Whistling Part 2
(By Warringer with a pair of 'mails' by Rob Kelk and BlackAeronaut)
May 2nd, 2010
We're running out of space in our little warehouse.
Between keeping some of the good and useful stuff to ourselves and not selling other things, our shelves are slowly filling up.
Not to mention that our little living area is slowly filling up as well.
We need more space, but we have no idea how to expand. Quite obviously there are no large spend rocket stages there any more. And there won't be any more since everyone stopped launching large rockets.
May 3rd, 2010
We had a long brainstorming and found a way to bump up our storage capacity.
Danni suggested to ask NASA nicely for an external shuttle tank, but we quickly shot it down. Stellvia has done that already and the TSAB would make us pay them through our nose.
The idea to use conventional ISO containers, like we used for the Toy Box is better. We can get them just about everywhere. We got to ask someone to get them to use through.
May 5th, 2010
I'm going to kill Terris. Because of him we now have to deal with Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs.
Apparently he wrote Discovery Channel as a joke some time back and attached a video of one our jobs.
Now we need to find a way to get Mike into our table without killing him or exposing him to Handwavium...
May 20th, 2010
Today's the day.
Mike Rowe is on his way from Stellvia with his crew. I hope they brought those Russian spacesuit with them we rented for them.
It is going to be a tight fit here.
"My name's Mike Rowe, and this is my job. I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty --- hard-working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us. Now, get ready to get dirty.
"Today I'm a little further away from home. More exactly I'm aboard of KA Preiswert..."
Mike turned around to Naedial with a furrowed eyebrow while the camera followed his look towards the wogon.
"I did say that right, didn't I?"
Naedial nodded with a light smirk on her face, making Mike continue.
"...KA Preiswert, strange name that. A space station up in Space."
He smirked himself.
"That's right, people. I thought that we should broaden out horizons a little."
Again he turned to face Naedial.
"This is out host, Naedial Warringer, the boss of Whistler Orbital Services and the captain of the Toy Box."
"Hey, Mike."
"This gotta be the stranges jobs I've ever done."
Mike Rowe floated in free space after getting the 5 cent tour of KA Preiswert and some security headup from Terris. Said old ESA hand was floating next to him, a hand holding to one of the large 40 feet containers, while Mike held himself on the station with a cordless drill in hand.
"You get used to it," Terris noted." I never expected to handle containers in space either."
"What are we doing here anyway?"
"We build an expansion of KA Preiswert," Naedial piped up and Mike turned to look into her face, which was only covered by her respirator mask.
"Ack," he made, nearly loosing his hold on the station." Don't do that."
To him it looked like the wogon was grinning, even through he was unable to tell if she actually did.
"Where's your suit? In the wash or something?"
While he had known about it beforehand and he had freaked out when he had seen her get into the airlock with only her breathing mask on her face.
"Or something," Naedial noted and shrugged." This is why we aren't letting you anywhere near Handwavium. That and my shape.'"br />
"I see," he made and turned back to the container." This got to be one of the cleanest dirty jobs I've every done."
"Maybe be clean, but its dangerous," Terris noted." Just a couple of weeks ago we found someone in light 'waved spacesuit down in LEO. Apparently a flake of paint went straight through his head, when he had problems with his Pinto. It was not pretty."
Mike stopped working for a moment.
"I don't know if I should worried about the Pinto or the flake of paint."
"Be worried about the paint."
July 10th, 2010
Mike called us again and forwarded us a copy of the episode up with us.
From what I can tell it is a really good episode.
However...
Discovery is not going to air it in the US. They seem to be afraid of being sued by some anti-fen people.
Most likely some Republican hardliner...
On the good side, they are airing it in Europe and Japan. And seeing the rather large amount of Discovery fans (or maybe fen?) up here, they may do an Interwave stream from their European site.
I for one want that someone slaps some sense into those politicos down there. True, Kandor has nixed some problems for us, but still.
At least we could all pay off the debts we took to pay for the Toy Box now.
Best not to be known as someone to dodges debts by getting into space. Bad for business that...
July 15th, 2010
Managed to reconnect with my folks back home. Even if I needed to pull out a few very embarrassing parts about myself to make them realize that its really me.
