Read Online The Phobos Maneuver by Felix R. Savage - Free Book Online

phase—lovey-dovey, all is new and exciting, oxytocin abounding in the air—not a nesting phase, when they would want to bring out and polish the family heritage.
    Her BCI was out of area at the moment, so she hoped to see some war-related news. Instead, she saw:
    —A knitting class
    —A live feed from the Iowa Rap Festival
    —A romantic comedy about a guy who falls for a phavatar
    —The President of Idaho giving a speech about something
    “Want to hear the Prez’s speech?” Dad Ezra said. “He’s talking about the Idaho Immersion Tournament. That’s your kinda thing, isn’t it? Games. I’ll give you wifi access and you can get the sound on your implants. Hang on while I look for the password.”
    “No, no, it’s OK, I was just—”
    “Wait up, guys!” Tempest said. She jumped off Dad Raimundo’s lap and stood in front of the screens, stabbing at the air in the universal pose of one remote-controlling a balky system. “I found something really great! I’ve never even seen this before!”
    The center screen switched to an old family vid—a very old one. It showed a three-year-old Petruzzelli with Mom Gabriella—her biological mother—and Dad Carlos—probably her biological father—in the vegetable garden. Petruzzelli had an earth-covered carrot in her hand, which she was happily chomping, to the grownups’ amusement.
    Everyone squealed. “OMG, look at those hairstyles. That’s so fifties,” Dad Ezra yelled.
    On the screen, Mom Gabriella swooped little Petruzzelli up in her arms and kissed her nose.
    “Did you guys seriously wear those culottes?” Tempest demanded, astride Raimundo’s lap again, playfully pulling his ears.
    Petruzzelli said loudly, “I was actually wondering if there was anything about the war.”
    Everyone went quiet.
    “The war?” she repeated.
    “Uh huh,” Mom Gretchen said. “Sure, honey, I’m sure we can find something about that. Tempest, can you—”
    “Oh, never mind,” Petruzzelli said. “It’s not important.”
    It seemed impossible that they wouldn’t pick up on her sarcasm, but they didn’t. She should have said, Sarcasm, the way you would in space when you couldn’t see the other person. She was sitting right here with them but they couldn’t really see her. All they saw was her tattooed eyebrows and trekkie gear. They didn’t see a daughter, and why should they? She wasn’t biologically related to any of them.
    But legally … ah, legally, it was a different story.
    She finished her iced tea and said, “Well. Why I came back to Idaho. Not to stay!” Her eyebrows added a Big grin!
    They looked relieved.
    “There’s a war on. And I’m going to join up.” She waited out their exclamations of surprise and horror. “You have to apply in your country of citizenship. But that’s not the only requirement.” She’d been appalled to learn just how many requirements there were. “I need you guys to sign off on it. You confirm that I’m of sound mind, you absolve Star Force of liability for anything that might happen to me, yadda yadda.”
    “Fuck the UN,” said Dad Ezra. He suddenly looked like an old man. “Fuck ’em.”
    “I know, I know. But everything’s different now.”
    “Yeah, everything’s different! We’re about to be dragged into a war that Idahoans don’t want and Idahoans are not responsible for. You don’t kick a fucking hornet’s nest! Tell me, do they have any idea what’s going to come out of Mars, once we start throwing bombs at it? Can they guarantee the PLAN won’t attack Earth?”
    “Nothing’s guaranteed. But I’m a damn good pilot, and I will do my utmost to protect the people of Earth.”
    “You shouldn’t have to do this.”
    “I don’t have to. I want to. I’m volunteering.” She pulled her tablet out of her pocket and held it out to Mom Gretchen. “I have the form right here. If you could all just sign it …”
    They passed it around, adding their digital signatures, with expressions so grim