Chapter 60: Alison’s Legacy

“Chrissy, are you disappointed?” the interviewer asked.

“Disappointed? At what? I’ll be in the first dozen people to set foot on Mars and my team will be the one to establish a permanent base on the Martian surface. Why should I be disappointed? It makes perfect sense from a mission perspective to have the first team conduct surface surveys while we remain in orbit performing analysis of the possible locations. Once we select a suitable site, we’ll land and start the construction phase.”

I smiled at her comment. I had been worried about the live interviews following our finale for the show. We had side-stepped the request to land the Orions in the US for the finale by filming the final training debriefs on Astra Station and then landing all the candidates at Cape Kennedy in Florida. Kelly and the entire Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation had attended the dog-and-pony show of a mission review taping where we unveiled the planned mission profile and then we announced the staffing decisions in a live show. Now we were into the follow-up section of our plans.

“Are you ready for this, Paul?” Kelly asked. She and I were in the ‘green room’ for interviews. We, along with Senator John McCain, the ranking Republican on the committee and Senator Breaux, the chairman of the sub-committee on Science, Technology, and Space were waiting our turn to go out and discuss the announcement. Chrissy and the other astronauts were being interviewed individually by different on-air personalities, but we would partake in a panel discussion that would be taped and then edited for broadcast this evening.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” I replied.

“I think a lot of fans wanted to see Chrissy on the first landing team. I’m just wondering if anyone will ask you about it.”

I shrugged. “She just articulated the answer I’d give as well. It makes no sense to build at the first place we land. There were seven moon landings and a hell of a lot of surveys before we selected the location to build there.”

“Why build a base on the first mission?” Senator McCain asked.

“How about we wait until we’re in-front of the cameras,” Kelly said politely. “I imagine a lot of other people want to hear that answer.”

John McCain nodded, as did I. Ten minutes later, after some soft-ball opening questions and now sitting in a plush chair on the set, he asked his question once more.

“My team and I collectively decided that we did not want to perform a media stunt and just land on Mars,” I replied. “We intend to go to Mars and establish a permanent presence there, not just a series of publicity opportunities. The survey crew will be prepared to investigate up to ten locations on the surface of Mars. The build crew will be ready, once a site is selected, to land and establish a habitat for a team of up to twenty engineers and explorers to operate from. We aim to establish a foothold and then expand, not just take some pictures and collect samples and come home.”

The audience applauded spontaneously. We had run a lottery for fans during the course of the show and given away free trips and accommodation to nearly a thousand fans from around the world to attend the finale and associated ‘media fair’.

Peter Jennings waited until the applause subsided and then looked at Kelly. “Vice President Daniels, given the intent your brother has, how does the Administration propose to regulate his activities, and do you see yourself being put in a conflict of interest here?”

Kelly smiled for the cameras. “There would only be a conflict of interest if our interests should come into conflict,” she said warmly. “Right now, the administration sees no such conflict. Paul is planning on establishing a scientific outpost. He has always published his findings and encouraged collaboration and the open exchange of ideas. With regard to regulation, these activities would fall under Senator Breaux and the Committee on Science, Technology, and Space to assess and provide guidance, not the executive branch.”

“So, you’re stating there is a hands-off policy?” Tom Brokaw asked.

We had invited the three nightly news anchors to participate in the panel.

“The committee is hardly ‘hands-off’,” Senator McCain said. “Senator Breaux’s sub-committee provides regular updates on Mr. Taylor’s space-based efforts. We also have periodic hearings with the NASA administrators and their liaison officers assigned to PT Innovations.”

Kelly nodded. “With regard to policy,” she added, “President Gore works within the structure of the charter established under the SHARE Act. There may come a day when we expand that legislation or revisit it for some reason, but currently it meets our country’s needs.”

“What about other countries?” Dan Rather asked. “We know that China has expanded its presence significantly on Astra Station. We see private companies growing in prominence at Aristarchus Base. How are these actions enriching the lives of American taxpayers, and how will expansion of the same model to Mars help them?”