To say that they were shocked would be an understatement worthy of a Tommy.
I gave them my number to call me later.
Is going to be better if I allow them some time to digest it.
July 21st, 2010
I'm going to be an uncle!
Well, okay...
I'm going to be an aunt.
Looks like I still need to get to terms with my biomod. Or at least a few parts of it.
BUT!
My sister asked me to be a godparent!
On the positive side that means that I will be back to Earth to be present.
On the negative side that means that I will have to be back on Earth to be present...
With all the stuff that includes it...
Name change, gender change, species change...
Oh my fracking god...
I think I need to get to Australia ASAP and connect to the German embassy in Canbarra or the consulate in Sidney...
I'm going to be stuck in bureaucracy for years...
help
FROM: Ben <bulletboy@island.fen>
TO: Naedial <wogonpoet@whistler-os.fen>
SUBJ: Somebody call for help?
DATE: 2010/07/22 0243GMT
Heya Naedial!
Heard it through the grapevine that you need some help getting the red tape sorted
dirtside. As a favor to a fellow expat of the Fatherland, Gina wants to help out, pro bono.
We've been through the bureaucratic they got going Down Under, so we at least knew
where to start. Attached are the documents that you'll need. Fill 'em out and get them
printed, and we can swing by first thing tomorrow morning and we can get this started.
(Has to be tomorrow because the day after I'm due to run an important shipment.)
No need for repayment, but Gina mentioned that if you happen to be able to come by a
keg of 'the good stuff' while your visiting home then you will be her most favorite person in
the entire system. :)
-Benjamin Rhodes
Pilot, Grunt Labor, and Co-owner/operator, Bullet Boy Express
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
————————————–
FROM: Naedial <wogonpoet@whistler-os.fen>
TO: Ben <bulletboy@island.fen>
SUBJ: Re: Sombody call for help?
DATE: 2010/07/22 0611GMT
>> Heya Naedial!
>>
>> Heard it through the grapevine that you need some help getting the red tape sorted
>> dirtside. As a favor to a fellow expat of the Fatherland, Gina wants to help out, pro bono.
>> We've been through the bureaucratic they got going Down Under, so we at least knew
>> where to start. Attached are the documents that you'll need. Fill 'em out and get them
>> printed, and we can swing by first thing tomorrow morning and we can get this started.
Thanks.
You are a lifesaver there, that is going to cut down the red tape by a few weeks at least.
If I could get the paperwork for Germany done that fast as well, I would be set.
Mainly because we want to register ‘Whistler Orbital Services’ as German company. May get
is a better reputation for being Germans that way. :p
>> (Has to be tomorrow because the day after I'm due to run an important shipment.)
No problem there, swing by if you like, but call first.
>> No need for repayment, but Gina mentioned that if you happen to be able to come by a
>> keg of 'the good stuff' while your visiting home then you will be her most favorite person in
>> the entire system. :)
I think I will have to live with that then. We still got a 50 liter keg of Krombacher left.
How would you feel about getting nicely hammered?
Naedial Warringer
‘Impossible is not a word that exists within the vocabulary of Whistler Corporation’
‘If its in orbit and broken, we will either run maintainance or salvage it.’
August 13th, 2010
Take that US Republicans!
We managed to secure a contract with Hughes Communications for pretty much the same as Astra and Eutelsat. Clean up their graveyard orbits and maintain their satellites.
I wonder who is going to try and sue us over that. Or maybe Hughes.
I can already see it. Some Republican is going to pull anti-fen bullshit out of his ass to try and stop us from following through with the contract.
Bad news for them that we are a registered German Company since last week.
I think we're setting a precedent here...
I think I'll try to call Noah Scott, from businessperson to businessperson, if he can recommend a lawyer...
FROM: Naedial <wogonpoet@whistler-os.fen>
TO: Noah Scott <big-cheese@stellvia.lib>
SUBJ: In need of a lawyer
DATE: 2010/08/13 1841GMT
Good evening,
From one businessperson to the other...
Can you perhaps suggest a good lawyer to me? I think Whistler may be in need of one in the
next time with a brand new contract with Hughes Communications.
We think that some people may not like a fen company doing business with as US corporation.
