“That doesn’t seem possible. That… wait, if you can get there in three days you’d be ahead of the Chinese lander, isn’t that right? Over.”
“That’s right, Lou. They should still be doing aerobraking maneuvers when we land. By the way, we seem to have damaged our main antenna during launch, so it’s possible we won’t be able to communicate with Earth all the way there and back. I’d like to warn you, and especially our families, that a sudden loss of signal does not mean we’ve blown up. Over.”
“I’m sure that would look terrible to your loved ones,” Lou said, then he frowned. “But it occurs to me that a ‘loss of signal’ would be a very convenient way to cover any weaknesses in your story if, for instance, you were actually transmitting from a clandestine location here on Earth, relaying it through a very small, very fast rocket in the direction you claim to be going. Over.”
“You’re very sharp, Lou. I can’t disprove that theory just now. You’ll-”
“It’s not me, I’m no expert, this proposition was… oh, sorry, I should have waited… well, our science adviser is on his way to the studio and he suggested that theory to explain what seems flatly impossible to everyone we’ve talked to. Over.”
“As I was saying, I can’t disprove that. But you’ll all know for sure soon enough. Now, I’d like to introduce you to my crew, starting with… wait a moment, Lou. We’re just seeing your new picture, give us a moment.”
What we were seeing was the scene from the Blast-Off, down in the left-hand corner of the screen.
[312] It looked like Mom had let a camera crew into the living quarters. I saw Mom, Maria, Sam, Salty, Grace, Billy… and Caleb, back from wherever he had hidden Jubal. Some of the neighbors were in there, too, looking amazed and happy. Everyone was gathered around the television set and you’d have thought we just won the World Series and the Superbowl all at the same time. There was laughing and crying, everyone was holding long-stemmed glasses of champagne.
I came within an inch of waving at the camera, like a three-year-old.
“We’re switching live to the Blast-Off Motel,” Lou said.
“Thanks, Lou,” La Shanda Evans said. “We’ve been invited into the motel office to share this moment with the friends and relatives of the Red Thunder crew. Let’s see if I can get a word. Betty! Mrs. Garcia, can I get a few words with you? Would you like to say a few words to your son?”
Mom made an effort and calmed down. Then she looked right into the camera.
“Manny, hon… I just want to say… I’m so proud of you I could just bust.”
Oh, my, did I ever wish that camera was not on me. I fought back the tears as Travis handed me the mike.
“I love you, Mom,” I said. “And don’t worry, we’re coming back, all of us.” I handed the mike back. In five seconds we saw everyone in the room react, first with a respectful silence as they heard the first part, then with cheering.
There was more. Dak got to talk to his dad for a moment, and Kelly and Alicia were introduced by Travis. Then Travis got the mike back. He paused for a moment, looking very solemn.
“I have one more thing to say,” he began, “and then we’ll take you on a tour of the good ship Red Thunder.
“I spoke about the radical new technology that is making this trip possible. It really will revolutionize every aspect of our daily lives. The potential good things that can come from this technology are too numerous to mention. I’m sure I’ve not even thought of a fraction of them.
[313] “But as with any powerful new science, there is great potential for harm, even for disaster. This is not the time or place to get into details, but we have decided that this new science is too much power for any one nation to possess. It is also too much power for all nations to possess… So which will it be? How can this new power be managed?
“I don’t know. I haven’t got a clue. We’ve been sorely tempted just to destroy all knowledge of how this new source produces power… but I don’t believe that will work. What one man has discovered, another will eventually discover.
“All I’m sure of is that it is way too much power for one man, or a small group of people, to possess. We have to figure out a way to bring this miracle of free power to humanity without destroying humanity in the process. I don’t want this responsibility, none of us here do. And that is why we are undertaking this journey, to become a voice that people will listen to.
“Right about now videotapes should be arriving by messenger at the New York Times, at the London Times and the BBC, at fifty media offices around the globe. These tapes will show some of the things that can be done with this technology-which we’ve been calling the ‘Squeezer,’ or ‘Squeeze’ drive. I want to urge the people of the world to study this information closely. It is vital that you do.
“Sorry to go on so long, Lou. We’re going to start the tour now. Feel free to ask questions if you want to. Over.”
Of course no newsman in history could ever have restrained himself with an invitation like that. Lou-while probably estimating the size of the raise he was going to get and already mentally polishing his Pulitzer Prize-had a thousand questions.
We ran the tour by simply switching from one camera to another as we moved from room to room. We also showed some outside shots. It took about an hour.
Midway through the tour, a phone rang. We all looked at each other. Kelly felt in her hip pocket and pulled out a cell phone. It rang again.
She retreated down the ladder to the lower stateroom deck. I followed and watched as she opened the phone.
“Hello?… I don’t believe it. Can’t I get away from you anywhere?”
[314] I mouthed Daddy? and she nodded. Then she laughed.
“Turn this thing around? You’ve got to be out of your mind… No, you will not, Father, Travis didn’t shanghai me-in fact, I had to sneak aboard… Don’t mention it again, Father, or… Okay, you asked for it. Are you in your office? Good. Look in your bottom left desk drawer… Got it? That’s just part of what I know about you. Do you want to see any of that on the front page of the Herald?…. Oh? Then stop shouting about putting Travis in jail. What… what do I want you to say? How about, I’ll pray for you.’ How about just, ‘Be careful.’… No, I didn’t think so. Okay, Father, but I’m coming back, in spite of you.” She snapped the phone closed, then turned and went into the head. She opened the glory hole and dropped the phone in.
She smiled at me… but the smile broke apart and she started to cry. I took her in my arms and let her get it out. At that moment I stopped feeling sorry for myself that I didn’t have a living father. How much worse to have a father who was so hateful?
An hour later, when I used the head, I could still hear the phone ringing, way down at the bottom of the chute, among the crumpled plastic bags of urine.
27
OF COURSE NO cell phone could have reached us where we were when Kelly got her call. We told Travis about it and he theorized Mr. Strickland must have a friend at CNN, and had piggybacked the phone signal onto the signal the network was sending to us.
“Whatever else he is,” Travis said, “you gotta give him top marks for resourcefulness.”
“I knew that already, believe me,” Kelly said.
After the grand tour of the ship, things settled down a lot. We could have given nonstop interviews, since every news outlet on the planet had requested one, but we’d soon have been repeating ourselves. How many ways can you answer “What does it feel like, being out in space in a home-built contraption?” So we said we were too busy and scheduled another live report in twelve hours.
Too busy? It was a lie.
On a long trip, whether you’re headed to Mars on a spaceship or sitting in an Amtrak train from New York to Los Angeles… the main thing you experience is boredom. Actually, the trip to Mars was more tedious. On the train there would be changing scenery. While you really couldn’t beat the view from Red Thunder’s ports, it never changed.