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  Once Catie had finished scanning the package, she buzzed Barty to send Commander Griggs in. Barty was a gentleman and opened the door for the commander. Catie figured he must have been a bit awed by her, she had an imposing presence and résumé.

  “Hello, Commander,” Catie said, “please have a seat.”

  Commander Griggs did a short double-take when she realized how young Catie must be. “Ms. MacGregor, thanks for seeing me.”

  “Call me Alex, and thank you for interviewing with us,” Catie said.

  “Certainly, Alex, and please call me Arlean.”

  “Arlean, I see you retired from the U.S. Navy two years ago. What has kept you busy since then?”

  “I’ve got two kids whom I’ve been spending time with,” Commander Griggs said. “I also took a few courses at Cornell, where my husband was teaching.”

  “Obviously, you were deployed while you were in the Navy. I see you served aboard several frigates, which means you were away from your family quite a bit. Are you comfortable with our projected time in space versus shore time?”

  “My kids are used to it. My husband has been the primary caregiver since our first was born. I keep up with them via chat and video calls. Actually, your schedule would be nice. I see you’re projecting an in-port stay of one to two weeks, with deployment of eight to twelve weeks. I assume the eight weeks is for deliveries out to the asteroid belt.”

  “Oh, those would only be two weeks,” Catie said.

  “For a cargo ship?”

  “With our powerplants, we should be able to maintain constant acceleration.”

  Commander Griggs’ eyes unfocused as she did some quick calculations in her head. “Ah, I guess that’s right. I assume the ship has gravity drives?”

  “It does.”

  “And I’ve just heard a little about the jump drive, and based on your statement about the duration of a run, I assume that you can jump while underway.”

  “That’s correct. You have to stabilize the ship so it doesn’t yaw about its vector, but you can jump at full velocity.”

  “Do you match the velocity for the system you’re traveling to?”

  “Yes, but you can use the intermediate systems to adjust your speed, so the navigation officer will bleed off excess velocity or add velocity in those systems while you’re recharging the capacitors for the next jump.”

  “I see you like to keep your reactor crew busy.”

  “We do. Tell me what you know about the antimatter reactor.”

  “I took a twelve-week course from Professor Pollard on it. I think I know about as much as he does. The Paraxeans don’t seem to get too deep into the theory,” Commander Griggs said.

  “Professor Pollard?”

  “I can’t pronounce his Paraxean name; he’s adopted Pollard for us humans.”

  “How about the fusion reactors?”

  “Oh, I’ve been studying those for a couple of years now. Cornell has been developing a class on them as fast as Delphi has released information. I helped to integrate it into their course work.”

  “I thought you were a student?”

  “I was, but I happen to have a familial relationship with the professor of nuclear science at Cornell.”

  “Your husband?”

  “No, my father.”

  After another ten minutes of questions, Catie decided she really liked the commander. “Would you be available for another interview this evening at 1800?”

  “Does that mean I’ve passed the first filter?”

  “Yes, you did. We’re in a hurry to get the chief engineer selected so they can participate in the final interviews for the rest of the engineering officers,” Catie said.

  “I’d be delighted to come back, and I’m glad to hear that you want the chief engineer involved with the other interviews.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Mr. George Calderon,” Barty said as he let the man into the room.

  The guy stopped dead in his tracks after he got through the door. “How old are you?”

  “I don’t think that’s relevant,” Catie replied. “If you would, please have a seat?”

  “I came here for an interview to be chief engineer, what kind of questions are you going to ask me?”

  “Mostly engineering questions,” Catie said. “This is the preliminary interview. We’ll go into more depth if we invite you back for the second interview.”

  “Why don’t you just invite me back when you have a real engineer to interview me? I really don’t want to waste my time.”

  Catie keyed her Comm, “Barty, Mr. Calderon is finished.”

  “Should I schedule him for a second interview?” Barty asked.

  “No, we don’t want to waste our time,” Catie said.

  “Wha . . .,” Mr. Calderon gaped. “Who do you think you are?”

  “I’m Alex MacGregor, have a good day.”

  “I demand to speak to your boss!”

  “You are speaking to my boss. Now good day.”

  Catie messaged Blake about the good Mr. Calderon, “I just interviewed a George Calderon, what were you thinking?”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “John Bradley to see you,” Barty said as he let the next interviewee into the room.

  “Cer Bradley, have a seat,” Catie instructed.

  “Thank you, Cer MacGregor.”

  “Call me Alex.”

  “If you’ll call me John.”

  “Of course. I see here that you graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy four years ago, and you’ve been here in Delphi for eight months; tell me why you were released from your commitment early?” Catie asked.

  “Didn’t they explain that in my file?” Bradley asked.

  “Yes, but I’d like to hear it from you.”

  “Force cutbacks caught me last year, and I suspect my last fitness report wasn’t any help.”

  “Why was that?”

  “I would claim that my boss was not impressed with my diligence when I reported a problem with the weapons system we were evaluating. I found several substantial problems in the software design that set the program back a couple of years. The Air Force took the opportunity to cancel the program.”