“The SHARE Act, which passed with very strong bi-partisan support,” Senator Breaux said, “ensures that Americans and American companies are given strong incentives and consideration for the peaceful exploitation of space.”

“But only PT Innovations and Mr. Taylor’s other companies seem to be taking advantage of those provisions,” Peter Jennings said, turning the panel into more of a debate.

“America is supposed to be the land of opportunity,” I interjected. “We ensure that all nations have the same opportunity to contract for our lift services and to lease space on Astra or at Aristarchus Base. As part of the charter, we ensure that the United States government receives the best lift rates we offer and have gone so far as to make accommodations for dedicated NASA liaison officers at our operations, both here and in space. Fourteen U.S. companies have taken advantage of that, in addition to the government itself. There are a lot more companies in orbit and on the moon, besides mine,” I concluded.

“Fourteen?” Jennings asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded and raised my hand to count them off. “Lockheed, General Dynamics, Westinghouse, Corning, IBM, Hilton, Marriott, Bell Labs, Apple, Intel, Dow Chemical, Abbot Laboratories, Bristol-Meyers, and Merck and Company. That’s in addition to CRP, DigiNet, and other firms I’ve started, run, or have a significant interest in. My CFO estimates that we have created over ten thousand domestic jobs tied to our expansion into space. There are another fifty-thousand jobs world-wide that have come about as we build infrastructure and components for delivery to our space operations.”

“What about the Chinese and European presence on Astra and now expanding to the moon?” Dan Rather asked. “It’s our understanding that America will soon no longer have the majority of space-based residents.”

Kelly was shaking her head.

“This question has come up from multiple sources, but it is simply wrong,” I said. “The Chinese government has purchased long-term lease space on Astra and is in negotiations for habitable volume on the moon, but even if we build everything they want, they would be less than twenty percent of the people working outside Earth’s atmosphere on any given day. It could be less than ten percent, if the US government formulated a realistic plan and chose to expand its orbital or lunar operations.”

“Senator McCain,” Brokaw began, “what sort of policies are the Republicans looking at to put America first in space?”

McCain smiled at the cameras. He was the unofficial front runner for the Republican party for the next election, just as Kelly was assumed to be the Democratic favorite.

“We would look at our overall national goals and then look at the best way to exploit our ‘Most Favored Nation’ status within the Charter that Paul’s companies operate under. I personally believe that just as the United States has a leadership position amongst the great nations of the world, we should demonstrate a leadership position as we expand beyond our world. Obviously, we would need to build out specific strategies and programs to meet those objectives and gain budget approval through Congress to enact those efforts.”

I wanted to roll my eyes. It was a lot of words that I would have summarized as “we’ll see”. Of course, I needed to stay publicly neutral in the debates, since I had to work with both parties.

“Vice President Daniels, how would the Democratic leadership answer that question?”

It was Kelly’s turn to smile. “We believe there are immediate, tangible benefits to leveraging the charter. We have established programs with NASA and NOAA to greatly expand our terrestrial monitoring via satellite. We will be placing fourteen satellites in orbit over the next five months to improve this data collection effort and have teams of scientists ready to start analyzing the data provided. We know that better understanding of weather and climate can be used to help many people, domestically, and abroad. We are establishing programs within NASA to scientifically and systematically explore the Moon and, when appropriate, Mars, but first are looking at robotic missions to survey more of our solar system. These programs have gained wide bipartisan support in Congress,” she concluded.

“So, neither of you would be advocating for an expanded NASA management role on the moon or Mars?” Rather asked.

“To what purpose?” Kelly asked as McCain nodded. “The United States of America is leading the way through the charter Paul operates under. Does anyone really believe a government program will establish a toe-hold on a new world faster, and cheaper, than we are seeing happen right now?”

We all chuckled, though Senator McCain had a little scowl. He was trying to position the Republicans as the fiscally responsible party.

