Chapter 2 Project Earth

An excerpt from The Starlover Series Book 1: Project Earth

“Fred, what are you going to do with your life?” asked Dave.

“Oh? I want to build a spaceship.”

“You were always a dreamer.”

“Dreams are just the beginning.”

Dave chuckled. “Well, I’m going to start a research project.”

“Oh?”

“I’m calling it Project Earth. I want to find ways we can save the planet before we completely destroy it.”

Fred smiled. “Way to go. So, is this for a major research university?”

“Well, no. It’s privately funded. I sent out project proposals and got the money. Now it’s a matter of getting more scientists and their families to join in the project.”

“Wonderful. I am happy for you.”

“You are welcome to come with me.”

“Thanks. I think I will. You’ll probably need someone to do repair work.”

“Or help with the building.”

“Yeah, that too.”

“I’ll make sure you’ll be able to build your spaceship.”

“Mom and Dad would never approve of me doing this.”

“I know. But I’m your brother and I know how happy it makes you to experiment with building and doing repair work.”

Fred smiled. “So, where will you be working on Project Earth?”

“In Transylvania.”

“Whoa! Are the stories true that come from there? You know, about Dracula?”

“Well, they are at least based on some facts. There was a count Dracula who had a tendency to set out the bodies of his enemies completely drained of blood.”

“Eww.”

“Yeah, I know. But that’s as far as it goes.”

“I see. When do we leave?”

“We can leave as soon as the house and what we’re not taking is turned over.”

“So we better pack now.”

“Good idea.”

They started packing. It seemed to take them a long time. But they were done before the estate sellers showed up.

“Ah, so your bags aren’t a part of the sale?” asked the seller.

“That is correct,” answered Dave. “We’ll be staying at a local hotel while the sale is on.”

“That will make things easier. I’ve already made the announcements. I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will stop by.” She checked her notes. “Oh, I see that the house is to be sold as well.”

“Yes. I hope that’s not a problem.”

“Oh, no, not at all. We can handle that too. I will contact you that same day after the sale is over to let you know what sold and what didn’t.”

“Do you think everything will sell?”

“Probably. Usually we can sell everything or most everything. It just depends upon what’s here and what people are interested in.”

“Okay. Good luck with the sale.”

“Why thank you. It is a lot of hard work, but not impossible. You two go off and have some fun. I’ve got everything under control here.”

The two brothers took their bags and walked to the shuttle. Dave flew it to a hotel they both knew and had always liked. They got to the hotel and checked into one room with two beds. They got inside and set their bags down.

Fred laid down on one of the beds. Dave sighed.

“You have any ideas on what we could do while we wait?” asked Dave.

“We could go to the bar and see what women we can pick up.”

Dave smiled and shook his head. “You are such a playboy.”

Fred smiled. “I know. Perhaps you should try it sometime.”

“Hmm. I don’t know. I’d worry about STDs and getting a girl pregnant.”

“I have plenty of condoms. They work well enough.”

“Well, maybe.”

“Or would you prefer to find a girlfriend?”

“That actually sounds better to me.”

“To each his own.”

They went to a bar. They flirted. They danced. But they didn’t take anyone back to their hotel room that night. Instead, they went back to their room alone. They made it in time to get the video call from the estate sales agent.

“Oh, there you are, boys! I have excellent news. Everything including the house sold. So, now all you have to do is stop by tomorrow and we’ll finish up all the paperwork. You don’t need to go to the closing for the house. Just stop by my office in the morning.”

“Sure thing. We’ll be there.”

They cut the connection. Dave looked at Fred.

“Well, that’s almost done. We can leave from the office to Transylvania when we’re done there.”

“Good idea. We’ll check out before we leave to finish up that paperwork.”

“Why do we still call it paperwork? We do use any real paper anymore.”

Fred laughed.

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The next day, they wasted no time getting ready in the morning. They packed their bags and put them in the shuttle. They checked out. Soon they were on board the shuttle heading towards the office. The virtual paperwork didn’t take too much time. The brothers both got 50 percent each delivered to their separate accounts. They confirmed the new account balances. They shook hands with the estate sales agent and left her office.

They were in the shuttle when they both received messages that the funds wouldn’t be available until next week.

Dave sighed. Fred shrugged his shoulders.

“Dave, we should be fine for another week. We have enough money to get us to Transylvania. We won’t go hungry. We’ll have what we need until the money becomes available.”

“You’re right. I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’m just nervous.”

“It’s understandable. I think it’s scary, but I looked over our finances before we got these messages. I knew we’d be okay for longer than a week.”

Dave smiled. “Alright, let’s go to Transylvania. Although we should get fuel before we actually take off.”

“We can get food too. Then we won’t have to make any stops.”

“Alright.”

They stopped at a fuel station. Filled up the shuttle’s tank. Stocked up on snack food. Plenty of snack food. It was going to be a long trip and they tended to get quite hungry. They loaded up the shuttle and planned their flight path to their destination. They were to land near the famous Dracula’s castle.

Dave had to set the computer to automatic so that he and Fred could sleep when they needed to. The computer would alert them if there was a problem in the flight pattern. There were no problems. The flight was uneventful besides their reminiscing, eating, and napping. They enjoyed themselves one last time before Dave and Fred would get engrossed in their projects.

Fred’s would get delayed due to lack of money for another week. But he would find it wouldn’t be a problem. In fact as soon as the two brothers arrived at the site, they were greeted by Dr. Asimov and his assistant Hal.

“Welcome, David and Frederick Mueller. We’ve been waiting to meet you as soon as we heard about the project.”

“You can call me, Dave.”

“Dave, it is then. You’re the one who came up with the idea for Project Earth. So what will you be doing, Frederick?”

“You can call me, Fred. I’ll be on hand for any repair work. I hear there might be some building for me to do. But mainly I’ll be building my own spaceship.”

Dr. Asimov smiled. “I knew there was a reason I came here. Hal and I could help you with that project.”

“Thanks. I’m still reading up on what I’ll need for parts and deciding what I want it to be like.”

“Wonderful. And Dave, don’t feel left out. We’ll be busy enough trying to think up and implementing good and safe ways to save this beautiful planet of ours.”

Dave smiled. “It’s okay. This is the first time anyone has recognized something my brother was doing. Our parents wanted him to be more like me.”

“Well, they aren’t here.”

“No, they are no longer with us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“But we are looking forward to our projects.”

“Good. Let’s get you boys settled into your new home.”