  “Why would he care?”

  “He was retiring, and planned to go to work for the company.”

  “But they didn’t have a need for his expertise after the program was canceled?”

  “Got it in one.”

  “Let’s move on. You have a masters in computer engineering, spent your career working on program management for weapons systems; what are you looking for here?”

  “I want to actually get out there and work on a ship,” Bradley said, “preferably a starship. A freighter seems like a good chance to do that, and an opportunity to start out at the beginning of a new business concept.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Liz, do you want to go get a snack?” Catie asked. It was 1700 and they just had time for a short break before the follow-up interview with Commander Griggs.

  “How did your interviews go?” Liz asked Catie.

  “Not bad. I only had one ass.”

  “What did he do?”

  “You assume it was a man.”

  “You said they were an ass,” Liz said, giving Catie a chuckle.

  “He didn’t think I was qualified to interview him,” Catie said.

  “You have to admit you look pretty young; in fact, sixteen is pretty young.”

  “True, but he basically refused to be interviewed. I’d have been okay with a little skepticism, like Commander Griggs had.”

  “Okay, how about the others?”

  “I think Commander Griggs will be our chief engineer. She’s very impressive. I have a computer electronics guy I like for the electronics officer. And good options for the other positions.”

  “Sounds good. I assume Commander Griggs is our six o’clock?”

  “Yes. How did you do?”

  “I’ve got our first mate, and good candidates for the othe
r positions.”

  “You have our first mate?”

  “Yes. Do you remember Hayden Watson? He was the navigator on the Victory.”

  “Not really,” Catie said. “I was only there for a short time.”

  “We’ll interview him tomorrow morning, first thing. I think you’ll like him. He’s sharp, and a good teacher. He just finished the accelerated Academy training and thinks a cargo ship sounds like fun.”

  “If you like him, I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Commander Griggs, this is Commander Liz Farmer, she’ll be conducting the interview with me,” Catie told Commander Griggs when she joined them at 0600.

  “It’s an honor to meet you,” Commander Griggs said as she took Liz’s hand.

  “Thank you, please have a seat,” Liz said.

  Commander Griggs looked around the room, she seemed a bit bewildered.

  “Were you expecting someone else?” Liz asked.

  “I was. You’re pretty well known, and I don’t recall an advanced degree in your background,” Commander Griggs said.

  “Oh, I’m just here to make sure you don’t have two heads,” Liz said. “Alex is going to be asking the hard questions.”

  “If you’ll excuse me, Alex, you seem a bit young to be able to cover this material in detail,” Commander Griggs said to Catie.

  “I am, but I’ve had access to the core files on the technology for four years,” Catie said.

  Commander Griggs’ eyes got wide, “That would make you Catie McCormack, wouldn’t it?”

  “Busted,” Liz said.

  “Yes, it would,” Catie said. “I’m being forced to attend the Academy, so I’m maintaining a disguise.”

  Commander Griggs nodded her head, “That’s smart, you don’t want to be a celebrity at the Academy.”

  “Yeah, being Princess Catie would make it all worse,” Catie said.

  “You’re not happy at the Academy?”

  “I’m happy, but it means I’m missing out on a lot of stuff,” Catie said.

  “You’re young, you’ll have plenty of time,” Commander Griggs said. “And your experience at the Academy will be with you forever.”

  “She’s young, but she’s a greedy girl,” Liz said.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Hayden, thanks for coming in early,” Liz said as she met Hayden Watson at the door to their rented office.

  “No problem, Commander. I’d do just about anything to get this job, coming in early doesn’t seem like that much.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way. Let’s go in and get this started,” Liz said as she led Hayden through the outer office and into the one she’d used for his interview the day before. “This is Alex MacGregor, one of my partners. She’ll be helping with the interview, and this is Commander Griggs, our chief engineer.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Hayden said as he gave Catie and Commander Griggs a small bow.

  “I’m glad to meet you as well,” Catie said. “Please have a seat.”

  “Since I interviewed you yesterday, I’ll let Alex start with a few questions,” Liz said. “Commander Griggs will jump in when we start asking what you know about the technical stuff.”

  “Sure,” Hayden said, returning the smile he got from Commander Griggs.

  “Before I start, do you have any questions?” Catie asked.

  “Not now. I’m sure I’ll have lots later.”

  “Okay, then tell me, what is the single most important trait you want to see in your captain?”

  “Competence,” Hayden replied without hesitation.

  “After competence?”

  “Trust. I want my captain to trust me, and I want to be able to trust them.”

  “Now, let’s skip competence and trust, what is the most important quality in a first mate?” Catie asked.

  “Empathy,” Hayden replied.

  “Empathy? Please explain.”

  “Well, the first mate is the buffer between the captain and the crew. A good captain is always demanding, so the first mate has to be able to empathize with the crew in order to see if the captain is being unreasonable, or if the crew is just griping as usual.”

  “You expect the captain to be unreasonable?”