“Paul, you have four of your Orion spacecraft built and operating,” Jennings began. “Two will be used on this mission to Mars. What are the other two going to be doing?”

I forced a smile. “We still have a growing base on the Moon that needs regular supply and we will continue to train our expanding cadre of astronauts for operations beyond Earth-orbit. Other than that, I’m not ready to commit to any specific missions,” I lied.

“Beyond Earth-Orbit?” Jennings asked. “What might those opportunities be?”

“Vice President Daniels mentioned robotic exploration missions. I’m a strong proponent of sending robots out first, but my team wants to be trained and ready to follow-up on interesting findings. What if a mission to Jupiter finds liquid or frozen water on one of its moons? We could have a follow-on mission enroute with real scientists and complete labs in weeks instead of years. Being able to seize those kinds of opportunities takes training and preparedness.”

“Senator McCain,” Jennings said. “Would the Republican leadership support such an approach?”

McCain nodded. “It is a very practical plan, that Paul is going to do whether we support him or not. Why would we fight something that makes that much sense.”

“Senator, do you think NASA should have a say in the matter, especially if their robotic mission makes the discovery?”

“Under the existing international treaties, the discovery of something, such as water or even gold, does not confer ownership rights to it. This is a murky area under international law that we are going to have to work through on the global stage. I just hope Paul does not give us reason to rush into such work.”

The panel continued for nearly two hours and once we finished, I was surprised to see Kelly and John McCain shake hands for the cameras. Then it dawned on me that we had just filmed the first Presidential debate for the next election. I managed to corner Kelly afterwards.

“You set that whole stage, didn’t you?”

For a moment, the facade of her innocence held. Then she smiled.

“Of course, I did. I wanted to make sure I was the thought leader out there, not John. He had to react to everything you or I proposed or said. People will pick up on that and realize a younger, more dynamic sort of thinking is needed for the future. It is going to be me on the ballot next fall.” She gave me a spontaneous hug. “Thank you.”

I hugged her back.

“You know,” I said as we separated, “you had better get your policy team on that whole ownership thing McCain mentioned.”

She gave me the arched-eyebrow look of inquiry. “Why?”

“If we find something exportable on Mars, we’re going to export it. If we find anything anywhere else, we’ll be doing the same. Have a plan ready, Kelly, or you’ll be looking surprised and reactionary instead of the Republicans.”

“What in the hell have you done to this thing?” Lila asked from the door of my lab, startling me.

I had taken to spending the majority of my days in Nevada and hopping home to Park City in the late afternoon. I had been modifying one of the original MRIs used in the deja vu study in my lab, doubling the power output and focus by creating a three-dimensional layer of magnetic actuators. It looked something like a giant white sarcophagus. I had crawled inside, working on the hand-held controller that would eventually allow me to operate it while inside the tube.

“Playing around with some enhancements to the MRI work Hunter was leading for me,” I said as I climbed out. “What brings you down to Nevada?”

Lila smiled. “It has been a while since I did a surprise visit down here to check security. I decided to fly down and make sure we were still keeping things secure.”

“And?”

“Everything looks good. It makes me wonder what I’m missing.”

I laughed. “We’ve got good people here and some well-established procedures. I’m pretty confident my work here is secure. I worry more about the plant in Barcelona and Ian’s lab in Austin.”

“Those both get regular reviews. This place, on the other hand, gets visited by you frequently but only gets a full security audit once a year. I realized it was a bit of a blind-spot for us from a security perspective.”

“Good to know it’s all safe and sound.”

“Well,” she hedged, “It’s secure, but I think if you really want to keep something secret, you should move it to Astra or even Aristarchus. This place was on the show for how many years? I know they were always careful to not show any of the security features, but people still know it’s here, and they know you do research from it. That makes it a target.”

I sighed. “I know, but it’s so easy to hop down here and get some quiet work done. Is there a specific reason you decided to check down here?” I asked.

