Free To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy) by Thomas Stone Page B

equally well. Bill had been raised on a hog farm, pursuing engineering, so he said, to get away from the smell. As a result, he was friendly, earthy, and used an array of pithy, down-home phrases to prove it.
    "How are you today Bill?"
    "Content as a hog in mud."
    Of them all, Bart was the smartest. His implants allowed him to perform calculations with amazing speed and accuracy. Whenever the opportunity availed itself, he would plug into whatever was available and lose himself in cyberspace. His particular weakness was his taste for pleasure realities, places where he could tap into sensory stimulations.
    He carried a portable player that provided him with a variety of digitized pleasures when he couldn't plug into a larger database. By his own admittance, he was addicted. Still, he was a prima donna, hand-picked by Fagen for crew membership. It was all too apparent why: Blane could soak up data at an amazing rate; if the onboard computers failed, Blane could run their programs. In effect, he could access and manage all the ship's systems in an instant.
    His telecommunications implant made him and Kathleen seem like mentalists. Still, Blane preferred the company of his machines to that of flesh and blood.
    Of the group, Fagen was the most enigmatic. Harry didn't see him very often. As far as he knew, neither did any of the others. Occasionally, Fagen would look in during a training session to see how they were doing. He was friendly enough, but he didn't say much. He never mentioned the limo accident to Harry.
    Finally the day arrived, exactly six weeks since training had begun, when Fagen showed up at the afternoon training session.
    "How are they doing, Doris?"
    "Oh, they're ready to go, but I think they could use a few more weeks."
    "Well, we don't have a few more weeks."
    Fagen's comment stopped everybody.
    "We've received our departure window. Two days from today, 2100 hours."
    "That's a little sudden, isn't it?"
    "Yes, well, we got bumped up on the departure list. I'd like to suspend the rest of the day's sessions and let everybody off to take care of any loose ends."
    Kathleen spoke. "You wouldn't have anything to do with the new departure schedule, now would you, Edward?"
    "Just the luck of the draw, Kathleen."
    "Yeah, I'll bet."
    That evening, Harry went to his mother's house to say good-bye to his family. They all knew it might be years before they saw Harry again, if they saw him again. Mrs. Irons tried to keep the occasion light, but Harry's little sister kept crying. They gave Harry gifts like it was his birthday. He didn't tell them, but he couldn't take anything with him. There were severe space and weight restrictions aboard the spacecraft. Besides, the corporation furnished everything he needed.
    Afterwards, Frankie and George stopped by and the three sat at the kitchen table and talked until the hour grew late. For a long while they talked about their days at public school and how they shared a common yearning to become space explorers. All three had applied for corporate survey teams, but only one made it. Only one of them ever really had a chance and all three knew it. Harry knew he would miss his friends.
    In the morning, Mrs. Irons waited until Harry was gone before she cried.
    An air-limo picked him up outside his mother's door and took him south through the miles of city to the spaceport located in the foothills. As they neared, Harry marveled at the great acceleration ramp pointing up into the sky. Harry had learned the procedures. First, a quick jump into orbit, then a docking at a station high above the Earth's atmosphere, and then finally, transfer to the ship that would take them through the wormhole to parts unknown.
    He found the others in the spaceport lounge.
    "Where's Edward?"
    "He's already in orbit, waiting for us."
    Harry didn't have time to wonder why. Doris called them together and directed the seven survey team members to the waiting shuttle. Aboard the shuttle, they stored what gear