of Justin, he nodded and smiled.
"Come in, cadet, and please, stand at ease." Justin moved stiffly into the room in spite of the order. Though he knew the effects of Brother Bartholomew's concoctions had worn off, he was still nervous that Thorsson might know. Before making his way up to officer's country he had taken a quick shower, brushed his teeth twice, then changed into his class C jumpsuit.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Bell?"
"Sir, Brother Bartholomew aboard Franciscan Three insisted that I personally deliver this package."
Justin placed the box on Thorsson's desk and stepped back, hoping to be dismissed.
Thorsson smiled with delight as he opened the box; Justin saw four metal flasks inside the container.
"Ah, Franciscan brandy best in the Universe if old Barry had a hand in the making of it." Thorsson looked at him. "Tastes good, doesn't it?"
"Ah, yes, sir."
Thorsson smiled. "It's OK, I told him it was all right to let some of you cadets have a taste. Guess the old slug told you we served together."
"Ah, yes, sir, he did."
"Tell you anything about me?"
"No, sir."
Thorsson smiled as if glad that some sort of secret had been kept.
"Well, Barty could rig up a still in the most unlikely places; heaven alone knows where he'd get the juice to play with. Going to the Franciscans was a natural for him," and then he fell silent, his voice trailing off.
"Lost his entire family wife, three children. Those early days on Mars were tough lose a couple of supply ships or an air distillery breaks down, and people die." Thorsson shook his head sadly.
"I don't know if you know this, but his oldest girl, Margaret she was the first child born on Mars."
Thorsson looked off, silent for a moment. "The price there's always a price with the settling of a frontier."
Justin said nothing, wondering if he should withdraw.
"Sit down for a minute, Bell." Thorsson motioned to a chair next to his desk and Justin sat down on its edge.
"How are your studies going? Keeping up on Astro-Nav and nuclear physics?"
"Well, sir, I'm hanging on."
Thorsson nodded, smiling.
"Heard you're going out for the Skyhook Diving team."
Justin gulped and nodded.
"Crazy sport, never catch me doing it," Thorsson replied.
"Sir?"
"Flinging yourself off the Skyhook Tower, falling five hundred klicks. No thank you reentry on the old rockets was tough enough on the nerves. Used to scare me to death."
Justin looked at Thorsson, not sure how to reply to the Commanders admission of fear. It was impossible to believe such a thing in Thor Thorsson.
"Back in the old days, before the Skyhook, the only way down to Earth was standard reentry. Looks exciting enough in the old vids, but believe me, son, it used to scare the pants off me. Outside temps would soar up a couple of thousand degrees When we were flying those old government shuttles, you know what I used to think?"
"What, sir?"
"That this machine was built by the lowest contract bidder. I think I told you how when I was a boy I saw one of the old first-generation shuttles lift off."
Justin nodded, slightly awed that the man before him had memories of the 20th century space program.
"Well, I remember when one of the original shuttles peeled a heat tile on reentry. The thing opened up like a zipper once that first hole was punched. They never released it but years later, while I was in training, I heard the cockpit recording of the crew. It wasn't pleasant."
Thorsson looked off for a moment.
"Anyhow, I used to dwell on that. Funny how each of us has our own special fear that we rarely admit. For some, it's getting spaced; for others it's a micro-meteor punch while out in a suit, even though the odds against that are next to nil. Others just fear being alone, meeting the Tracs, or simply 'pulling a Hansen.' For me it was burning on reentry. Liftoff was fine I loved it but once we were up I sweated out reentry even though it might be months away. Used to keep me up late at nights."
Thorsson laughed softly.
"Remember, I was one of the biggest proponents of the Skyhook. Sure, I gave all the arguments before committees about the ultimate payback on the trillion-plus investment. In just ten years we're seeing that already. But down deep, son, well down deep I wanted the darn thing so we could get rid of reentry."
Thorsson smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"So now you know my little secret. Hope you don't think less of me."
Justin was startled. "No, of course not, sir."
"When do you go for your first dive, Bell?'
"We're supposed to go this weekend, sir."
"Fine, that fits the schedule."
"Schedule, sir?"
"You and forty other plebes are getting a posting, son."
"A posting?' Justin was startled. Usually a cadet spent a year at the Academy before going out on his first assignment.
"Little change in policy. It's just a standard run out to an orbital base near Mars. Most of the ship's space was empty it's an old design run now by a skeleton crew, so I managed to convince Fleet Assignment to let me throw some plebes aboard. There won't be much shipboard duty, and thus plenty of time to keep up on your studies. You'll be gone a month. I thought it'd be a good incentive for some of our top plebes to get a shot at it, and might provide some good training as well."
"A top plebe, sir?" Justin hesitated. "You sure of that, sir?"
Thorsson laughed and shook his head. "Just like your father. Never really sure just how well you're doing. Sure, Astro — Navigation needs some polishing, but there was that lifesaving award showed quick thinking and guts, more guts than you know you have. By the way, Cadets Everett, Smith and Leonov will be going along, so you'll have some friends to keep you company."
"That's great, sir. May I tell them?"
"Sure. Mention it to Cadet Colson as well. He's your roommate, isn't he?"
Justin hesitated.
"Yes, sir."
Thorsson smiled knowingly.
"Is there a problem?"
"Oh, no, sir," Justin said quickly.
Thorsson chuckled. "Ah, yes, the Code. Never squeal to an officer or upperclassman about another cadet. Well, I think having Mr. Colson going with you and especially with Mr. Everett might be the right touch."
"Sir?"
Justin was confused. The tension in their room since the start of the semester had been as thick as an arctic freeze. Justin had noticed that Colson tended to hang with several other cadets who had stated their disdain of offworlders and especially of the freewheeling style of solar sailors. Matt had tried to remain aloof, though there had been several sharp exchanges.