Lila gave me a terse nod. “The FBI asked us if there was anything sensitive happening in Nevada. They had some sort of tip. When I followed up with them, they indicated there was some ‘Asian interest’ in your lab work. DoD asked that we do an audit on anyplace you were working to check for possible leaks or infiltration.”

“Well, nobody is going to just wander in here,” I said. “What do they think someone is looking for? Hell, I don’t do anything dangerous out here anymore, not since Hunter and I finished the last round of engine design work. We’ve moved all of that to Ireland now.”

“It’s not engines or generators, according the government. The only thing I could come up with was possible applications of the deja vu research, like what the Army was interested in. I could see some governments or independent organizations being interested in messing with people’s memories or having the capability to erase them. That is powerful stuff.”

“Which is why we changed the power supply and MRI design last year,” I countered.

“Except for this machine in your lab, and the original one in Ireland. That’s what concerns me. Add in the fact that you have shown a personal interest in this area, and it makes sense that someone else might have their curiosity piqued.”

“When you put it like that, I can see why people might be interested. What do you suggest?”

“I think we should run some penetration tests on the lab here. If my folks can’t get in without tripping alarms, I’ll feel a lot better about it. After that, maybe some of our friendly spooks from Langley can give it a try, or the boys and girls from Fort Meade can try to get some information out of here. If all of that fails, then we can relax a little.”

“But won’t that level of trying raise interest as well?” I asked.

“Possibly, but it’s better to know we are as secure as possible rather than just hope no one gets in.”

“Okay, but let’s not do anything when I’ve got the kids down here.”

She noddedI her agreement. “I’ll set some things up to try while we’re all in St. Lucia for Christmas. How’s that sound?”

“You are nuts,” Chrissy said as she laughed at me. “It’s going to take you longer to get into the city from the airport than it will take to fly from here to New Orleans.”

We were at the St. Lucia house for the holidays and Chrissy had jokingly said she wished we could have some beignets with our morning coffee. I had offered to take her there in the GOT before we sent it to Illinois to pick up my parents. I was a little manic after a call with Steve Jobs. He had confided to me as a board member of Apple-Next that he had cancer. I had offered all the support I could, but knew that even on this timeline, he had a struggle in front of him. Hopefully, he had listened to me when I had told him to skip the alternative treatments and get to the hospital.

“We can call and have them brought out to the airport. By the time we get the helicopter to the airport here, and pre-flight the GOT, they should be able to get from Cafe du Monde out to the airport.” It was a six-minute flight for the GOT to go from St. Lucia to New Orleans.

“How about you just ask Philip to make some here?” Chrissy replied.

I gave a dramatic sigh. “Okay, if you want to take away all my fun, I suppose we can do that.”

“Oh, if it’s fun you want, I’ve got a better idea for you than flying,” she said with a smile. She stood up and untied her robe, giving me a peek at her smooth skin as she stepped around the table and hugged me.

I kissed her and slipped my hands inside her robe.

“Ahem,” we heard from the doorway.

Chrissy closed her robe before turning. Tamara was standing at the door leading back into the master suite.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Katiana called and asked that I deliver a message for you, Paul.”

“Okay but remember that we are all on vacation as soon as my folks arrive.”

Tamara smiled. “Like that will mean anything this year,” she teased. “I might not be working on your stuff, but I’ve got a lot of wedding planning to get done during the next two weeks.”

Allan had finally popped the question at Thanksgiving, and he and Tamara had decided to get married on Valentine’s Day in two months.

“That’s fine. I bet Chrissy and my Mom will be happy to give you a hand sorting things out.”

“Humph!” Chrissy said. “I plan on relaxing and getting some unfiltered sun, not poring over wedding dresses and looking at invitations,” she said. “I’ve been run ragged in training by you guys for the past year. I need a break!”

Despite her words and tone, she was smiling at Tamara.

“So, what was the message?” I asked.

