Destiny Among The Stars - Chapter 3

July 14, 1990 - Helios Aerospace HQ, TX.

"-the main issue will be sending satellites into orbits and arraying them in such a way that communication will remain constant and unencumbered." I finished explaining to the small committee in front of him, I felt nervous but also confident at the end of my explanation.

Not because the five or so people excluding my father were agreeing. No, they were very much frowning and only allowing me to speak because he had called the meeting.

The conference room at Helios Aerospace was spacious, with sleek glass walls that offered a view of the bustling office outside. In front of me was a polished oak table around which the small committee sat. My father, Richard Hilliard, wasn't at the head, this honour was afforded to only one, the CEO, Dev Ayesa.

Behind me, the slide changed as my finger pressed on the small remove I hid from their sight showing a few diagrams.

"Now, the lack of Lagrange points between Mars and Earth is the bigger problem in any possible interstellar communication, but redirecting any laser through relays should be enough." I finished, pressing one last button showing my estimates. "I believe that around 72 satellites will be required placed all around Earth to allow full coverage and an additional 12 for Mars/Earth communications."

I could almost feel the dismissive looks of the other committee members. I might have felt discouraged if not for one fact: Dev Ayesa was smiling and clapping, the only one doing the latter. My father, too, was nodding approvingly.

"This is good work, young man," he said to me and in that moment I could see why people followed him even if he outwardly they believed themselves to be part of a 'collective', he was charismatic. "He takes a lot after you, old friend."

My father nodded amicably, but his eyes remained critical, assessing my work. Dev continued, turning his attention back to me with a thoughtful expression. "What would be your estimation for the time required to communicate between Mars and Earth?"

"Our current radio technology allows for a ten-minute delay when Mars is closest to Earth," I replied after a moment's thought. "Though this is based on publicly available data. NASA likely has better methods. However, it's important to note that radio waves and laser communication travel at approximately the same speed—the speed of light."

"Meaning it is useless," a committee member whispered to his neighbour. I chose to ignore the comment and pressed on.

"Still, our communication delay would range from 3 to 20 minutes depending on Mars' distance from Earth. Where this method truly shines is in its potential."

"Ah yes," Dev Ayesa looked down at his notes, the man was serious when it came to stuff he was passionate about. "The bandwidth you talked about."

"Indeed." I nodded my head, it felt amazing to explain the core of my thesis to people, the fact that if the big man approved I would be able to properly work on it and possibly make it a reality was just the cherry on top. "Using lasers allows for significantly higher data rates, meaning more data can be transmitted but that's not the only thing."

I pressed on my remote once again. "Whereas radio waves disperse the further away they are, a tight beam like what I am proposing can go indefinitely theoretically, meaning while radio waves might work for now, further communication outside of our solar system will force them out of use."

I looked around, allowing for a brief show of thoughts that wasn't needed. "Though of course, this is still far from us, another advantage to using lasers is the power consumption, it uses far less energy than radio waves since the latter needs to push through interferences."

With that, I ended my presentation. Allowing for the polite clapping to end, Dev Ayesa looked deep in thought as he said out loud what everyone must have been thinking. "This will cost a lot."

I remained silent, this wasn't addressed to me.

"It will," my father agreed, his formal suit contrasting sharply with Dev's casual attire. "Simply manufacturing and launching the satellites will easily reach a billion dollars."

"And that's not including development costs," another committee member added.

"Yes," my father continued, his gaze steady on Dev. "But it will significantly lower the costs of your personal project. We can also sell the use of this technology to NASA and the civilian sector. This offers an almost instantaneous connection between two points, and we can further reduce costs using the facilities we've procured for our own launches."

"So you agree with my project now?" Dev asked his tone a mix of surprise and thoughtfulness. "No more disagreements?"

"I still have my reservations," my father admitted. "But diversifying our assets won't hurt, as long as we proceed cautiously."

"Not much for ideals, huh?" Dev's smile was all teeth as he nodded and turned to me. "Young man, how about you step outside? We have a long conversation ahead of us. While you wait, someone will show you to your new lab."

The latter part, he directed toward one of the shareholders.

I nodded, leaving the room. I had a date later tonight, it was Saturday after all.

I was soon led to a lab in the lower levels of the building, it was relatively empty though the person leading me informed me that my father had already commissioned lasers and employed some engineers with experience in designing early NASA satellites, it was nice to learn, after that I was shown where the cantina was as well as the restrooms and that was that.

Two hours later, I found myself pulling up to Sam's house, after knocking I found myself eye to eye with Sam's brother.

"Hey Adam, Sam's just finishing getting ready," Mark said to me before he paused as the door opened a bit wider and Brigadier General Jacob Carter came from it.

"Sir," I greeted him respectfully, staring at me for a while he finally talked.

"Adam," he began, his voice calm but firm, "Samantha means the world to me. She's my only daughter, and I've always tried to protect her. Now, I understand that you and she are quite close, and I respect that. But I need to be sure that you have her best interests at heart."

"Sir, I do," I said earnestly. "I care about Sam deeply. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"See that you do," he simply said before going back in. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding only to hear Mark laugh.

"He likes you."

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

"At least he doesn't dislike you."

"Promising." I snarked though there was no bite.

Sam appeared at the entrance, looking radiant in a simple but elegant dress. She smiled brightly at me, and I couldn't help but do the same.

