Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (123 page)

“On it. Just a second.”

Gabe, Ghita and Susan come into the
commons.

“You three into the forward airlock now, Abby and I
will take care of this. Okay, Abby.” He reached across her and punched up a
video display. “That’s 180, three balls, and full mag.”

“That’ll do. We’re gonna be rockin’
and a rollin’ here for a couple minutes until I can get these thrusters to
settle out.”

“Understood, but we don’t have much
time.” He punched up the PA again. “Gabe, Sue, there are two Mark IIIs in
there, they’ll provide you with some additional shielding. The three of you
share them the best you can.”

“Copy,” said Susan.

“Come on Abby, move it.”

“I’m doing the best I can. Another
two or three minutes.”

“Okay. I’ll go get the hatch open.
As soon as she’s stable shut her down and join me. Nothing left on but lights,
ventilation, and coolant water. Treat it like a potential EMP event. We’ll pick
up the pieces later.”

“Rog.”

He pulled into the truss and headed
for the aft airlock at best speed. In the utility room he opened the inner and
outer hatches, then proceeded to locate some suit undergarments and coolant
garments.

Susan’s voice came over the
intercom. “Jeff, were backwards. You’ve got our suits and we have yours.”

“Yeah, I just noticed that. Like I
said, do the best you can.”

Her sigh was audible. “Roger.”

A minute later Abby pulled into the
airlock, closing the hatches behind her. “Okay, we’re a rock in space.”

“Rog. Can’t be helped. We’ll let
Gabe and Newport sort it out when this has passed. We’ve already had a
lifetime’s worth of radiation on this little trip, we don’t need that much
more. Remind me to have lead shielding installed in the attic of Wrentham House
when we get back.”

“Now there’s a good idea.

“Yeah. Um, bad news.”

“What?”

“We have their suits and they have
ours.”

“Oh, crap.”

“See if you can squeeze into
Sue’s.”

“May have to hold my breath.”

“We’ll be in here for two hours.”

“That’s a long time to hold my
breath.”

“Yeah. You don’t have to get it all
the way on. But anything will be better than nothing.”

Jeff and Abby settled back into the
airlock. “How do you feel,” said Jeff.

“Like I’ve been shrink-wrapped. How
about you?”

“Gabe’s suit’s a bit smaller than
mine, but not much. I’ll survive.”

“This is the first major one of
these we’ve had. It’s a wonder we didn’t have more.”

“Well, we’re on the downside, in
fact nearing the end, of Solar cycle 24, so we didn’t really expect many, and
didn’t get them. An anomaly. In spite of Gabe’s mathematical abilities,
sometimes space is unpredictable.”

“Yeah, really. You think these
airlocks will work as designed?”

“They should, they were well tested
on Earth. Moreover, they’re heavy and were damn expensive to launch, just like
the hab airlock on Mars. They better work or I’m gonna be seriously pissed and
demand a refund from somebody.”

“If they’re stubborn, while I’m
glowing in the dark I’ll go hug their kids.”

He laughed. “That should do it.” He
punched the intercom button. “How you guys doing over there?”

Gabe’s voice came back. “We’re
fine. We’ve sort of set up a tent of spacesuits. It’s weird and awkward, but I
think it’ll serve the purpose. How about you?”

“Abby’s turning purple from trying
to hold her breath for two hours in Sue’s suit, but otherwise fine. How’s
Ghita?”

“She seems to be having fun playing
with a Mark III.”

“Well, make notes. We’ll tell her
all about it in due time. Not your typical childhood.”

“Yes. I believe this will qualify
for some time to come as one of one.”

“Yeah. Alright, everybody just sit
tight and let’s wait it out.”

“Heidi was sure right on top of it.
I don’t think NASA could have got a call out to us any quicker.”

“Probably not. But that’s why we
put this procedure together. Seems to have worked as designed. Most everyone in
the industry looked at us as hillbillies. But you know, we actually got a few
things right.”

“We got a lot of things right.”

Jeff smiled. “We did, didn’t we.”

Two hours later Jeff keyed the
intercom. “Okay, everybody sit tight, I’m gonna go see how we’re doing.” He
pointed a finger at Abby. “Stay.” Then he opened the hatches and proceeded back
into the commons. “How does everyone’s dosimeters look? Mine’s only reading
about plus three millirads over the past two hours.”

“Same here,” said Gabe. “And
Ghita’s is reading the same.”

“Here too,” said Susan.

“I’ll make it unanimous,” said
Abby.

“Well that’s a damn good sign
because the interior dosimeter is reading plus 70 millirads.”

“Jesus!” said Abby.

“Yeah, that was a big one. Okay,
background levels are now back to nominal. Okay, looks like it’s passed.
Everybody come on out and let’s see if we can get this hunk of junk back
online.”

“You shouldn’t be calling it a hunk
of junk,” said Gabe. “It may be sensitive.”

“If it’s upset now, just wait until
it finds out what we have planned for it during re-entry. Come on, get in here,
we have work to do.”

