Hawk Fleet (14.1)

A week later…

STRETCHING HER ARMS OVER HER HEAD WITH A yawn, Laurie came down the stairs for breakfast.

"Good morning dear, did you get a good night sleep last night?" Dr. Kingston asked.

"Funny Mom, funny! You know I've been up for about an hour packing for my trip," Laurie said, taking an apple from the counter and a cereal bar from the cupboard.

"Are you sure you packed everything?"

"Yeah Mom, and if I need anything, I'll be sure to send a postcard!" Laurie said, smiling and rolling her eyes.

"Ha ha, hilarious," Dr. Kingston said, tousling Laurie's hair.

"Mom! There are stores all over the place on Earth!"

Dr. Kingston shook her head with a smile.

"No really, I'll be fine. The Exandrian Flight Coordinator notified me that my flight assignment should be leaving Earth sometime within the next week. Plus, Mr. and Mrs. Hagan are coming with me, they will be there until Chris' graduates."

"She'll be alright dear," Eli said with a smile, looking up from his 21st Century Plant Life book at the kitchen table.

Dr. Kingston closed her eyes and nodded, a smile hiding her worry.

"Go and get your bag and we'll walk you to the ship," Dr. Kingston stated.

Laurie took one last bite from her apple, threw the apple core into the compost grinder, and, tucking the cereal bar into her pocket, ran upstairs to her room for her bag. Eli went to put his book away in the living room and Dr. Kingston hung up her apron. Laurie came bounding down the stairs with her bag.

"Alright, let's go," Her father sighed.

Laurie stepped aboard the Star Traveler, along with David and Angela Hagan. She paused in the entryway as an odd feeling crept over her.

Did I forget to pack something? She mentally ran through her checklist, Nope…It just feels strange to be boarding the Star Traveler without my parents and Dr. Eric I guess.

The Hagans turned to take their luggage to their room and Laurie continued down to the double doors of the main deck. She walked in and found Captain Mitchell sitting at the main controls doing the systems check.

"Are you coming to stay with us on Earth, too?" Laurie asked.

"Sorry, no," Captain Mitchell said with a smile, turning his chair toward Laurie. "Seems I was the only captain available for the trip. I'm supposed to take you to Earth and return to Exandra immediately. There's some assignment coming up."

"Do you think the Space Administration knows something we don't?" Laurie asked.

"No, I think they're just guessing," Captain Mitchell answered, smiling and shaking his head, "but I think it may have something to do with the Guild. After all, it's been a week since we returned from our rescue mission that they tried to sabotage. We've seen nor heard anything from them which is highly unusual and very suspicious. I think neither the EASA nor the Earth governments want to take a chance of not being prepared for the next Platonian attack."

The trip back to Earth was uneventful. After they said goodbye to Captain Mitchell, a driver took Laurie, and the Hagans to where they would be staying. Laurie sat on her bed in a hotel room gazing out the window at the Titusville, Florida sky. When Laurie's MTD pinged, she unclipped the MTD off her belt and opened it finding Angela Hagan's face on the screen.

"I called to see if you got everything settled okay?"

"Yeah,"

"Good, would you like to go get some lunch with us?"

"Sure, if it's alright with you."

"Of course! We'll meet you down at the front desk in about ten minutes."

"Okay, over and out."

After lunch, the Hagans, and Laurie all returned to their hotel rooms. After disinterestedly flicking through the digital entertainment channels available through the hotel's network, Laurie decided to go down to the beach. She took the stairs down to the first floor, walked through the lobby and out the back door. Passing two large pools and crossing over the twentieth-century-replica wooden walkway that went over the dunes, she paused at the top of the stairs leading down to the sand.