  “No, but they can’t keep everything about the ship top of mind. So sometimes the captain asks for something that is unreasonable given the current situation. The first mate has to figure that out so he or she can work with the captain to modify the request to fit with the current situation.”

  “And if the captain is not being unreasonable?”

  “The first mate needs to listen, tell the crewperson that all captains are Tartars, and tell them to get after it before the captain decides to space them. And if that doesn’t work, the first mate needs to kick a little ass and take names until the crew figures out that they’re expected to pull their weight.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “He’s got my vote,” Catie messaged Liz and Commander Griggs as they approached the end of the two-hour interview. Hayden had shown a solid understanding of the workings of a ship, good people skills, a sense of humor, and the necessary drive.

  “He had mine to begin with,” Liz messaged back. She had to concentrate to do it, but it only took a second. She envied the way Catie could just zip out a message using those nanites. Liz had them, but it still took concentration for her to type.

  “Just give us a ping,” Catie messaged to Commander Griggs.

  Commander Griggs used her HUD to ping her yes vote.

  “Well, Hayden, it looks like you have the job,” Liz said. “Do you have time to help us interview for the rest of the officers?”

  “Really, just like that?” Hayden gasped.

  “Hey, we’re a decisive team.”

  “That’s for sure. And I’ll certainly stay and help with the interviews. I work for you now, so I’ll take it as an order.”

  “I like a man who can take orders,” Catie said.

  It took them until late Wednesday to finally finish hiring all the officers. Catie was happy to leave it to Liz, Hayden, and Commander Griggs to hire the other officers and the rest of the crew.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  The wedding was a simple affair. Paul acted as best man and Natalie was the matron of honor. Captain Desjardins conducted the ceremony. The wedding was held in the first greenhouse that Blake had built at the site of Orion, their new capital. About a third of the colony showed up to witness the ceremony. Others had opted to view it on video from the comfort of one of the restaurants or bars.

  Samantha wore a simple tea-length, ice-blue silk dress with a sweetheart neck and long sleeves with light blue sandals with 3-inch heels. She carried a bouquet of pink roses from the greenhouse where they were growing plants from Earth. Marc had been lazy like most men and wore the uniform that Blake had invented for the governor.

  “Doesn’t Sam look beautiful,” Liz whispered to Catie. They were watching the ceremony from the boardroom in Delphi City with Fred, Blake, Nikola, Dr. Metra, and Kal. Linda had opted out of the party.

  “She’d look more beautiful in a big, white, royal gown,” Catie whispered back.

  “Let it go!” Liz ordered.

  Captain Desjardins conducted a very brief ceremony, it only took him five minutes to pronounce them husband and wife. Marc made a big show of kissing the bride, then everyone applauded and started popping Champagne corks. Samantha had secretly brought along an adequate supply since she’d started planning the wedding long before they left Earth.

  Blake popped the Champagne they had on ice and poured a round for everyone. “Here’s to the bride and groom, may they enjoy each other’s company for years to come.” Samantha recognized the toast with her glass of cider.

  “Here, here!”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Alex, aren’t you ready?” Yvette called out.

  “Yes, just getting my shoes,” Catie replied. “I’m wearing slippers until we get there.”

  “
Oh, I should do the same,” Yvette said as she pulled off her heels and grabbed a pair of slippers from her drawer. The slippers were so thin, that they could be folded and slipped into her purse, but were sturdy enough to walk down the sidewalk. “Ready, Alex?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Catie replied.

  “In that red dress, we might need to make sure there are some EMTs at the party. Oh là là,” Yvette said.

  They walked down to the street where they were met by their taxi, a small electric car. Delphi City had grown enough to warrant a larger taxi than a golf cart, so they’d brought in small electric cars with governors that restricted them to a maximum speed of forty kilometers per hour.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Professor Cooper, this is my roommate, Alex. Alex, Professor Cooper, his family is hosting me,” Yvette introduced Catie. Yvette was referring to the fact that Professor Cooper’s family was her Academy Family, a source of family living when home was too far away.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Catie said.

  “I’m happy to meet you. I’m glad you could make it, please come on in. We’ve reserved the entire courtyard for the party,” Professor Cooper said. All the condo buildings in Delphi City had an inner courtyard to give the residents a private area for recreation. The professor signaled to a woman standing next to the pool. She came over to join then.

  She didn’t wait for the professor to introduce her. “Hello, Yvette, I’m glad you could make it.” Turning to Catie she held out her hand, “I’m Yolanda Cooper, the professor’s wife.”

  “Hi, I’m Alex MacGregor, Yvette’s roommate.”

  “Go ahead and get a drink. There are several young men here from my husband’s class, and, Alex, you’re already attracting attention.”

  “How come the professor only invited men from his class?” Catie asked.

  “Because that’s what Yolanda and I asked him to do,” Yvette said. “I’ve invited four other women from our class. We don’t need any more competition than that.”

  Catie and Yvette walked up to a group of four men who were chatting by the pool.

  “Hi, guys,” Yvette said. “Are you in Professor Cooper’s class?”