Naedial Warringer
‘Impossible is not a word that exists within the vocabulary of Whistler Corporation’
‘If its in orbit and broken, we will either run maintainance or salvage it.’
FROM: Noah Scott <big-cheese@stellvia.lib>
TO: Naedial <wogonpoet@whistler-os.fen>
SUBJ: Re: In need of a lawyer
DATE: 2010/08/13 2047GMT
Good evening,
For legal matters that affect both the Fen and the United States, I recommend the services of
Rashid Abdallah. He is based in Washington and specializes in international law.
I've taken the liberty of forwarding your contact information to Rashid when I spoke with him
earlier today. I asked that he give you the same rate that he gives me - if he agrees, you'll
be getting the services of a lawyer with fifteen years of experience at the rate of a lawyer
who has just passed the bar. Whether he will agree depends on the impression you make on him
when he contacts you, so I suggest making a good first impression. (Rashid is what some people
are calling "fendane" - he isn't about to leave Earth, but he does like some of the crazy things
we do up here. Just relax and be yourself, and you should be fine.)
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia ("The Gateway to the Solar System")
Ask about our package tours to Luna!
August 20, 2010
That was fast...
Someone guy from rural...
Alabama?
Alabama... tried to sue us and get a 'Einstweilige Verfügung' in the Amtsgericht Berlin. Only to be shot down with some 88 flak.
Well, at least it seemed to be like that. Thankfully we did not need to be there. Might have been messy. Or at least a long flight from Sidney to Berlin or Frankfurt.
Good call to get ourselves some lawyers.
I bet he'll try to sue Hughes next.
August 30, 2010
Birthday time!
My first birthday in speeeece!
That makes 31 years of inflicting myself on my surroundings.
Thank you whoever is responsible that we could pick up some of the good stuff from Australia when we went through all that red tape. I for one was surprised to find that we found German Pilsner.
I would have liked to do a BBQ, but then again its a bad idea on a space station.
I wonder about the presents...
Naedial looked down at her first present, the open box balancing as she sat on the large couch, everyone looking at her.
"Surprise!" Danni said with a grin, as everyone chuckled.Naedial pulled a camo patterned something out of the box, with a large number of quick release buckles and what appeared to be MOLLE straps.
"What is that..."
"Something called 'Tactical Corset'," Danni noted, her grin still present as it was her present." We were surprised that those things exist, too."
That it was her idea, Naedial was notified by Vision, and that everyone had put together to get it for her. With a couple of modifications and 'waving.
Naedial looked a little wary as she eyed the red dragon.
"What did you do?" she asked as she pulled the strange corset from the box.
"She added a small speeddrive," Terris said with a smirk." You did complain about your lack of agility while in space."
Naedial snorted.
"Speeddrive..."
"Yep," Terris said." The controls are in the box as well."
Placing the thing on the couch next to her, she looked into the box again, discovering a pair of rather classic fingerless gloves. Looking closer she discovered a pair of small analogue pads on the gloves.
They were connected to the corset over wireless, Vision informed her. She only needed to make fists to take control. When she did she should be even more maneuverable then Vision.
"I'm sure that," Naedial said dryly, knowing that Vision never actually told them how maneuverable she was and filing that away for later.
Slowly she stood up and removed her normally ever present tool belt.
"Trying it on already?" Alex asked, getting a grin from Naedial.
"Why not?" she wondered and slowly put the corset around her waist, before pulling it close. "Bit tight, but okay."
"You can adjust the tightness with the buckles," Danni noted as Naedial slipped the gloves over her fingers.
She bit her lip as she curled both hands into fists for just a moment, before shaking her head.
"Nope, not going to test it now," she said. "Don't want to make an impression on any bulkhead."
That got a number of chuckleS from the others, while Naedial sat down.
"Not uncomfortable," she noted.
"Don't forget to open the other presents," Thorsten said and held out his present.
Naedial chuckled and took the present, ripping it open. She raised her eyebrow as she looked at the box inside.
"MOLLE EOD Tool pouch and a utility pouch," she noted dryily and then looked at her tool belt. "Looks like you want me to get rid of my trusty belt..."
"Just doesn't suit you," Alex noted and handed her his present, which was opened quickly. "And any MOLLE gear can be put onto your new corset."