Laurie stared at the beach that looked so unlike Exandra's. The attempt by the US government to restore the nation's beaches was very apparent in the way the coastline was shaped. The unnaturally-jagged appearance of the coastline, full of busy beachcombers, was only a more poignant reminder of the peaceful Exandra purple coasts. Removing her boots and socks, Laurie stashed them under the walkway. She rolled up the cuffs of her khaki pants and headed down to walk along the edge of the water. She breathed in the salty humid air and allowed the wind to buffet her hair while the waves lapped at her feet.

Something about the ocean always relaxes me, she thought to herself.

Laurie wandered along the beach until dinner. She joined Mr. and Mrs. Hagan for a light supper in the restaurant adjacent to their hotel. After dinner, Laurie retreated to the balcony off her room. She fell asleep in a lawn chair staring into the stars.

Early the next morning, the chirping of Laurie's MTD awakened her. She'd hadn't moved from the lawn chair on the balcony. She opened the MTD and saw the Flight Coordinator looking back at her.

"Yes sir?"

"Miss Laurie, can you make it down to Kennedy Space Center by this afternoon?"

"Sure, is something wrong, sir?"

"Not at all; there is an elementary school coming to the visitor complex and we thought that they might like to meet one of the Star Traveler's crewmembers."

"Sounds fun," Laurie answered.

"Good, then it's settled. I'll meet you in the Historic Garden in the visitor complex at 12:45."

With that, the MTD went back to its main screen.

Laurie showered and put on a fresh uniform. She brushed her hair and teeth, and then dug into her duffel bag to take out a small pouch of money and a packet of sunscreen. She put them into the plastic carry case attached to her belt. Then, remembering the security checks at the front doors of the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex, Laurie removed her pocket knife from her utility belt.

After informing the Hagans about her invitation, Laurie went down to the hotel lobby to inquire after a taxi.

After a short cab ride, Laurie arrived at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex to find that a few things had changed since she'd last seen it. Entering through the revolving doors of the Information Center, Laurie walked over to one of the available security check stations. She passed her utility belt over the table to a guard and walked through the metal detector. The guard, a bit puzzled and suspicious, asked Laurie to explain what her tegar was.

"It is a staff," Laurie answered.

The guard, still not sure, asked that she demonstrate its use. Laurie nodded, and the guard handed the staff back to her and watched carefully. She took it and, shaking it twice with her right hand, extended it to its full five feet. The guard, not seeing any sharp edges, nodded his approval and permitted Laurie to proceed into the visitor complex.

Laurie put her utility belt back on, returned the tegar to its place, and continued into the main hall of the information center. She smiled to herself, remembering that she could've foregone that whole check station by showing her EASA (Earth's Aeronautics and Space Administration) Identification Card.

'Oh well, it doesn't matter really. I came early enough,' she mused.

Checking her time, she walked through the visitor center to the outside visitor complex. Looking at a directory, Laurie decided to visit the Astronaut Memorial. Walking straight down the path that led through the center of the complex, she passed the Astronaut Encounter pavilion, and the IMAX Theater featuring virtual reality STS missions. Following the instructions she had read, she turned and walked up a cement ramp and faced the famous mirror monument. As she read the names on the black squares one by one, Laurie remembered the crew of EC 20 that fell under Platonian attack. Laurie continued wandering through exhibits depicting space exploration's past, present, and hopeful future. As the appointed time approached, Laurie walked back to the Historic Garden. Knowing and seeing how much human technology had advanced over time were two different things. She spent some time looking at each of the historic rockets encased in environmentally-controlled, translucent boxes.

"There is more technological capability in our modern day light fixtures than in all of these rockets combined," a voice behind Laurie remarked.

Laurie turned from the Mercury Redstone rocket she had been looking at.

"Oh, hello sir, I didn't hear you approach, is it 12:00 already!"

"Yes, and" ‒the Flight Administrator lowered his voice to a whisper‒ "Your flight assignment leaves at 3:30."

"Oka-ay," Laurie replied, slightly confused at his display of secrecy.

"Good," The Administrator answered, bringing his voice back up to its normal level. "Let's get to the Astronaut Encounter Pavilion."