Free America One: War of the Worlds by T. I. Wade

pilots and astronauts will be out of a job pretty soon,” added Jonesy.
    “I thought you wanted to go fishing partner?” suggested VIN Noble.
    “Well, I do, but I don’t want any metal pilots flying our aircraft,” remarked Jonesy.
    “I’m sure that after young James Richmond Price and Michael Victor Noble get their wings, we will be training robots to do all our jobs,” stated Ryan smiling at the room.
    “Sounds crappy to me,” added Jonesy. “Maybe I should get a robot to do my flying, and fishing for me, and go and live in a cryogenic box somewhere.”
    “Thank you Mr. Jones. Right, our mission, flight commanders and astronauts for Mission Four to Mars,” continued Ryan looking at his notes. “Mission Commander: Astronaut VIN Noble will fly in the lead ship SB III . SB-II : Astronauts Jane Burgos Flight Commander left seat, Jenny Burgos right seat. SB-III : Astronauts John Jones Flight Commander, left seat, Maggie Jones right seat. SB-VI : Astronauts Saturn Jones Noble Flight Commander left seat, Mars Noble right seat. SB-V : Astronauts Flight Commander Lunar Richmond left seat, Kathy Richmond right seat. Backup Astronauts are Shelly Saunders for SB-II , Michael Price for SB-IV and myself for SB-V . Any questions?”
    There were none, but Gary Darwin slapped his partner Michael Price on the back. Michael had always wanted to go to Mars, would be the first Australian on Mars, and naturally he wanted to be with his wife.
    “Our SB-I Astronauts for delivery of parts to the Orbital Build Station will be under Mission Commander Allen Saunders, and will be Astronauts Jamie Saunders, Michael and Penny Pitt. My daughter Pluto Katherine will be Nevada Base Commander in our absence. Heading out on the Mars Mission with us will be Dr. Smidt, Igor, Boris, Max Von Braun as Head of Build Crew with his crew of two, Vitalily as Head Mechanic with his team of two, Joanne Dithers Roo as Medical Specialist, and of course Ruler Roo, and their two boys Joe and Joot will be the only two children going. That is all, apart for Max Von Braun who is replacing Mars Base Commander Dave Black, who will be returning, and we have Suzi with one of her team of biologists going. The biologist will spend a few years doing food growth research, and will not be returning.
    “We are not taking any of the younger members. There is no room, the mission will interrupt their studies, and since this is a fast return mission with only a ten-day deadline on the red planet, our youngsters are staying behind under the guidance of Astronauts Hillary Pitt, and Gary Darwin.”
    For two more hours Ryan went on describing everybody’s role on the mission, and back on the base while the crew were away.
    The only question on the more experienced lips was what if there was a storm on the planet when they arrived? Ryan couldn’t answer that one.
    The briefing ended with a reminder that they were flying space shuttles which were completely full of fuel, and that extra caution had to be taken aboard each ship, and that the shuttles would be flying 25 miles apart, not the usual ten miles, to the red planet. All four shuttles would launch with new parts for America Three an hour apart the next morning, as the fuel was already in orbit.
    Three days later Jonesy added a full twenty minute burn to SB-III which would increase the forward speed by 11,000 knots to allow the shuttle fleet to leave earth’s orbit.
    Even though SB-III was smaller than the two newer shuttles, VIN Noble was aboard with Suzi. The two smaller shuttles with both cargo areas full of fuel for the return flight, didn’t have much room for more than four in the cockpits. The two larger shuttles had the rest of the crew, nine members squashed into the Captain’s quarter which had been arranged like school dormitories, and filled with beds. To allow everybody to get some rest, there were always two crew on watch in the flight chairs which gave the others room to sleep.
    It wasn’t as bad as