Naedial rolled her eyes at the second Tool pouch and something that looked like a pouch for her respirator.
"I wonder how I look like after adding these things to it."
That got her the present from Terris, who had a very wide grin on her face. Feeling some dread, she opened the present, took a look at it and then proceeded to throw the wrapping paper at the British astronaut.
"Smartass," she said with a grin and held up her new E-Tool, complete with MOLLE pouch.
August 31, 2010
Today I've had some time to take a closer look at my new 'space corset'.
And I noted the two little engines Vision 'waved into the thing. Apparently a pair gyroscopes the size of a cigarette box from a microsat that had been turned into a pair of reactionless drives. No, I won't call them thrusters because that would imply that they are not reactionless.
Anyway, they are mounted to the 'space corset' on both sides of the hips and now hidden from view by pouches. I haven't been able to test their full capability yet, but from the looks of it, the small drives are easily among the most maneuvrable things in fenspace. But that reduces other things. I think that I can barely keep up with the Toy Box at full burn, but I have no idea about the max speed. I guess that I would be somewhere about 0.001c up to 0.01c when I trust Visions calculations.
Needs further testing, not the little stint outside of KA Preiswert.
September 5th, 2010
I just had to...
Today I took off after breakfast and set my sight for empty space. Without the Toy Box, just to test out the limits of my 'space corset'.
I think I hit the ceiling of the little speed drives somewhere at about 2400 km/s. Not bad for two gyroscopes powered by an pair of 'waved Li-Ion batteries.
I'm just glad that my phone got an integrated space navigation system after 'waving it. And that additionally to the normal Android Apps...
Oh, and I scared the whit out of some guy driving a Punto on his way to Mars. I swear that he was white as a sheet after I buzzed him.
Note to self: Get more Pink Floyd for long journeys alone.
Also still trying to think of a use for the E-Tool in space.
Fighting off boarders perhaps?
September 28th, 2010
I'm an aunt!
My sister just had her babies!
Yes. Babies. Plural!
A boy and a girl. Michael and Isabell.
...
Okay, I think I need to start to get the correct permits to land the Toy Box at Dortmund and take off again. My family does want to see the Box when I come down when the twins are baptized. And it would be a bad idea to do it without informing the proper authorities and get the permits.
We are a Germany company and have to comply to German laws.
Even if there are fen who frown at us keeping close relations with Earth.
Earth may be our cradle and we need to leave it. But that does not mean that we have to abandon it...
October 1st, 2010
My sister called me.
The twins are going to be baptized on January 9th next year.
Now that I know the date, I can get the permits for that time frame. Hopefully its not going to be as much red tape as with changing identity. Or paying back the loans we took to build the Toy Box...
October 15th, 2010
One of the first larger contracts for us that are not exactly commercial...
NASA asked us to run some service on Hubble. While the Soviets have done some work for them, our work for Astra, Eutelsat and Hughes seems to have been good enough for someone like NASA to ask for our services. Or maybe it was us saving Hubble from that large piece of Chinese satellite three month ago.
I for one like the fact that there are enough rocket scientists left in NASA to see the handwavium is a good thing for space exploration, even if we just do it for the money...
The parts we need for the maintenance are going to arrive at Stellvia in early November.
November 3rd, 2010
NASA actually surprised us then they delivered yesterday. But perhaps that was because Ben did the run. Or the fact that its only a few electronic modules for the telescope.
November 4th, 2010
We were just beginning with our work on Hubble when the airwaves started to all but clog up. Apparently some larger ship had made orbit.
Quite unusual that. We got new fen in strange new vehicles every week. Sometimes even every day.
I still remember that girl in her pink Smart...
Anyway, rumor has it that its an Irish military ship with operational guns.
I for one can't really understand what the fuzz is all about. Don't people realize that the stuff they throw overboard in orbit is all but a weapon against others?
I still want to find that asshat who lost a bucket of scraps, bolts and nuts and throw the stuff into his face. Nearly shredded one of our Orbital Sleds.
So what is one real weapon up here anyway?
I'm sure that one of the Mads has build a railgun already...
November 17th, 2010
What little faith I had in the German bureaucracy is now a little larger.
