Gift
I was dressed in Uptight Business grey and heels, for once. The skirt went to the knees and the hair was as nicely done as I could manage. The cab dropped me off at 300 E street in Washington on a beautiful spring day in front of a massive mostly blue and glass building that took up an entire block. Nasa. The government offices, and I had an appointment. And I damn sure wasn't coming in ballistic in a skirt.
I made through the doors and to the reception desk and announced myself as Millicent Rice. A slim man behind the receptionist stood up and came around the counter, extending his hand and smiling broadly. "Right on time, Spacegirl." He said. "I've been looking forward to this all week. I'm Nate Meachum, the assistant director of the HEO division."
I smiled, shook the offered hand and walked beside him. I passed on the bag I was carrying to security and went through the scanner. Once on the other side, I hung the heavy messenger bag to the shoulder opposite the man so I wouldn't hit Nate with it and said, "My Dad and I have been out to the launch complex many times as I grew up, but this is my first time here."
"Well, I'll be glad to give you a tour when the meeting's done."
I shook my head. "I can't, I'm afraid. I have another meeting right after this that I can't miss. I'd love to do it another time, though.
He nodded at me and said as we entered an elevator. "No problem. We were excited to hear that you wanted to meet with us. I mean, you've interacted with our astronauts, but not the Nasa management team. We are, suffice to say, curious."I smiled in what I hoped was an enigmatic way as we boarded an elevator. Nate turned to me and said, "I understand that Apex has been interviewing retired astronauts. May I ask why?"
"We are still a small business, but we think we have a lot of potential. There are a lot of things we want to accomplish; but running a business takes a lot of work. A lot of time out of the day. We want to maximise the things we can do, and that means finding someone with the same passions we have that is willing to do the busywork of making sure all the business stuff gets done." I looked at him as we exited. "I guess we're looking for someone that is willing to be boss but not have the final say.
"I want to do the things we've contracted for, transportation, exploration, building stuff that means something to me. I don't want to spend my time on pricing strategies, making sure everyone gets ethics training, or comparative insurance shopping. So we're looking for someone that can work within our limitations, I guess. And who would have more passion for what we're doing than a former astronaut?"
He stopped us in front of a set of double doors and opened the left one for me. I entered and the three men sitting on the left rose to meet me. We shook hands all around and made our introductions. I focused on Nate's boss, Doctor Jon Chandris, a tall but comfortable looking man. He seemed as pleased to see me as his number 2 had been, so I was feeling good about the meeting. I knew that I had stepped on a few toes in the Nasa hierarchy while helping Kate and Misha, but I thought the astronaut core was behind me. I just needed to now know whether their bosses would listen to me without prejudgement.
As I sat down at the round table, I said, "Thanks for meeting me, Doctor Chandris, especially on such short notice."
He smiled a little ruefully. "When Spacegirl calls, we pay attention. You've had a kind of profound effect on our organization."
I think I blushed a little. "Please sir, I'm wearing a skirt and all my patches are at home. Call me Cent, or Miss Rice, if you must. And as for effects, it's only fair. Nasa has been profoundly in my life since I was seven. My Dad and I are huge fans."
He gestured broadly, both palms up. "And here we are. What can the Director of Human Exploration and Operations do for Apex Orbital, Miss Rice?"
I took a calming breath. "The U.S. portion of the ISS is under your purview, sir, as is planning for orbital and beyond operations. My proposal involves both of those jobs. Apex would like to enter a joint partnership with the existing joint relationship that controls the ISS. We would like to provide services and share research outside of our contractual obligations for crew and supply transfers to the Station.
"Now, there are some things about our travel ability that must remain proprietary, but we will be offering more information about our capabilities so planning can take them into account."
I leaned forward, intent on the man. "I'm not kidding about being a fan of the space program. It's why I'm doing what I'm doing! We've got Kristen Station running fairly well now. It's time for the next step. That's why I wanted this meeting, sir. This is why."
I pulled three Samsung tablets out of the bag I was carrying and turned them on quickly. I passed one to the Director and two to the other four to share. The page that opened up had two named thumbnails. Mars, and Luna.
Doctor Chandris stared at it. He slowly brought his hand up and tapped on the 'Luna' button and the screen filled with photos and selfies taken in the vicinity of Tranquility base. I cleared my throat and said, "I didn't approach that location closer than fifty feet. No matter what we decide here, it's a major historical site and should be preserved. I just needed it to prove I was there; as much of the moon looks like any other part." The photos showed the descent stage of the Eagle lunar module, but not much else. The flag they had put up was blown over when the ascent stage lifted off to reandevou in lunar orbit, but I thought the photos were compelling anyway.
Chandris spent a few minutes with the moon pictures, then moved on to the Mars set. I had several from my landing site featuring some great bluffs to the northeast, but I had been sure to capture a selfie that looked down on me and the tarp I had spread over the surface I stood on. That was my only landing site, but I had taken many more as I moved ballistically around the planet, so I had gotten them from anywhere from 10 feet above the surface to 5000. It was a nice set.
When Doctor Chandris finished with the pictures, he sat there a while with both forefingers steepled against his lips, his assistants silent as they watched him. I brought out my last surprise, a triple sealed jar of the same soil sample I had given Corey, a shifting grey powder with small pebbles drifting around in it. "Fresh from the Melas Chasma as of a week ago. I took as many precautions as I could to avoid contamination in either direction; the tarp and my outer layers were sterilized before and after. I left the tarp there as a landing site, if needed."
I leaned forward over my clasped hands and tried to capture every pair of eyes in the room as I said, "So this is my proposal for you, gentlemen. Wanna go to Mars with me?"
Over the next hour, we dickered over price and time constraints. Chandris promised to retask a significant portion of planning and engineering to my modular needs and reluctantly agreed to my proposed time schedule I wanted to scout the surface of Mars for two to three scientific outposts and the Moon for one. We needed to start biologic and geologic research over the next month while they geared up the design phase of a small base and I agreed to the decontamination procedures they outlined. They had received two of Corey's MCP suits and were training some of the astronauts with them; they now had to find qualified geologists and site engineers to start the training also.
It was a complex negotiation, especially when I laid down my last caveat. "Mr. Director, I don't know how closely you've followed our public policy since Apex started operations, but someone may have noticed that I'm kind of sensitive about women's rights and women in science. I'm not going to hold back any country that can contribute to this project; but if a country is identified as withholding women's rights and opportunities by the NGO Working group on Women, Peace and Security, I will ONLY transport women or gay men for that country." I raised my eyebrows at him. "You might give thought to the fact that my two best friends are gay and Kristen Station is named after a famous gay woman astronaut."
Doctor Chandris said, "That is, I dare say one of the least things you've given to us to think about, Miss Rice. We'll have a location and procedures for decontam by the end of the week, and I have someone in mind for site survey duties. We'll assign and train him in the MCP and he'll be ready by then. We'll get the ball rolling with the member nations for accelerated negotiations for shared responsibility, but I can't guarantee agreement or compliance. That'll be up to the diplomats. Is that enough?" He looked eager to please, which pleased me, naturally.
"Yes, sir." I hesitated as I rose and added to Nate, "The reason I couldn't get that tour with you is that I'm heading to my birthday party. I'm eighteen today!" I took a last look around the table and added, "I want to thank you for giving me this gift. For working with me on my dreams. You've been very kind." I grinned at them, and jumped.