Chapter 20

“It was a great pool party Ed. Shame you missed it.” Alan hated this thing. On any other fighter, the rudder pedals adjusted the engine gimbal, pushing the stern of the boat side to side. On an F-231 there is no engine gimbal. The bow thrusters are doing the steering, which feels weird.

“Where the heck is the Naha?” muttered Alan as he scanned space around Mars.

“The NSS Naha is behind you. Earth is currently at its furthest distance from Mars, meaning that the H. G. Wells was at its closest. The NSS Naha is two weeks behind you and the Shining Dawn is several weeks behind them. The Shining Dawn will reach Mars forty eight hours before Saturn CXLII reaches mars.”

“Of course it will. Thank you Ed,” said Alan as he opened up the throttle and began his sprint to the carrier that was promised him. “I’m going to be out of radio range soon so I want you to introduce yourself to Captain Vermillion, the commanding officer of the NSS Naha. Ed, I want you to brief her on this entire threat and you are to follow her orders.”

“I will be glad to do that Alan.”

“Until we can talk again, I would be happy if you entertain my children and start their elementary education also, Ed.”

“I would be delighted Alan. Children are my specialty.”

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Perseverance Mars, February 23, 2162 Presidential Office

Eris and Alex Rodriguez sat in shock after listening to Alan Scarlett ‘bitch slap’ the two earth leaders into submission. “Now you know why I allowed you to dig those machines out of Jezero Crater,” said Ray Clark. “They are the core of the Martian Self Defense Space Force. We have to become familiar with those machines. Volunteers will be operating those machines soon. We have maybe two months before the threat arrives.”

“I don’t have the knowledge to teach somebody to fly those things,” said Eris.

“I didn’t ask you to teach them to fly ... yet. Nobody else on this planet is as familiar with them as you. You have two F-733E’s without guns, you can teach maintenance and familiarization maybe even simple handling. You take them up and have them fly in a circle or something like that. Just so when Alan arrives he doesn’t have to start from scratch.”

Eris shook her head. “It’s not possible Mister President...”

“First, stop calling me that. We’ve all seen each other naked, we’re too close for titles like that when we’re alone. Now think, how can you get people familiar with flying with your current skill set?”