CHAPTER 3

The Space Center was a collection of very non descript looking buildings. Some of them could have been office buildings in any industrial park. In fact, with all things considered, that was exactly what this facility was. It was an industrial facility with a very specialized purpose.

The sheet metal buildings were far less impressive than a movie set and beyond the few tourist attractions there was nothing all that special looking about the place. There was still something magical here despite all that. When you considered what it was that had been going on here for all these years you could not forget the fact that a lot of history had gone on inside these old walls.

It was too bad that ‘history‘ was the key word there. The facilities, and the programs they housed, had seen better years. Too Jack, at least, that was almost a cause for tears and it was not just because he had been a part of all this when it started slipping.

Jack understood what it meant to be on the cutting edge and not just personally. Those who invented things, as opposed to copying them, tended to get ahead as a people and stay that way for a long time. It meant a better standard of living for everyone and even those furthest removed from that edge.

It was a miracle that, during the war, both sides had had enough sense to realize this place would be needed after the conflict. As a result the complex had not received so much as a scratch. Houston, the city, had been bombed a few times but the entire area suffered far less from the war than some other places. People here led fairly comfortable lives now and it was one of the main reasons Jack had decided to stay in Houston after he retired.

Of course whether or not Jack was still retired was a question that was on his mind now. In the past week and a half, since he had driven back through the gates of the Space Center, he had done nothing but fill out papers. Pete Winston was off somewhere else and had turned over the task of getting Jack settled in to some of his staff. The primary duty of shuffling Jack from one cubicle to another all fell to an Army Sergeant Major by the name of McCandles.

As Jack soon discovered, he wasn’t the only guy here who was retired. As it turned out, McCandles had volunteered for this just like Jack had. The similarities did not stop there either. Jack had passed the time away by questioning the Sergeant Major about all that was going on here. The man was just as in the dark as Jack was or, he was just very good at playing dumb and, Jack could not decide which.

Of course it was something of a curiosity, to Jack, as to exactly why a man who had spent thirty years in the US Army, and was ready to turn in his battle dress uniform for a pension, would wind up here at NASA. It made little sense and when Jack asked McCandles about it the reply was simply, “well sir, you volunteered too, didn’t you?”

What could Jack say to that? McCandles was right.

Another of Jack’s babysitters was a wiry little twenty one year old girl, an Airman First Class, by the name of Gina Fujitsu. Jack got only a little more information out of her. When asked as to how she wound up in this program Gina had basically the same story as McCandles but, was a bit more talkative.

Jack managed to wrangle a few more details out of her than the Sergeant Major. Apparently she had been asked to volunteer although why she was given that ‘honor’ over anyone else was beyond both her and Jack.

Apparently, after Fujitsu had said yes, they sent her to Lackland AFB with quite a few other candidates. They were all tested, and she scored higher than anyone else. After that she wound up here.

“So you volunteered for something and you didn’t have a clue what it was about?” Jack asked her as they rode the elevator to the top floor of the administration building.

Gina shrugged, “well they did tell me I’d wind up in Houston if I passed the tests.”

Jack shrugged, “still?”

“Well sir,” the girl replied, “the weather here beats the hell out of Minot, North Dakota.”

“Good point,” Jack replied as he stepped out of the elevator and was turned over to one of the civilian types at a desk. Jack still had to sign in as if he were a visitor here. His permanent ID badge had yet to show up and Jack figured that was exactly what the point of this meeting was going to be about.

Airman Fujitsu took a seat in the hall after letting Jack know she would be waiting for him. Apparently someone had given instructions that Jack was not to go anywhere unescorted. When he thought about the fact that he had had free roam of this complex when Fujitsu was still in diapers, it kind of pissed him off. Jack hoped that this meeting was going to put an end to all of that now. It was a sad comment that he had to play bullheaded just to get up here in the first place.

When Jack walked into Rockmont’s office he was a little surprised. Jack had expected a show down with this man. Instead he found Rockmont rather polite and entertaining another guest. The sandy haired woman was probably in her mid thirties. She was not overly dressed but Jack judged her business suit expensive none the less. He was somewhat peeved by the fact that this total stranger had a permanent ID badge and he did not.

“This is Doctor Dee Brewer,” Rockmont said making introductions.

The woman shook Jack’s hand but made it quick. She gave a polite smile but Jack could tell that she would rather have been shaking someone else’s hand right now. At least she tried not to show it, “well I do know who you are Colonel Kelly. Nice to meet you.”

She was anything but pleased, or so Jack figured, but he let it go with her hand. She sat back down and Jack remained standing as he noted, “well I’ve heard of you too Doctor. I read that paper you published a few years back when you were still at MIT.”

That seemed to surprise her, “I wouldn’t have thought that would be up your alley Colonel.”

“Just call me Jack,” he replied. Then his eyes drifted to Rockmont, “since I’m still retired that is.”

Rockmont eased back in his desk chair and chuckled, “yeah Jack. I heard all about it. Look, if you don’t want to sign on that’s up to you.”

