Adventures of Space Cadets 101: Space Pirates, Allies and Aliens. Darryl Dean Wright
in his mouth. He asked her, “Any idea which one?”
She was typing on her key-pad, and without looking up she said, “No.” Then she suggested, “Why don’t you call him on his cell, Honey?” She was flirting with him, which wasn’t unusual.
He stood up, leaned over her desk to where his face was only inches away from hers and said, “Then I wouldn’t have a chance to see you, and I do like seeing you.”
“You’re such a tease,” she said, and stopped her typing.
He had her full attention. He asked, “Can you believe that we’re going into space in two more weeks?”
She said that it probably wasn’t a big deal to him, with all the trips with his brother so many times to Mars and the moon. “To me, it is hard to believe that I’m really going into space, Jupiter no less. I can’t wait!”
In her excitement she stood up and started using hand gestures as she talked. Deana was wearing a skirt and any guy would tell you she has great legs. That wasn’t even her best feature. She was a knockout! She was younger than Mr. Derek Houston or his brother, Austen. They met her in Tampa, Florida, when the men attended college, and she still looked the same - perfect! They were pretty much a team. The three of them never missed a thing or class. If there was a party, concert, or beach event, those three were there.
The Houston boys always seemed to be working on her car. Once, they went to Disney. They drove her car; it was hours away. It had taken them a week to get there because her car kept breaking down. They would break down, fix it, hotel, party, and do it all over again until they finally made it. The trip was better than the park for them.
The three were very close. That is how she got the job she was in right then. She had known Kirk all his life and even babysat for him. Now she worked for him. Kirk still called her Aunt Deana. At times she wished she was his mother.
She made pretty good money but not enough to go into space. She was invited and glad of it!
The Houstons had had a dream for a while to go on a trip to Jupiter. Austen and Derek were not only rich but they were also presidents of their clubs called Space Cadets 101. They and many members of their clubs were going on a space trek.
The Houston boys had spent over a trillion dollars for the adventure. Most of it was spent on a massive space craft shuttle from N.A.S.A. It could carry as many as a hundred passengers. They purchased all the fuel and more than enough oxygen. They bought enough supplies to last in space for a year, but they were only going to be gone for six months. Three months there and three months back - to Deep Space Jupiter Station and home unless they were to run into problems.
They also bought enough astronaut suits for a crew of sixty-five, but after picking the crew, only fifty-four were going. The Houstons liked having spare parts and extra supplies, just in case. They wanted to be prepared. Boy scouts at heart.
Deana continued the conversation, “When I told my mom two months ago that I was going into space, she really freaked! I told her this was something that I really wanted to do, and that you only live once. She jinxed me by telling me, ‘You only die once too.’ She was always a pessimist.” She was giving him a big smile.
“I told her not to worry, that the Houstons would keep me safe and bring me home.” Derek smiled and she hugged him. With her arms around him she whispered, “Thank you so much for paying my way on this trip; you won’t regret it!”
He told her it was his pleasure. As he was leaving, he pulled out his cell to call his boy and told her not to forget the club meeting. “We’ll be going over everything for the hundredth time, and I really want you there.”
She winked at him and said, “I won’t forget, Boss.” She went back to typing wearing a big smile. She was space happy and giddy over Derek Houston. She had had a major crush on him for a long time, and now she was going into space with him.
Austen Houston had slowed down on his freight runs to Mars and his lunar flights to the prison. He could not commit just yet. Right then he was teaching a course on Mars flights so he’d be able to go to Jupiter when the time came. It was still a lot of money, but he missed being in space. Simulations just were not the same. It had been almost a year, and he was looking forward to this trip to Jupiter. He wanted to get away from everything and be back in space at the same time.
Austen was an independent space freight captain with his own ship. He contracted out for N.A.S.A. and Earth Defense, but he and his brother decided to trip out to Jupiter with the company, so he was teaching for one year. All his contracts were for three years, but the teaching job was ending in two days, so he was free to go with his brother. Tonight he would go over everything with his club for the hundredth time. Repetition was a good teacher.
Austen was a big man, bigger than Derek by seventy pounds. His hair was just as long as his brother’s, but it was pitch black and always in a pony-tail. Derek was definitely born with the looks, but Austen could throw Derek pretty far.
Derek picked all of the members that could go on the trip from his business. There were so many that wanted to go, but it was just one ship. A lot of the applicants were dismissed based on age, health, mental state, not passing the physical requirements or space tests, were negative in any way, incompatible, and also on the simple fact that Derek did or did not like their personalities.
Austen picked his crew from the club based on a lottery because everyone in his crew worked in space. His bunch presented lectures to Derek’s group about being in space. Austen’s club members were marines, engineers, and pilots that worked for or retired from N.A.S.A., or E.D. They were all veterans of space in one way or another.
The ship they bought was the hundred and first ship that N.A.S.A. had built. It was just coincidence that their club was called the Space Cadets 101. This ship was enormous! It was the latest shuttle built and made for a large crew.
The day they bought it they ran into a space-marine who had just finished his tour with E.D. This guy hated being on Earth, so he begged the brothers to take him with them. His name was Dale Hawkins. He was a marine who worked in engineering. He was also free, so the men hired him on the spot, and had a few drinks with him.
Dale didn’t belong to either club, but because he lived closer to Austen’s place, he would go with Austen’s club tonight to the Apollo 99 bar for the meeting.
Both of the Houston’s ex-wives had been trying to get in touch with Derek and Austen for more than three weeks. They did not want their sons to go with their fathers, period. Talk about crossing state-lines! They had contacted their attorneys to try and prevent their sons from going, but there was a lot of red tape involved in preventing it. The Houstons had managed to avoid them and their messages. Plus a lot of judges were their drinking buddies. The two boys really wanted to go on the trip, and by law, they were sixteen so it was allowed. All this was Derek’s son’s idea after all.
Austen Houston was wealthy due to space. There was big money in space travel now that lawyers and doctors weren’t a big deal or sharing the wealth in this century. If you wanted to be rich you had to risk the final frontier.
Derek was wealthy due to one-third of his son’s business and copy-righted songs.
This was how they were able to buy a serious shuttle and take a lot people with them into space, and have more supplies than they might need, but better safe than sorry.
It was not unheard of those days that everyone wanted to work in space for the money. It has been said that the easiest job on Earth was to be a recruiter for Earth Defense. They turned down millions of applicants yearly. It was very hard to get in.
Occasionally a millionaire would buy a shuttle and go into space, but even that was rare. Some of them never made it back to Earth. Nobody knew why; it just happened. People just assumed the eccentric millionaires reached the end of space and kept going.
Kirk’s mom, Kim Houston, was the vice-president of his company. She worked in the other building clear across town so it was easy for Derek to avoid her.
One of Kirk’s inventions