Tamara glanced at her notes. “Target selected is (29075) 1950 DA. Team will commence approach for survey by January fifteenth.”

I processed that for a minute. Katiana and her team had been narrowing their selection of possible asteroid targets for the past month. They wanted to perform a fly-by mission to survey a potential target before beginning final approach and sampling training in the spring. I had approved the plan, with a few safety caveats. One of them was that the survey had to be accomplished before February to ensure adequate prep time for a summer mission.

Of course, Chrissy wanted to know what the message was about. That led to a discussion about overall safety, similar to the one I had with Allan last spring. By the time Chrissy and Tamara were finished asking me questions, it was time to head to the beach, since Ali had insisted on a sail before our other guests arrived.

Mom and Jim arrived in time for a late afternoon meal overlooking the beach and spent until sunset catching up with everyone. The asteroid mission was pointedly ignored until we were snuggled in bed.

“Are you going with them?” Chrissy asked as she rested her head on my chest.

“No. I’ve been overseeing their training and preparations, but Katiana is going to be in-charge on the mission.”

“Good. I know how dangerous space is. I’m not sure I could focus if I knew you were out doing something risky while I was supposed to be building a habitat on Mars.”

I stroked her hair and then kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my feet firmly on the ground for most of your mission, though I reserve the right to hop up to Astra or Aristarchus if needed.”

She sighed and kissed my chest. I didn’t have the heart to tell her my Earth-side plans were looking just as risky.

“Where did this come from?” Katiana asked as she looked at the modified drone, I had built in a fit of depression six years ago.

I had nearly forgotten my folly and reckless undertaking, having parked the drone in orbit. With its stealth coating, no one was going to find it accidentally. Last week, Katiana’s team had speculated on how to better evaluate the composition of their target asteroid, or any asteroid for that matter. It had gotten me thinking.

“I built it several years ago,” I said as I looked over my latest modifications.

I had been pleased to see it respond to activation commands and piloted it to Astra. I felt a little guilty lying about why I had built it to several people but moved beyond that as soon as I had it in our largest airlock/work bay and had started updating its systems. One of the first things I did was add a new coating of material to eliminate its stealth characteristics. Thomas had provided a new, harder material that would also provide protection from cosmic rays.

He and I had taken turns coming up with crazy ideas to make it a better probe for asteroid prospecting. We kept the delta wing configuration, I sing the area for mounting sensors and instruments. The railgun had been pulled out, re-worked, and put back into the fuselage, this time bore-sited down the probe’s axis. I had enlarged the fuel tank and then begun upgrading the computer hardware and software for flight control.

“And how will it help our mission?” Katiana asked.

“These,” I pointed to the new forward-facing instruments on the wings, “are high resolution cameras across the full spectrum. We also have a small, high-power laser aligned along the axis in addition to a high-energy rail gun. Thomas and I think we can use the railgun to penetrate an asteroid and use the sensors to identify the material vaporized by the impact. The laser can be used to perform more spectrographic analysis of materials.”

Katiana frowned. “How will you pilot it? Communications lag is going to be a problem.”

I nodded. “It is. I think you might want some of your team trained up on piloting it remotely. I’ve got some autonomous software loaded, but it would be better to have a live operator.”

I motioned her over to the large screen displaying a diagram of the drone. “We should be able to build another drone once you test this configuration out. I think we can mount two of them on your mission Orion without impeding more than one of the airlocks.”

“We’ll need to add more than pilot training. We’ll want to refuel in free-space and that’s going to be an all-hands evolution.”

“Good point. What do you think? Is it worth the impact to your schedule?”

She thought for a moment and then nodded curtly. “Is this one ready to shake down? We have a training mission to L-5 later this week. There might even be some small asteroids or fragments there to test it on, but we can at least work through launch and recovery operations.”

“And if you have a problem, that is close enough to fly it back to us if needed. You are scheduled for the original fly-by the week after next, so if it works in the shakedown, you can take this one with you to use on the fly-by. I like that plan.”

