Chapter 20: Promotion and Expansion

Fifth Avenue was crowded with traffic, so we walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Again Looess was quiet as she viewed the exhibits. At last she spoke.

"What are they doing?"

I looked to see what the plaque said. It was 'Boating by Edouard Manet'.

"A young man has taken his girlfriend out in a boat that operates with the wind blowing on the sails."

"Are there many boats like that?"

"Yes, but almost all of them are used for pleasure."

Silenced descended on us again, with the occasional brief comment until we reached David's 'The Death of Socrates'.

"Which of them is dying, and why?"

"Socrates is the figure sitting in the middle. He upset his rulers with something he said, and they sentenced him to death by poison. It all happened about two, and a half thousand years ago."

"I prefer this museum to the other one."

After that judgement we took a taxi back to the Embassy, where we were met by Mersh.

"You're wanted at the White House, Bill. I asked them how soon were you wanted, and they said, first thing in the morning would do."

The next morning saw us departing New York in my shuttle. Looess had insisted on accompanying me.

We landed on the White house back lawn, and hurried up to Bob's Office. We had hardly entered before he whisked us out again. He led us to the Situation Room, a large conference room in the basement of the West Wing. Entering, we found a hefty crowd seated round one side of the table. Some of those around the table I recognized. The President of course, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, The Secretary-General of the United Nations, and there were others that I wasn't sure about.

"Ah, come in, lady and gentlemen. We were just about to start," the President said.

He indicated seats, opposite himself. I felt we were in the same position as the lad in that painting 'And When Did You Last See Your Father'. Glancing at him, I felt that Bob was equally nervous.

"Gentlemen," started the President, "I would like to introduce to you, on your left, Robert Mather, who has today, been elevated to our Cabinet as the Secretary of Space. He will have two masters, myself and the Secretary General of the United Nations. His office will report to both of us."

I could feel Bob relax with satisfaction.

"Next to Robert is William Axon, who from this moment is promoted to Vice Admiral of the Space Service, which becomes a joint organization of the United States, and the United Nations. To the right of the Admiral is a young lady from the ruling planet of the Galactic Federation," the President turned to Looess, "I'm afraid that I don't know your full name, my dear?"

"It is Looess Dextre, mister President. I've come to Earth to assist in the training of emigrants to your new worlds."

"Thank you for your help. As a result of all this expansion, we shall, in future be throwing the Service open to applicants from other nations. We have the intention of expanding the Service by something like fifteen times. Are there any questions so far?"

A hand went up further down the table.

The President looked left and right before he said, "Please state your name, nationality, and question, please."

"Jones, British. Does this mean that you will be releasing the details of your space drives?"

"No. The details of the space drive will remain confidential as a precaution against terrorism. If any individual, irrespective of nationality needs to know the details of the drive, that person will be sworn to secrecy first. That has been our policy since the inception of the Space Service."

"Thank you. It was a point that needed to be clarified."

"Is there anything else?" he paused. 'Yes?"

"Maurice Picard, French. Will the crews in your space ships be mono-national or multi-national?"

"We propose that our vessels should be multi-national. It provides for more security, and after all, the space craft are from Earth, not any one nation, even if it may have started out that way."

"What about the language problem?"

"The Larsians have provided us with equipment to teach people each others' languages, as well as teaching them many other subjects.

"Thank you. Incidentally do you see English becoming ipso facto, the language of Earth?"

"No, but it may become the lingua franca of interstellar exchange, as it has become in flying. I just don't know. Incidentally English is not the only language that can be learnt in this painless fashion. By learning languages in this way, global tourism could take off with a benefit to all of us."

A hand was raised to our left. The president acknowledged it. The seated figure spoke quietly, then someone behind him said, "Qing Pei, Chinese. It seems that you insult us by not supplying us with the details of your space drive."

The person standing behind Qing Pei leaned forward to translate the President's answer.

"We have no desire to withhold the details of our star drive from any legitimate user who really needs it. There are, however, people of ill will in the world who would cause harm to many. As soon as we are able to minimise these dangers, then we should be prepared to release the details of the drives."

The French representative addressed a question to me.

"Would the Admiral please tell us, how he views the recruitment of non-Americans?"

"I look forward to it. For example, I look forward to the benefits of a French or Italian cuisine," then mentally apologizing to Chubby and his colleagues, "after all, you can have too many burgers in your diet."

That lightened the tone of the meeting and the President gave me a wink of appreciation.

"So Admiral," he said," you will continue to report to Robert Mather, who will deal with the ramifications of a dual directorate. We thank you three for attending."

A clear dismissal. The three of us got up and left. Once outside the door, Bob turned to me.

"Congratulations, Bill. You deserve it."

"Congratulations, Robert. I understand your promotion comes with a change of name."

"Ha, ha! But that doesn't apply to my friends."

Looess and I decided to celebrate my promotion, and Bob's, by taking him out to lunch. It proved to be a working lunch, as we discussed the consequences of the President's pronouncements.

"If the Service is going to expand at the rate that the President said, I think we shall have to have our own training facilities. The Coast Guard Academy has been feeling the strain of having to accommodate us. We can't really impose on them any longer."

"Have you anywhere in mind?" replied Bob.

"I had been wondering about moving it to Sussex Field. Kerl already has his Space Port there and I think that we could acquire some adjacent land. The port is big enough for small craft. I think that we may need a new class of craft capable of carrying fifty to a hundred passengers on a short flight, between Sussex and Holloman."

"Something like the Enterprise, you mean?"

"Yes, or about that size. With the high speed drives that we have now, such a craft could travel a lot further afield. It could be used for people who need to flit between worlds, or as a postal carrier. It's uses would be many."

"I'll put out invitations to tender, which include the other aerospace manufacturers. Boeing have been clamoring to climb on the bandwagon, and other firms have been asking when we are going out to tender next."

"That's all very well, but back to our Academy. I can get hold of a company of my Seabees if you'll sort out the acquisition of the land. I think we need to show the rest of the world that we mean business when we say that we're opening up the Service to them."