P.S.S. Stardust
Chapter Six
© 2012 Mr. David R. Dorrycott
Gilda Rodriguez, the Spanish American Vixen leader of Team A was strapped in a seat across from Sandra Gonzales, the Mexican-American mouse who was leader of Team B. They were sharing hot coca, neither being old enough as yet for Coffee, much less alcohol. They were discussing tomorrow’s first dry run of STARDUST’s launch.
“It is bad that you will not launch next week” the mouse was saying. “It is the perfect window for Mars.”
“I agree” Gilda replied. “But NASA won’t authorize our crewing the ship, adults only is their Matra.” She sipped her coca through its straw, her nose wrinkling a bit at the taste as in space things looked and tasted different. In this case the coca had a too sweet taste for her liking. “We really can’t complain though” she admitted. “We are in space, we are doing the dry runs so NASA doesn’t have to waste time themselves when they finally get a crew up here. Even though they won’t trust anything little girls have done, even though we are as well training as their own team will be. At least you girls have six months up here, we only get two weeks.”
“True” Sandra agreed. “They wouldn’t even let us do space walks until the old man threatened to pull funding, kick them off the station and dump STARDUST in the Atlantic ocean. Since then we’ve managed twelve, two for each of us. I tell you Gilda, given the chance I’d take this station to Luna myself, not turn it over to testosterone overloaded monkeys.”
Gilda laughed. “As I really you had eyes for one of those monkeys downside” she reminded her long time friend and competitor. “You even managed some face time with him.”
This time is was the mouse who blushed. “One kiss, barely more than a peck” she admitted. “He was handsome yes, but not what I wanted to be father of my children. I have years yet before I make that decision, if I ever do.”
“Oh?” the vixen asked. “Someone else in your life now?”
“Akia, the black skinned mink? She and I have become close friends. Perhaps too close” the mouse admitted. “My family will never approve of a black skin, male or female.”
Gilda snorted. “I have three minks on my crew Sandra, two white skin and one black. I will trust my life to them anywhere.”
“Yes, Molly Barber is cute, almost as cute as Akia but not enough to draw me from her” the mouse agreed. “I seem to have a weakness for black skinned minks. Ah well, we will meet again when we are eighteen and then see what happens.” She changed the subject then. “What will you do after this mission?”
Sipping her too sweet coca again Gilda gave the question serious consideration. “I’m space rated now, I have a real mission tacked onto my name so I’ll try for the Space Force. They might have an opening especially since they gave me an open invitation to officers training school when I turn eighteen. I think though that the problem is this, once we complete our contract the old man and his company are no longer our legal guardians, we return home to our parents. In most cases that’s a wonderful thing to look forward too, I haven’t been home in three months myself but in some of our cases, like Sondra it will be hell. Her parents went all ultra right wing Christian a few years ago when her brothers died in that car accident. She’s talking about running away and living in Canada with a Great Aunt.”
“I heard” Sandra admitted. “At least none of my girls have that problem, everyone’s families are proud of their girls achievements though Ruth’s family have already arranged her marriage to a ‘upstanding Jewish boy.’ Elishama plans to be a Doctor, an oncologist. Bets are he doesn’t have any use for Ruth’s training as a space ship co-pilot.”
“Parents can be such a pain sometimes” Gilda admitted. “I once had to explain to mother that spaceships don’t have a steering wheel or breaks.” She giggled, “God I sound like some simpering spoiled brat” the vixen admitted. “My parents have been a pain sometimes yes, but later, when I looked back at it they were always looking out for me. Well they will have me four more years then it’s the Space Force, that’s my only chance to get back into space. Forget NASA, they hate us and they have good reason too. If they had the money and drive the Old Man has we’d be orbiting Jupiter by now.”
Both girls had a good laugh, spending the rest of their time talking about what-ifs. Things that wouldn’t happen because their government simply would let it happen, all the while looking out the porthole beside them, looking at the drifting interplanetary spaceship neither would ever fly on.