Free Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson Page B

days later, Jessamyn officially received the assignment as pilot and first officer of the Red Galleon. She wasn’t permitted to divulge the true mission, so her parents, along with the rest of Mars, assumed Jess would be on an ordinary raid with the second crew acting as a safety-net and possibly obtaining additional food.
    Lillian glowed with excitement, certain if MCC had ordered double shipments, then the Secretary General was making a commitment to develop a domestic food-source within forty orbits.
    “This is everything we’ve worked for,” Jess’s mother said, hugging her daughter.
    “We’re deeply proud of you both,” Jess’s father said to the siblings.
    At the words of praise, worry creased Lillian’s red-dry face.
    “They’ll be fine,” said Jess’s father. “MCC doesn’t make mistakes when they choose a crew.”
    Ethan walked back to his room, returning a moment later.
    “Here,” he said, handing Jess what appeared to be a piece of clear plastic half the size of his palm.
    Jess took the object.
    “It is from my collection,” he said.
    She looked closely at the clear card and discovered a thin hair enclosed between two layers. “What is it?”
    “I obtained a strand of Rover’s hair. Now that you have met, I would like you to have it. For luck.” Ethan smiled.
    Jess shook her head. “What about you? Don’t you need good luck?”
    Ethan shrugged. “I will have Jessamyn.”
    ~ ~ ~
    Jess’s congratulations from the Secretary General were mixed.
    “Having you at the helm of the Galleon gives me great peace,” said Mei Lo as Jess flew her home one last time from a meeting in New Tokyo. “But it also means I’m losing the best chauffeur I’ve ever had.”
    “I’m sorry, Ma’am,” said Jess. “I could ask for another couple of days, to get you settled with someone else.”
    “ Holy Hermes , no!” replied the Secretary. “You’ve got a job to do, Pilot Jaarda. I hereby order you to forget my self-indulgent complaint.”
    Jess smiled.
    “Between you and me, they’re going to ride you extra hard the next four weeks because of the suspension on your record. You may feel less enthusiastic about this assignment before long.”
    Jess glanced over at the Secretary, who chewed on her lower lip as she gazed at Mars spinning past below them.
    “I’ve thought long and hard over the resolution to destroy Earth’s hold on our planet by seizing control of the satellite array,” Mei Lo said softly. “ Ares , I hope I’ve made the right decision.”
    “I won’t fail you,” said Jess.
    The Secretary nodded and then seemed to lose herself in dark contemplation of the red-brown planitia for the remainder of the journey.
    Jess piloted the Secretary’s ship into MCC for the last time strictly according to standard protocol, landing with a textbook precision the Academy dean would have been proud of.
    ~ ~ ~
    Jessamyn’s pre-launch training proved both difficult and unpleasant. She consoled herself with the fact that it gave her more time with her brother, whose official function was as the crew communications specialist. Besides her brother and Harpreet, Jess had to learn to work with the payload specialist, a quiet mechanic nicknamed Crusty, and the young captain of their crew, Cassondra Kipling, a woman with political aspirations. “Kipper,” as she was called at MCC, was only four years older than Jess, but within the first week, Jess became convinced there was no world in which the two might have been friends.
    “She’s awful,” Jess confessed to Lobster, who would serve on the other ship, as they walked together after a full day’s training. “She has no sense of humor. I asked what she liked to read for fun and she said stories were for children and that she had better things to do with her time. Honestly, I don’t think she likes flying all that much. I wish you were captaining my ship.”
    “Kipper’s all right,” replied Lobster. “You’ll get to know her on the flight