Chen turned his eyes back to yet another resume and realized with a sigh that the easy part of the screening was long past now. He'd narrowed the list from several thousand to a few dozen files.
The final push was going much more slowly then he would have expected. Everyone's file now showed psychological stability, physical training, and a breadth of experience in one or more critical fields. He could tell that the week ahead would be a tough one.
His thoughts were interrupted by a light chime from the door.
“Jìnlái.” he threw out absentmindedly
The man who entered was talld for a Ugandan and well proportioned. His coffee colored skin shone in the light and his uniform was crisp and well-maintained. He bowed respectfully and smiled warmly.
Knowing everything about the man already, Chen switched to French and greeted him
professionally. “Welcome Muogo. I trust that your quarters are acceptable?”
Being a linguist, the man replied in perfect Manderin. “Yes Captain Chen. I'm afraid that the conditions are equally as cramped on a ship as they are here.”
Chen gave some halfhearted sympathy and motioned the man into a chair. “I'm afraid that we cannot mimic the wide open spaces of Uganda any more then we can mimic Kunming.”
“I understand sir.”
“Muogo, your resume shows great promise both for your experience at the ISS-IV as well as your extensive linguistic skills. I would like to know in all full honesty (it was well known that Chen could read the subtle clues on peoples' faces like he was reading a smartpad) if you believe that you could decipher the Plutonian language given a more complete sample.”
Muogo knew not to leap to an answer. He thought about all the other obscure languages he'd studied and what his colleagues considered a minimum base to work from. “Sir, I can't be certain, but I believe that with four or five times as many symbols to pull from, we could at least have a rudimentary understanding.”
With that, Chen knew he'd picked the right person. Muogo was not too impulsive, but skilled enough to offer a reasonable guess. He peppered the man with a few dozen more questions about his experience on the International Space Station, his years teaching at MIT, and his latest book.
Still analyzing him, Chen noticed that the man's eyes stayed bright and calm. The man had enough confidence from the beginning to believe that he could be selected.
Once Chen was satisfied that there was nothing about the man to raise any alarms, he kindly informed the Ugandan that he would provide the news either way within 48 hours.
The other interviews followed the same pattern. Chen learned more about a person from HOW they answered questions, then from the answers themselves. When he finally reached a core group of 3
finalists, he sent them to Mrs. Fu, the director. Mrs. Fu was a well seasoned bureaucrat and understood people on a very deep level. She had given Chen first choice of crew members, but it was still her job to give final approval. She would confirm that among the whole team, there was enough skill in geology, linguistics, astronomy, xenobiology, and astrophysics for the mission to be a success.