Starfire Ascension

Chapter 6 - Breakfast

Sarah came down and started the oven preheating and plugged in the waffle iron after kissing Holly, and Cyrus on the cheek and hugging Kimberley. Kimberley smiled and said, "Thanks for letting me stay over Mrs...I mean Sarah," she said catching her mistake. Holly and Cyrus grinned. "It's no problem, I'm just so glad to see you three together again. Especially with these two close to flying the coop, I guess I get a little sentimental thinking about when you three were younger."

Sarah turned back to the counter and her mixing bowl with a sniff. Holly hugged her and said, we'll always love you no matter where we live Mom." Cyrus sidled up next to her placing a consoling arm around her. "We'll make time for family. Even if we change," Cyrus said. Sarah turned and hugged them. Holly roped an arm around Kimberley drawing her into the family group hug. Sarah smiled. "Not all changes are bad," she said with a mischievous look that bore an uncanny resemblance to the one Holly had just made earlier upstairs.

Sarah turned back to mixing up a batch of chocolate chip banana bread her back now facing the trio before she spoke her mind. "Some of those changes mean grandbabies. I ain't getting any younger," she said matter-of-factly. Cyrus shifted uncomfortably as a soft blush tinged his cheeks while Holly snickered. Kimberley blushed violently but her hair mercifully obscured Cyrus from noticing. Holly however smirked at her impishly, not that Cyrus noticed as he examined his shoes.

Sarah had the banana bread made and poured it into a greased tempered glass pan in less than five minutes. She then made a waffle mix and started pouring it into the electric waffle iron that had warmed up by now. Cyrus helped in the kitchen taking in the wonderful smells. He loved Sundays!

Sarah made bacon in the cast iron pan while he grated the potatoes for her to make hash browns. He rinsed them with cold water in a colander in the sink to remove the excess starch. After the bacon was done she fried the hash browns in the bacon grease into crispy rounds of golden perfection. Holly grabbed the syrup, butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Kimberley helped Roy set the table, and serve up coffee. Tony made his way into the kitchen looking dead tired.

"How late did you stay up?" Roy asked Tony. "Just 2 am," he said. Roy looked amused. "I think at this rate the Aether should be ready for flash updating and diagnostic tests by mid-week." "Wow," Cyrus said, "That's a lot of work to do in between now and then." "Tell me about it," He said holding his coffee with one hand and massaging his temples with the other. "If you need anything I can help," Cyrus offered. Tony smiled. "As much as I appreciate that, It's Sunday, and you have a guest over, so we will worry about that later. I'll start filling you in on the Command simulator later too. There is a lot to learn, that should keep you busy for a while." "Do you have a manual for the bridge command yet," Cyrus asked. "I'll text it to you in a PDF," Tony said, "But don't bother with it today," he said with a grin. Science can wait, friends and family come first." "Yes sir," Cyrus said nodding solemnly.

Cyrus began to picture in his mind the Aether making OMS burns and pitch maneuvers with the planet above it in the foreground and other distant planets moons and stars in the background. Cyrus was then pulled out of his reverie by a thought. "Uncle Tony?" he asked. He looked at him. "How did you solve the cosmic radiation problem?"

Tony smiled. "That was an expensive fix, but it was necessary to protect all life within the vessel." Holly offhandedly asked, "What is cosmic radiation?" Uncle Tony smiled before saying "It is the harmful spectrum of radiation emanating from the sun, the stars, nebulas, and even other galaxies. And if given enough exposure over time it would outright kill you. We don't have to worry about that here on the earth thanks to the magnetized field formed by the north and south poles. They effectively create an electromagnetic field emanating around the globe thanks to the earth's iron core rotating within the mantle crust. This field polarizes all the metallic particles in our upper atmosphere that are ionized by the sun. This ionosphere has three layers D, E, and F that span from sixty thousand to five hundred thousand feet. If it were not for that almost all biological life on earth would cease to exist."