Jack huffed, “yeah? Well, why is it when I’m filling out all your paper work I feel like I need a lawyer? I told Winston I wasn’t doing any contracts until I knew what was going on. Now as I understand it you plan on going public with whatever all this is, in two days.”

Rockmont easily shrugged it off, “what do you want me to say Jack? That we’re sandbagging you?”

Jack winced, “are you trying to tell me you aren’t?”

“Not at all Jack,” Rockmont replied, “we are sandbagging you.”

The man had not changed one little bit although his candor in the matter somewhat confused Jack. Lacking a flare for politics, unlike Rockmont who lived and breathed the stuff, had given Jack a handicap all the way through his career. There were those who noted that Jack could have long since had a star on his uniform had his political skills been a little more finely tuned. Too Jack, all that political crap, amounted to ass kissing and he was not about to do it.

Before Jack could go on, Rockmont continued, “you’re not up here to talk about some piddling little paperwork. I wanted you to meet Doctor Brewer since the two of you are going to be working together on this thing.”

Since when had paperwork ever been ‘piddling’ to Rockmont? Jack was really unsure of how to answer that. He decided, at least for the time being, to let it go. After all, Jack had figured the reason why he was being deliberately left out of the loop was to keep him from walking. It would only make sense that Rockmont would wait till Jack was in a corner before telling him all the specifics. It was the best way to keep Jack around for whatever publicity stunt that NASA needed.

Now Jack was unsure about that. It suddenly seemed that Rockmont was confident that Jack wasn’t going anywhere. It only fired Jack’s curiosity more and now he suddenly realized the answers to his questions were sitting right in front of him.

Jack asked Dee, “so what is it you do around here exactly?”

Rockmont answered instead, “you left, right before Doctor Brewer came on board with us. She used to be our OK rep here at the Space Center.”

Jack’s eyes drifted to the door and he gave some serious consideration too walking out. If the OK Corporation was involved in all of this then Jack was pretty sure he wanted no part of it. What had they dreamed up over in Tucson now? Did they want to sell toilet plungers on Mars or something?

At that point, Dee stood up and let it be known, “oh don’t worry Colonel. I’m not any more happy about this than you are.” She made sure her smile turned slightly nasty when she glanced at Rockmont. “Only problem is we’re all in the same boat and I’m afraid we need each other.”

Suddenly Jack realized something so he asked Rockmont, “this is what you were waiting on?”

Rockmont nodded with a slight smile on his lips, “yeah pretty much Jack. I didn’t figure you’d stick around otherwise. Only I’m in a bind here. I need your face recognition and after you hear what we’ve got to tell you then I think you’re going to be wanting my help just as much.”

Jack sighed, “well I know it has something to do with the Starlight program. So what happened? You guys found something didn’t you?”

Dee mumbled under her breath, “that would be the understatement of all time.”

Jack asked Rockmont point blank, “where?”

In a matter of fact way Rockmont replied, “Alpha Centauri.”

The news almost made Jack take a step back. That star system, at roughly four and a half light years distant, was the closest star system to earth! There were three stars in it and one of them, known as A, was very much like the sun.

The second star was a red dwarf but it had been determined a long time ago that it did have a life zone around it which, in layman’s terms, simply meant there was an orbital zone where liquid water could exist and hence the possibility of a planet that supported life. The third star, Proxima, was a brown dwarf that was very cold and not even visible to the naked eye. It was rated as unlikely to support a garden world.

Now that his question had been answered it led Jack to the next one, “so which one is it? You got three stars in that system.”

Dee Brewer replied, although she seemed almost hesitant to do so, “A and B.”

This time Jack did take a step back from the shock. He let out a whistle that could not be mistaken for anything other than how much this news impressed him, “so you guys are telling me that we have two habitable planets and they’re just one block over from the neighborhood?”

A huge smile grew on Rockmont’s face. Jack had never remembered seeing the man smile like that before. Jack had to ask, “what?”

Rockmont just kept on smiling. It was Dee who answered, “no Colonel, that’s not what we’re telling you at all.”

Jack crossed his arms and huffed as he became slightly frustrated, “all right then Doctor. What are you two saying?”

“Not two habitable worlds,” Dee held up three fingers.

Jack sat down and was almost catatonic, “holy shit.”

After a moment of digesting the news Jack suddenly realized something. He looked over to Rockmont, “so what’s the game plan here? Are we planning on launching probes or something?”

The administrator only shook his head ‘no.’ Dee provided the answer as to why it was no, “OK already has. Seven of them made it and have already radioed back. We have satellites in orbit around two of the planets now. You know? They’re taking long term measurements and stuff like that. We also landed a couple of surface probes on Moe.”

Jack winced, “on what?”

“Oh,” Dee bit her tongue when she realized what she had just said. She was somewhat embarrassed as she explained, “that’s kind of what we’ve been unofficially calling the planets. You know, Curly, Larry, and Moe? The three..?”

Jack raised a hand, “yeah I got the reference.”

That left Jack thinking and he felt goose bumps rising on the back of his neck when he realized, “if we already have all this data then…”

Dee nodded and answered very resolutely, “that’s right Colonel Kelly. We’re going there.”