logistics 101
Redstone and O'Brien had plenty to do which just involved the two of them so they met an hour earlier than the schedule.
"Each pod needs a supply of food and water independent of the others, everbody has to check in and make the journey on their home pod with the exceptions of our personnel but including the Air Force who are not on duty." Redstone was checking each point on his sheet.
"Agreed," Wally said. "Each pod has been told they get one Air Force Comms and one pilot to fire thrusters for alignment when we start moving. I want to pass that off to Hill."
Redstone winced. "Hill?"
Wally was secretly pleased. "Sorry, Commander Erhard."
Jack looked at him and whispered. "You know her Super Secret Lesbian name?"
Wally grinned. "My momma dint raise no fools."
Redstone was so off balance about "Hill" that he blurted out. "What about your two brothers?"
Wally looked down at his worksheet. "They don't count, they were just idiots."
Redstone sighed. "I agree, one pilot & one Comms guy from ... " He looked up. "... our close personal friend Hill. Just make sure the new pod bosses who aren't in the brig understand the Air Force has authority when the Mission's underway."
"Check, although I hear Richardson is contemplating a "Clean Slate" thing for everybody in the brig because they let Boyette out." O'Brien shook his head in annoyance. "I think I'm happier as a revolutionary, quite frankly."
Redstone knew Wally could step out of bounds now and again. "I'm with you on that, but we're not bringing that up at the meeting, are we?"
"I hadn't planned on it, but only Melf's gonna be there, and I got a heavy pipe wrench and a shitload of box-cutters & tape so ..."
"It was rhetorical, my question."
Wally actually looked at his agenda. "I didn't write it down, but I got lotsa room."
Redstone was waiting at the end of his sentence. "I think bad for morale at a key time."
Wally looked at him seriously. "I take your point, well put."
Redstone moved on. "Power for the civilians is dropped by 50% and routed back to the command console on each pod just in case."
"What about the suicide scenario?" Wally had arranged the end of everyone's life already.
"It's active if needed." Redstone looked at him. "Let's hope it's not."
Wally nodded. "And we're towing 317 through 320 to the new orbit? Are you sure you want to do that?
Redstone nodded. "Yes, and then we have the service and the casting off in space so they'll be preoccupied with PlanetFall and the service will be brief."
Wally thought about Richardson. "POTUS can be a windy bugger, maybe we suggest to Melf he muzzle him down to 2-3 minutes?"
Redstone laughed. "I"ll leave that job for you, I think."
"It was just a suggestion, I was thinking about the civilians." Wally's protest wasn't carrying its own weight. "Poor bastards, I guess we'll let him drone on as long as he wants."
Redstone nodded in agreement. "They deserve a decent send off as we all do. Now, Emergency services during the trip."
Wally had a huge page on that. "I've arranged with Jimmy Fenster that he'll control all the sleds from Flight Deck and only emergency services will be allowed to use the tubes."
Redstone thought about it a second. "It's a numbers problem, right? We just don't have enough emergency personnel?"
"Exactly." Wally nodded. "All expectant mothers are being paired with a midwife on their own pods."
"All? How many do we have?"
"Up the stump ya mean?" He looked it up. "Three hundred and 42."
Redstone looked up. "That many pregnant women out of quarter of a million people? Why is that?"
Wally shugged again. "End of the world, people have sex, and none of the men have the same symptoms after." Wally grinned. "It's a chick thing."
Redstone laughed. "Where did we get all the midwives from? They're not that common in the dominant population."
"Every Gvot female over the age of puberty is a trained midwife." Wally seemed to think it was a good plan. "Ya get yer own rag, ya get to deal with everybody else's mess too."
Redstone covered his mouth because Wally seemed to have said it all with a straight face. He lost the battle, and soon he and Wally were red-faced and in stitches.
Redstone felt something nag at him as his laughter subsided. "Every Gvot female beyond puberty also has to carry a loaded rifle."
"Yes, well ya hafta take the bad with the good, I think, doncha?" Wally was serious. He looked up at Redstone. "Yanno, Jack, every now and again you just hafta trust people to do the right thing."
Redstone looked at him seriously. "You know, Wally, there are times when I truly do not know what I'd do without you. You remind me I'm human, and I should strive to be a better one."
Wally was clearly flattered and offered up one thing more. "Jack, you're the smartest man I know, and the best friend I ever had since I was in the service. You gave me respect when others thought I was an idiot like my brothers. You gave me this contract, I did the best I could with what I had. I think I did a good job, and I know we're gonna land on the new planet, and it will be because you and I worked together hand in hand. That happened because you believed in me. Working with you has been the greatest honour in my life."
Just outside the door, Hilary Erhard held a hand up steady to keep the entourage behind her from interrupting. They were silent as Wally's words came out.
If there was fear in the hearts behind her, Hilary knew it had been lifted. If there was uncertainty, it had been replaced by determination.
She watched Jack Redstone wipe a tear away, watched Wally comfort him as he had Leon, and when the moment was over, Hilary cleared her throat, dropped her hand, and walked in with brisk "Good morning, gentlemen."
When they rose, first she kissed Jack Redstone on both cheeks, then went over to Wally O'Brien and did the same, then she stunned them all by sitting down beside him.
It was when Melf showed up she noticed the effect the most. Normally Melf killed levity dead. By the time he sat down, Egon Robert Melf himself was smiling.
