Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [18]
Mary was instantly sympathetic. "I don't understand. What do they have against Parrises Squares?"
"You won't believe this-they think it's too easy for me."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"And I have to keep taking tennis lessons because it's hard for me." Mary's grave face stared out from the screen. "Your parents do have some funny ideas sometimes."
"Well, I'm going to show them. They can make me keep taking tennis, but I don't have to like it. And I'm never going to be any good at it. Sooner or later, they'll see it's a waste of time."
And having made that decision, Kathryn began to feel a lot better. She reached down and scratched Bramble on the tummy, his favorite place, and he rolled over on his back in ecstasy.
But then Daddy came home with his amazing news, and she forgot all about tennis.
She was going to take her first trip into space. Her first ride on a shuttle. Her first visit to Mars Colony.
"I have to go next week," Daddy explained to all of them-her, Phoebe, and Mommy-as they sat around the dinner table. Kathryn was only picking at her food, partly from excitement and partly because she preferred replicated food over the meals that her mother cooked with real food. Why couldn't they do things like other people?
"Starfleet's sending a group to examine the colony's defense systems. It will take a couple of days and I thought maybe it was time for Goldenbird to get a taste of spaceflight."
Kathryn's heart hammered in her chest. A trip with Daddy-and not just a trip but a visit to another planet! She'd been dreaming of this since she'd been old enough to realize that people could travel through the stars to other worlds.
"I want to go, too!" yelped Phoebe. Kathryn's head whipped toward her instantly.
"You can't. You're too little."
"Kathryn..." murmured her mother.
"Daddy, can I? Can I go, too?" Phoebe's impish face looked imploringly at her father, blue eyes wide and intense. She looked so pathetic that for a brief moment Kathryn thought Daddy might actually say yes. "I'm sorry, Phoebe, but Starfleet has rules. You're a little young." Phoebe's eyes welled up with tears, and even Kathryn felt sorry for her. "Phoebe, you can use my padds while I'm gone. As long as you're careful." Now the blue eyes turned toward her, tears instantly retreating. "I can?" Phoebe constantly badgered Kathryn to use her padds, with their myriad games, stories, and songs.
"That's very thoughtful, Kathryn," said her mother. And it was. Ordinarily she wouldn't let Phoebe within ten meters of her things. But she could afford to be generous tonight. She was going to Mars!
The transport to San Francisco was no different from any other: a brief moment of disorientation as one's vision obscured, then a tingling sensation as different surroundings sparkled into clarity. Kathryn and her father materialized on one of the transporter pads of Starfleet Headquarters; waiting for them was a small retinue, including an admiral, two captains, and a lieutenant who stood deferentially behind the others.
"Well, Edward," said the admiral to her father, "whom do we have here? A stowaway?" He was a tall, florid man with Irish red hair that didn't quite look under control. His smile was lopsided and cheerful.
"A future cadet, I hope. Admiral Finnegan, may I present my daughter, Kathryn."
Kathryn knew how to behave in situations like this. She approached the man, offered her hand, and said, "How do you do?"
The older man smiled down at her. "I do very well, beautiful lady. How about you?"
She