Unlike our spaceships of the past, which were all bullet shaped, the Distant Voyager was more of a giant circle with a slice taken out of the back, where a curved combination of Y-shaped thrusters sat above and a thick, slightly curved tail below. But the bridge was Drax’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Deluxe all the way. The usual bells, whistles, computers, and such, and a six-person control circle, a little ways away from the windshield. That it was called a windshield, versus a space shield or whatever, amused me to no end, but I was, apparently, the only one so amused, so I’d stopped making jokes about our inability to come up with a better word ages ago.
The main saucer section of the ship had twenty-one levels—to ensure that the ship could carry either refugees or troops or both, depending—and the thick tail and thrusters were actually a smaller ship with ten decks that could detach from the main saucer section for exploration and such, but I’d never seen any of this in person. I’d never seen any of the ship in person before now, my skills not being needed for creation or construction, and my input—“ensure there are about ten times the number of bathrooms that you guys think are necessary, and that’s a FLOTUS order”—was deemed to be more than plenty of help from the likes of me.
We were moved along toward the staging area where Jeff was going to be giving his speech, with the Distant Voyager gleaming behind him. There were dignitaries and press and a lot of brouhaha—even more than normal. This wasn’t a surprise. While all the other planets we now knew about and were “joined” with had manned interstellar space flight, this was really Earth’s inauguration into the Big Boy League in terms of something other than being nasty and really great at kicking butt, getting knocked down, and getting right back up again.
Now I desperately wanted to hear Chumbawamba singing “Tubthumping” but, sadly, that was not to be. We were surrounded by far too many people with cameras and opinions for me to slip in my earbuds. Besides, all my focus needed to be on Charlie. Because the real test would be whether or not my son tried to lift the Distant Voyager or not. We were all sincerely hoping for “not,” and ensuring that outcome fell to me, at least until it was time for me to go onto the dais with Jeff.
Raj was doing the first portion of the speaking, so the rest of us were seated with those “lucky” enough to be nearest to the stage. As with the dignitaries’ section, most of our friends and family weren’t actually sitting all that near to us. I only managed to spot where Christopher and his family were because his wife and my other female BFF from high school, Amy Gaultier-White, was a redhead and so were their children. Becky, who was nearing twenty months, was on Christopher’s lap, and Jeffrey Richard, who we all called JR and who was ten months old, was on Amy’s.
They were surrounded by the rest of those with kids in our inner circle, as well as the rest of the A-Cs who were coming to support Jeff, which included his parents, older sisters, and their families. That we knew we couldn’t trust parts of several of those families just made it all the more exciting, in that totally negative way.
Chuckie and Nathalie were sitting next to my kids, and it was going to be up to them to keep Charlie under control once I stepped away, jobs not normally assigned to the Director of the CIA and the Secretary of Transportation, but handled well by my oldest BFF and his girlfriend.
Fortunately, Charlie adored the man he was named after, and the moment he could he squirmed out of my arms and demanded to be with his Uncle Chuckie. Jamie, not to be outdone, also demanded to be on Uncle Chuckie’s lap, since she was the eldest and therefore required to be his favorite. Chuckie managed both kids well, and Lizzie went on his other side, so that she and Nathalie were ready for anything, with Nadine sitting behind us so as to offer nanny assistance as needed.
Vance and Algar were next to Nadine, meaning it would be hard to see Algar, since he was blocked by Chuckie, who was tall. Had a feeling that this was what Algar wanted but couldn’t be sure. Knew it was what Vance wanted, at least if he wasn’t being mind-controlled. My parents were next to Vance as well, but somehow my kids were content to maul Chuckie, versus Mom and Dad. Chose not to complain—my parents were there if Chuckie needed a helping paw or two.
The rest of our section was made up of Jeff’s Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs of Staff—including the Head of the Joint Chiefs, who I called my Uncle Mort and who was sitting next to Dad, who called him his big brother—and other military, as well as other politicians near and dear to either us or the cause of space integration.
Somehow all of my children’s musical chairs hadn’t caused the audience to lose focus on Raj, and I chose not to care what the media was doing with it. Jeff and I got to sit for a whole three minutes, then Raj finished and it was time for us to take the stage. Had to leave my purse with Nathalie and really hoped I wouldn’t need it.
Jeff held my hand and helped me up the steps and into position, ensuring that I didn’t trip and he had that little extra comfort of holding onto someone who was a hundred percent in his corner.
Now came the hard part, at least for me. I had to keep a look of rapt attention and total spousal support on my face without allowing support to turn to lust, boredom, or distraction. I wasn’t one with meditation, let alone meditation that required specific facial expressions and thoughts, so this was a really hard thing for me to accomplish, particularly since staring at Jeff tended to set off my Lust Meter in less than five seconds. My team had been having me practice for weeks. I was better, but I still wasn’t up to the level of Top First Ladies Past.
Focused on what a great man and leader Jeff was as he gave an excellent speech I didn’t really listen to because I’d already heard it several times before when he was practicing. However, it was the first time for most of the audience present and all of the audience watching and listening over the airwaves, so I did keep a tiny part of my mind focused on it. The audience seemed totally into it—laughing at all the right places, clapping in some, getting teary in others. Jeff really was great at everything he did.
Jeff introduced the Distant Voyager’s crew, who came out to great cheers and applause. The ship was already prepped for their voyage—to Alpha Four first, then to Vatusus to give Drax’s father our regards and thanks and thereby ensure that two of our most vital allies felt complimented—but they were taking off tomorrow. Today was given to all the pomp and circumstance—tomorrow was focused on the real deal.
Happily, the speech went off without a hitch. Made a mental note that doing these things on a military base was great because everyone had been thoroughly searched and no one had complained too much. Considered suggesting we do this all the time as Jeff and I left the stage, waving at the crowd and cameras, while the audience applauded.