"Each pod needs a supply of food and water independent of the others, everbody has to check in and make the journey on their home pod with the exceptions of our personnel but including the Air Force who are not on duty." Redstone was checking each point on his sheet.
"Agreed," Wally said. "Each pod has been told they get one Air Force Comms and one pilot to fire thrusters for alignment when we start moving. I want to pass that off to Hill."
Redstone winced. "Hill?"
Wally was secretly pleased. "Sorry, Commander Erhard."
Jack looked at him and whispered. "You know her Super Secret Lesbian name?"
Wally grinned. "My momma dint raise no fools."
Redstone was so off balance about "Hill" that he blurted out. "What about your two brothers?"
Wally looked down at his worksheet. "They don't count, they were just idiots."
Redstone sighed. "I agree, one pilot & one Comms guy from ... " He looked up. "... our close personal friend Hill. Just make sure the new pod bosses who aren't in the brig understand the Air Force has authority when the Mission's underway."
"Check, although I hear Richardson is contemplating a "Clean Slate" thing for everybody in the brig because they let Boyette out." O'Brien shook his head in annoyance. "I think I'm happier as a revolutionary, quite frankly."
Redstone knew Wally could step out of bounds now and again. "I'm with you on that, but we're not bringing that up at the meeting, are we?"
"I hadn't planned on it, but only Melf's gonna be there, and I got a heavy pipe wrench and a shitload of box-cutters & tape so ..."
"It was rhetorical, my question."
Wally actually looked at his agenda. "I didn't write it down, but I got lotsa room."
Redstone was waiting at the end of his sentence. "I think bad for morale at a key time."
Wally looked at him seriously. "I take your point, well put."
Redstone moved on. "Power for the civilians is dropped by 50% and routed back to the command console on each pod just in case."
"What about the suicide scenario?" Wally had arranged the end of everyone's life already.
"It's active if needed." Redstone looked at him. "Let's hope it's not."
Wally nodded. "And we're towing 317 through 320 to the new orbit? Are you sure you want to do that?
Redstone nodded. "Yes, and then we have the service and the casting off in space so they'll be preoccupied with PlanetFall and the service will be brief."
Wally thought about Richardson. "POTUS can be a windy bugger, maybe we suggest to Melf he muzzle him down to 2-3 minutes?"
Redstone laughed. "I"ll leave that job for you, I think."
"It was just a suggestion, I was thinking about the civilians." Wally's protest wasn't carrying its own weight. "Poor bastards, I guess we'll let him drone on as long as he wants."
Redstone nodded in agreement. "They deserve a decent send off as we all do. Now, Emergency services during the trip."
Wally had a huge page on that. "I've arranged with Jimmy Fenster that he'll control all the sleds from Flight Deck and only emergency services will be allowed to use the tubes."
Redstone thought about it a second. "It's a numbers problem, right? We just don't have enough emergency personnel?"
"Exactly." Wally nodded. "All expectant mothers are being paired with a midwife on their own pods."
"All? How many do we have?"
"Up the stump ya mean?" He looked it up. "Three hundred and 42."
Redstone looked up. "That many pregnant women out of quarter of a million people? Why is that?"
Wally shugged again. "End of the world, people have sex, and none of the men have the same symptoms after." Wally grinned. "It's a chick thing."
Redstone laughed. "Where did we get all the midwives from? They're not that common in the dominant population."
"Every Gvot female over the age of puberty is a trained midwife." Wally seemed to think it was a good plan. "Ya get yer own rag, ya get to deal with everybody else's mess too."
Redstone covered his mouth because Wally seemed to have said it all with a straight face. He lost the battle, and soon he and Wally were red-faced and in stitches.
Redstone felt something nag at him as his laughter subsided. "Every Gvot female beyond puberty also has to carry a loaded rifle."
"Yes, well ya hafta take the bad with the good, I think, doncha?" Wally was serious. He looked up at Redstone. "Yanno, Jack, every now and again you just hafta trust people to do the right thing."
Redstone looked at him seriously. "You know, Wally, there are times when I truly do not know what I'd do without you. You remind me I'm human, and I should strive to be a better one."
Wally was clearly flattered and offered up one thing more. "Jack, you're the smartest man I know, and the best friend I ever had since I was in the service. You gave me respect when others thought I was an idiot like my brothers. You gave me this contract, I did the best I could with what I had. I think I did a good job, and I know we're gonna land on the new planet, and it will be because you and I worked together hand in hand. That happened because you believed in me. Working with you has been the greatest honour in my life."
Just outside the door, Hilary Erhard held a hand up steady to keep the entourage behind her from interrupting. They were silent as Wally's words came out.
If there was fear in the hearts behind her, Hilary knew it had been lifted. If there was uncertainty, it had been replaced by determination.
She watched Jack Redstone wipe a tear away, watched Wally comfort him as he had Leon, and when the moment was over, Hilary cleared her throat, dropped her hand, and walked in with brisk "Good morning, gentlemen."
When they rose, first she kissed Jack Redstone on both cheeks, then went over to Wally O'Brien and did the same, then she stunned them all by sitting down beside him.
It was when Melf showed up she noticed the effect the most. Normally Melf killed levity dead. By the time he sat down, Egon Robert Melf himself was smiling.