Katiana studied the diagram and glanced at the drone again. Then she looked at me.

“I’m glad you chose not to use this, Paul. It would have been a big mistake back then.”

I looked her in the eye, trying to muster some anger, but I knew she was right.

Rather than say anything, I nodded and smiled.

“So, you’re saying you don’t have a preference?” Oprah asked. “Last fall, following the selection of the final Mars landing team, it seemed that you were a fan of your step-sister.”

I was in the television studio once again, and not too happy about it. There were plenty of other things I could be doing. However, Kelly’s staff had asked that I accept the invitation for Chrissy and me to appear on the show. I had demurred at first, but Chrissy and Billy had badgered me into accepting. Jer being invited to Chicago for a possible art exhibition had sealed the deal.

I smiled for the cameras. “On a personal level, I would be happy for Kelly if she achieves her dream of being the first woman President of the United States. I would be as proud and excited as any brother would be for such an accomplishment. As a businessman, I have to remain neutral, since I have to work with the powers elected.”

Oprah smiled. “So, there is no truth in the rumors circulating in the press that you would be unwilling to work with a Republican administration?”

I laughed. “My senator is a Republican. I have great admiration for Senator McCain. He has a grit that we could use more of in Washington, in my mind. But Kelly is my sister and brings her own view and strengths to the nation. I know who I will vote for, but that is a personal choice, not an endorsement.”

“What sort of strengths do you see your sister bringing to the office?” she asked.

“My leadership team has just finished negotiating a renewal of our deal with Nike for the Diamond Skin product line. That is a multi-billion dollar deal that Kelly had a hand in negotiating back while I was still in high-school. She was heavily involved in the work to license my first patent portfolio to automakers here and around the world. She knows how to balance conflicting forces and work for an optimal outcome. She has a vision for guiding the country forward, engaging in domestic and international partnerships that are what I think the nation needs. We are just starting to become fair stewards of our planet. Kelly will expand that while being a good steward to our country and its people at the same time.”

It was Oprah’s turn to laugh. “That certainly sounds like an endorsement,” she said.

I played it off, waving my hand at her. “She’s my sister. Of course, I think highly of her.”

“Okay, so let’s bring this back to something more personal. You and Chrissy have been seen together frequently. How do you develop a relationship while you are negotiating huge business deals and she is training to go to Mars?”

Chrissy gave my hand a squeeze.

“We’ve become very adept at time management,” I quipped. “It’s one of the reasons I initially declined your invitation to come on the show. In the past month, Chrissy and I have been out on three dates, two of which were just dinner on Astra Station. If we hadn’t needed to perform some maintenance activity on the two Mars Orion craft, there is a good chance you would have only gotten me here today.”

“Chrissy, how does having such limited time with Paul make you feel?”

Her smile for the cameras and audience looked much more natural than mine had felt.

“For all the time I’ve known Paul, our time together has been at a premium. First, he was just an occasional figure in my life, so when I finally had the opportunity to spend more than a few hours with him, I decided to focus and enjoy the time we could have together rather than be upset about the time apart. I think like any relationship, our attitudes toward each other are the key to making it work. Neither of us can take the other for granted if we want to be together and build a lasting relationship. I think many relationships fail when either party lets that happen.”

Oprah nodded as Chrissy spoke. “That sounds like good advice, but how do you actually make that happen?”

“Communication is key. Once last fall, I felt a little insecure and neglected. I could have let that bother me and then tried to punish Paul by making him feel the same way. Instead, I told him how I felt and why I felt that way. Once it was said, Paul acted on it and changed to make more special time for us when we could be together.”

“You’re making me feel badly for impinging on your time for this show,” Oprah said.

“Oh, you shouldn’t,” Chrissy replied. “It got me a nice shopping trip in Chicago,” she said with a laugh.

“So, what exactly are you and your team doing to finalize your preparations to go to Mars?” Oprah asked, getting the interview back on track.

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