Chapter 10 Olly Turner

  Olly walked through the natatorium to his personal lab space. He turned on the wall screen as he entered the lab, changed the channel to the national news mostly as background noise he picked up the tweezers and peered into the microscope.

  The news cycles ran, first briefly discussed the latest flash floods and the historical hurricane season it then went in depth on the upcoming space mission.

  The news cycles continues to drone on in the background. “Not since the abandoned moon base has such an exciting space mission been on the horizon. Todays launch will carry an additional satellite to the cargo of the Salacia. To reiterate for those just turning in o whom must have been living under a rock for the last year the Salacia is the presidents Trillion dollar spaceship built to explore Neptune and the moons of the Neptune.

  The screen transitioned to a view of the Salacia. A large ship looked fairly ugly, sharp lines and exposed frame show its not made for Earths atmosphere. It lacked anything resembling an interior, with three large cargo holds as the closest. The front housed most of the sensors and the back two-thirds was engines and fuel tanks. A cut away animation revealed three landers, three rovers and six small satellites.

  The much debated project has met funding blocks, project delays and has been claimed to be faked, a scam built just to appease the presidents ego, it has created world wide outrage over the cost of the program. Regardless of the delays it is now being reported that the Salacia is ready for flight. In remembrance of those lost on the moon based abandoned over a decade ago the Salacia is scheduled to preform an exuberantly expensive fly by ceremony around the moon as it is slingshot out to Neptune. This confrontational mission reminds tax payers of the failed asteroid belt mining missions of the thirties. These asteroid belt missions were later proven in court to be Ponzi schemes setup for the rich to pocket billions of dollars with many proclaimed missions never even launching. With these missions in mind many less fortunate regions and individuals are left asking should the Salacia exist in the first place and is Neptune the appropriate destination.”

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  His work complete Olly looked up from the microscope, he grabbed the mint tin off the workbench and slid it into his shirt pocket.

  Annie

  ***

  Annies Office,

  (This would be an introduction of Annie Saxe, presently employed as a data analyst monitoring the Salacia and the launch site)

  ***

  Maggie sat in the passenger seat of an older electric SUV. The back seats were collapsed and the SUV rode lower than it should. The AC blasted but in the hot Texas heat it did nothing. Max drove and listened to the radio. The drive had been a bit too silent for Maggies taste and she was already miserable. She turned the radio off.

  Maggie said, “Luv, you’re a bit quieter than your usual self.”

  “Am I? I’m working.” Max looked in the back. The blanket was draped across the large metal box. Max tugged the corner of the blanket to hide a small section and turned his attention back to the road.

  “This has nothing to do with that in the back seat. Do we have a problem? I knew it would get complicated with your ex.”, Maggie said.

  “No, No problem.”, Max said.

  “I’m not sure if you’d even know. Maybe we should have some space, things are getting complicated enough.”, Maggie said.

  “What, it’s not complicated. This job and we are covered for the next couple years, we won’t have to take a job, won’t even have to work.”, Max said.

  “I’m not talking about the job you twit. You can be dense sometimes. I don’t even know what you see in her. It’s not like she’s going to be in the neighborhood.”, Maggie said.

  Max stumbled on his words.

  “Exactly my point. So you know, she’s not exactly a hundred precent, she’s open to other possibilities even if she doesn’t know it yet. I think he might be all piss and wind in a business suit.”, Maggie said.

  Max said, “You mean?”

  Maggie said, “Yes I mean.”

  “I can’t do this now. Let’s focus on the task at hand.” Max slowed the SUV, best to keep it at the speed limit.

  “You’re an arse.”

  The SUV passes the road sign. Now entering Houston Texas Population 3.8 million.