First Steps (Founding of the Federation) Read Free

zest and energy
to inspire people. Mario wasn't much of a looker but his fiancé
was and so was his brother. Their Facebook pages were already going
viral.
    Nick
looked at Doctor Zubrin and shook his head. “You’re
putting them in place above some senior people, people with decades
of experience who have built careers in the program,” he
cautioned.
    Zubrin
chuckled. “That's the whole point. You and I will have to keep
an eye out for someone to sabotage them, but I want to shake things
up. We have a tight window, and we need go getters,” he
grinned. Luigi had already started digging into the program and had
e-mailed him his first presentation before they'd gotten to Florida.
He chuckled. “I checked into both of them, Luigi is twenty,
Mario is twenty three. Luigi... for someone to get three, count em,
three Doctorates and a masters at his age?” Zubrin shook his
head. “Their plasma drive research is also first rate. They cut
a few corners, and I am a bit concerned about some of the safety they
left out, but overall the project was top notch.” Zubrin smiled
as Nick nodded grudgingly.
    “Yeah.”
    ...*...*...*...*...
    Mario
and Luigi filed into Doctor Zubrin's Spartan office. He didn't bother
looking around, he had been in it once before. A few paintings were
on the wall, all of Mars. No surprise there. A man in a gray suit
looked up from his magazine and smiled. “Nick Teutopolis, the
Mario brothers.” Nick got up and shook their hands chuckling.
    “THE
Mario brothers?” Nick asked teasing. Mario smiled.
    Luigi
chuckled. “Not quite, but close. What can I say; our parents
have a strange and sick sense of humor.” Mario nodded
confirmation.
    “Wanda
is still with the vampires. What's up doc?” Mario turned to
Doctor Zubrin behind his desk. Zubrin scowled a bit, but in good
humor.
    Luigi
and Nick groaned. “Oh god here he goes again.” Luigi
grumbled out.
    Nick
chuckled as Mario turned to scowl at him. “Aren't brother’s
fun? I see we will have to keep an eye on them, or the media will
have a field day,” Zubrin chuckled.
    Luigi
smirked. “They don't know the half of it. So, as my goof ball
tinkering big brother was saying, what do you have for us?”
    Doctor
Zubrin smiled. “Well, now that you two have been checked out,
we need you to go through orientation then get started. Nick here is
our liaison with NASA admin. He was a shuttle mission specialist
before they retired the fleet.” Nick wiggled his fingers in
hello again. Mario nodded. “Nick is a bit of a Joat, Jack of
all trades. He will be helping out with paperwork, public relations,
and engineering. Just toss him a bone or two and he is good,”
Zubrin said.
    Nick
turned a mock scowl onto Doctor Zubrin who smiled. “He did a
couple summers at the arctic Mars station, so he is up to speed on
the hardware.”
    Nick
nodded. “You two have a lot to catch up on,” Nick
cautioned. Luigi frowned.
    “I
read your book on flight over,” Luigi said looking at Doctor
Zubrin.
    Zubrin
nodded. “Case for Mars?” he asked.
    Mario
nodded. “I have it in my own library, the brat nicked it.”
    Luigi
held it up. “I have your other books as well, but that one is
the place to start.” Mario nodded to Luigi as Doctor Zubrin
motioned them to take a seat. The trio did.
    “Are
you still planning the chemical power plant for transit delta V?”
Luigi asked.
    Zubrin
nodded. “At least for the first series of missions.”
    Luigi
pulled out a dog eared paper. “Well, Professor Albert told you
about our plasma engine right?” Luigi asked. Zubrin nodded.
    Nick
whistled. “Wait that was you that blacked out the university?
Oh boy, I take it back; working with you is going to get REALLY
interesting,” he said. Mario blushed.
    “Well,
we were wondering about this.” Luigi handed Doctor Zubrin the
paper. He looked it over for a moment, flipped to the second page,
and then handed it to Nick.
    “Is
this for real?” Nick asked.
    “Yes,
the Russians have