"Everything okay?" she asked, glancing between her brother and me.

"Just fine," Mr. Carter said with a faint smile. "Dad was just having a little chat with Adam."

"Really? He gave him the shovel talk?"

"You know how Dad is."

They shared a laugh even as Sam walked over and took my hand, her touch reassuring. "Shall we go?"

I nodded. "See you, Mark."

"Have fun!"

The ride back to my home was calm and I was greeted with a rather surprising look on Sam. She looked uneasy and I couldn't help but laugh softly, one of my hands remained on the wheel while the other gently cradled her hand. "Don't worry, my father will love you, he always had a soft spot for genius."

She chuckled, throwing him a vain look as she haughtily raised her chin. "Then it's alright."

I knew she was putting up a front, but it was better than nothing. The kitchen of our house was alive with the scent of roasting chicken and freshly baked bread. I could smell it all the way from the door. As we entered, I took Sam's coat and hung it up before moving to the dining table, which had been thoroughly prepared by Mrs. Anderson, my father's housekeeper. She was a real lifesaver. I told her as much as she brought out dinner and set it on the table.

Sam was beside me, her hand squeezing mine reassuringly. Her smile was radiant, but I could sense her own nervousness.

"Relax," I whispered, leaning closer. "I'm sure he'll love you, though hopefully you don't get invited to our Sunday night. Those are guys only."

I earned a light, playful swat on the arm for that.

My father, Richard Hilliard, walked in from his study, his expression as stern as always, though his eyes softened slightly when they landed on me. He was a tall man with a commanding presence, his greying hair adding to his distinguished look.

"Dad, this is Samantha Carter," I introduced, trying to keep my voice steady. "You know, Brigadier General Carter's daughter. Sam, this is my father, Richard Hilliard."

"Mr. Hilliard," Sam said, extending her hand with a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Richard shook her hand, his grip firm but not unfriendly. "Samantha, I've heard a lot about you. It's good to finally meet the person who has captured my son's heart."

Sam blushed slightly, looking at me with a mix of shame and affection that I was surely mirroring considering how feverish my face felt.

The discussion moved on as we began to eat lightly, my father asking some small questions about the Carter family.

"How is your father?"

"Dad is still struggling with training more pilots, nowadays most aspiring pilots prefer to turn to NASA for jobs."

"Ah!" He laughed. "The Space Race. Its fever is everpresent, speaking of which,"

He turned to me. "Dev has assigned some engineers to your lab, next week he expects you to start working on it with them and have a prototype for civilian use relatively soon so he can sell it to the shareholders."

I took a deep breath as we all sat down. "I already have some ideas, I will probably have to write some programs to encrypt the data, but it should be relatively easy, most of the work will be on the engineers."

Richard raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Is that so? And how long until you have something ready?"

I smiled awkwardly. "I don't really know. For a ground test, I would say two, three months? Anything in space will have to come after we have designed specialized satellites and ground receivers for the lasers."

"That's already impressive enough," Sam said, her eyes shining with pride and support as she clasped my hand. "He's been putting in a lot of effort, Mr. Hilliard. I've seen firsthand how dedicated he is."

Richard nodded thoughtfully, his gaze shifting between us. "You two are good together. I am glad that you have someone supportive by your side, Adam."

"I do," I said, squeezing Sam's hand under the table. "She's been amazing."

We continued our dinner, and the conversation flowed more easily now. Richard shared stories of his early days when he was struggling to create a working prototype of a fusion reactor, and Sam talked about her own research and interests alongside amusing anecdotes of her family life. The initial tension melted away, replaced by something that I could only describe as familial.

My father even let out an uncharismatic smile at Sam at one point when she talked about how her father had given me the 'shovel talk' joking that. "I should have given you one too!"

By the time dessert was served, it felt like Sam had always been a part of our family. And as we said our goodbyes at the end of the evening, my father pulled me aside, his expression serious but warm.

"She's a good one, Adam," he said quietly. "You've chosen well."

"Thanks, Dad," I replied, feeling a surge of gratitude. "That means a lot."

"Perhaps you should put a ring on her," His hand on my shoulder squeezed lightly, stopping anything I might say. "Think about it, I am not saying you should, just something you need to ponder."

As I walked Sam to her home, I couldn't help but think back to his words, and as I kissed her goodbye, shivering as her brother threw me a thumbs up.

Author's note: I am going to start going a bit faster now, those early chapters were mostly set up so that the romance between the MC and Sam wasn't just two lines saying it was there and moving on. It also helped with showing what the main income of the protagonist will be. For those who know of the "For All of Mankind" timeline, you will know that communication technology is very much stunted there, mostly because the high-end stuff like the internet (or intranet here) is kept behind locked doors for military-only stuff, so I figured having laser communication through satellite arrays to create a pseudo-internet and selling it to civilians might be good for setting up Adam's power base.

As for the Stargate, it will probably make an appearance in three to five chapters depending on how I write it up but I have decided that the Achilles, the ship which had the gate and took it before WW1 was sunk by the Germans and is now resting below Malta.

Completely out of context, but I wasn't aware I could see the name of the communities my story was put in, it cracked me up to learn that my story is officially part of "The Absolute Worst of the Worst", I will take that in good humour though!