We just got back the paperwork for our landing and flight permissions for Dortmund Airport. The tentive flight plan tells us to come in over the North Sea, before moving into an official flight corridor from Copenhagen to Dortmund.
I think that is a good idea. Less change to disturb people on the ground.
November 20th, 2010
Looks like someone on the ground couldn't keep his or her mouth shut.
I just got a mail from a reporter of 'Der Spiegel', he wants to interview us and write an article on Whistler Orbital Services.
Thankfully I consider the 'Spiegel' to be one of the serious weekly papers. If they want to write an article about us and the fen, I won't say 'no'. Can only get us more customers.
December 13th, 2010
Okay, now I'm surprised.
We, or rather the fen made the headline of 'Der Spiegel'. And from what I can say, the article is mostly positive. Even through they did manage to get some info about the time we lifted off.
But then again they took a look at it from out perspective.
The others think that it was a good idea as well.
I wonder if that article will change something down there.
December 20th, 2010
The article did change a bit.
A couple of Rhodanites down there read the article from last week and now the Stardust gets an increase of population. So much that they asked us to dock a couple of ships while they expand.
And since we are nominally Rhodanites that is not that much of a problem.
Bit stuffed here through. And some of the guys wonder why we named out station KA Preiswert, because it certainly is not a large Paddler Platform.
We may also have one of the eldest Rhodan fen aboard. Ronald Teckener, a 55 year old Canadian who discovered Rhodan when he was stationed in Iserlohn back in 1964. Nice, bit of stuffy Brit type of guy, but okay. He's even a former Army Major and hitched a ride with Ben, only to be dropped of here.
Well, I think we'll see what happens to him.
January 7th, 2010
Its time to go back dirtside...
My niece and nephew are going to be baptized in two days and I for one want to make sure that no one freaks out when I walz in back home. They might have seen me on video, but in real life that is a tad different...
January 8th, 2010
My fabulous return went well. Mostly anyway.
When we landed at Dortmund Airport on a rented helicopter pad, we where all but sieged by local and national reporters.
Of course I can understand that. The 'Spiegel' article made Whistler well known as 'biggest German fen corporation' and now everyone wants to have a piece of us. We made sure to avoid the guys from the 'Bild' however. We don't want to deal with rainbow press on the same level as the Sun or Fox News.
The meeting with the family went good, as well. There was some freaking out by the neighbours, but in the end it was nothing too bad.
I wonder what the pastor is going to say.
January 10th, 2010
At least nobody passed out or screamed 'demon' or something. The pastor looked a tad uneasy when she saw me, but in the end my biomod did not prove to be a large problem. I wonder how it would have gone had we been catholic?
Anyway, the following party on the twins made me think, when my brother-in-law asked me why I had really gone to fenspace.
I looked at the twins and told him that I did not really know.
Sure it seemed like a cool idea at the time and it is still the best I've ever done, but I think it had little to do with the actual reason, which I still don't really know.
Some soul searching is in order...
January 12th, 2010
Back to orbit, back to work.
I think I'll take some timeout to clean my head and think.
Strangely enough I can think best when I'm out and do an orbit or two by myself.
Slowly Earth passed below Naedial as she floated freely in space, her eyes closed and all limbs spread away from her.
Breathing lightly she let her thoughts wander, while she listened to Led Zeppelin blasting away in her ears, transmitted into her skull and from there into her inner ear through a pair of waved earplugs.
Why was she up here?
That question ran through her head for some time.
It was not just for the good time with friends and other fen.
It was not only for the thrill of doing a dangerous job or to be payed good money for the same.
It was not for the ability to float in space unprotected on her own.
She breathed in deep again and slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the passing of the world beneath her.
Exactly that was it.
She was here for this view down to this pale blue dot in the width of the wide inky blackness of space.
It was the view of the future. Not just her own, but that of everyone.
To see Earth like this, to give everyone the change to look down at Earth and say 'I was born there' or 'Our parents were born down there'.
To see that most of those petty problems down there didn't matter. Be it gender, 'race', skin color, religion.
All the energy directed at those 'problems' should be directed to other things. Like exploring the universe around them. Either through wavetech or hardtech. It didn't really matter.
All that mattered was that it was the future, and she wanted to help build that future.
That was why she was up here and not down there.
To build a better future.
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