They all came in and began
stripping off parts of Mark III suits, coolant garments and undergarments. In a
short time they found they were all naked and floating in the midst of a cloud
of spacesuit parts.

“Um, this is different,” said Jeff.
He pointed to the commons camera above the video screen. “Abby, are you sure
that is off?”

“Yeah… I think so. I shutdown in
kind of a hurry.”

“Great. Okay, nobody touch a
transmit button until we find out what, if anything, is in the buffer. The last
thing we need is for this to show up on ABC, CBS, NBC, and YouTube.”

Abby chuckled. “Hmmm, kinky.”

“Shut up. Everybody find some
flight suits. Abby, Gabe, take the CSM, Sue and I will take the Sundancer. It’s
been a long time, but everyone find some startup checklists and let’s do this
by the numbers.”

Two hours later Gabe and Abby
joined Jeff and Sue in the commons.

“Where’s Ghita?” said Jeff.

Gabe pointed a thumb toward her
room. “She fell asleep in the CM. I put her back to bed.”

He smiled and nodded, then yawned
and looked at his watch. “Nearly midnight. I wish somebody would put me to bed.
How’d it go in there?”

Abby nodded. “Fine. CSM is back online.
Apparently no harm, no foul. Oh, and there’s nothing in the comm buffer. The
camera was off.”

“Well, that’s good news.”

“How’s the Sundancer?”

“Fine. I was just typing out a
status report to Newport letting them know we’re okay and giving them the dosimeter
readings. Also, Sue and I swapped the Mk IIIs, so if this happens again we’ll
have the right suits in the right places.”

“Good thinkin’.”

“We still need a better plan for
Ghita,” said Gabe. “We should have stowed all that stuff in the backup return
canister in aft storage in the CM, then put the canister in the forward
airlock.”

Jeff shrugged. “I don’t think she’d
be very happy in that thing for two hours unless Sue knocked her out again.”

“Yeah, but she’s only one year old
and has already received an average adult lifetime’s exposure to radiation.”

“I know, but I don’t know what to
do about it. One of the downsides to being a Martian I suppose. I really doubt
we’ll have another one of these events. Not this late in the solar cycle. This
was a fluke. And in five weeks we’ll be home.”

“I think Gabe has a good point,”
said Susan. “Yes, I know it’s a long shot, but the sun is somewhat
unpredictable. And I can stick a syringe in there that’ll knock Ghita out in a
minute. And we’ve got O
₂
and coolant water in there. Just a
precaution. And we can reconfigure when we get close to Earth.”

“Okay with me. Knock yourselves
out. In the meantime, I’m going to bed.”

Tuesday, October 9,
2018

1012 UTC (T plus 931
days)

Gabe’s voice came over the intercom
from the Sundancer. “Oh my god. Jeff, switch video to the telescope.”

Jeff, staring at the moon out of
the CMs windows with Abby switched video channels. “Okay. What am I looking
at?”

“That’s Grimaldi crater. Look at
the difference in albedo between the floor and the surrounding terrain. We
never saw anything like that on Mars.”

“Yeah. Interesting stuff.”

“Yes. Here, let me go to full mag.
Can you see the rilles to the southeast?”

“Uh huh. We did see those on Mars.
Are you recording this?”

“Yes. I’m streaming it to Newport.
Chrissie says it’s being broadcast live on CNN. She also says that now that
we’re in reasonable voice range everyone in the world is requesting a press
conference.”

“Figures. Alright, tell her to set
something up for later today.”

“Okay.”

He returned to the windows and
wrapped his arm around Abby’s shoulders. “Quite a sight isn’t it.”

“Yeah. Wow. Doesn’t look quite as
hospitable as Mars.”

Jeff chuckled. “I don’t think
either one is very hospitable.”

She turned and looked through the
port docking window at Earth. “Now,
that
looks hospitable.”

“It sure does. Three days.”

Abby nodded. “Yeah. It’s been a
long damn trip.”

“Still glad you came?”

She shook her head. “Wouldn’t have
missed it for the world.” She spun around, grasped him and kissed him. “Thank
you. Thank you for everything.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome. And
thank you. I couldn’t have done without you.”

She rested her head on his shoulder
as they both gazed at Earth looming large in the window.

#

They all sat in front of the
commons video camera. Jeff waved. “Hi Chrissie, let her rip.”

“Rog. You’re live.”

“Hello world, we’re back. Well,
almost. It’s been quite a trip and there’s no way I can describe it in 20
minutes or so. Chrissie, you want to orchestrate some questions for us?”

“Sure.”

“Hello,
Ares
, welcome home.
Don Gooding, NBC. How’s it feel to be almost home after two and a half years?”

“Hi Don. It feels good. It’s been a
long time. I’m not sure mankind was meant for this. It’s been hard, but in some
ways very enjoyable. It’s certainly been an experience like no other.” He
looked at Gabe, Abby, and Susan. “I can’t really describe it. There are no
words for it. It’s like Livingston or Hillary or Armstrong, it’s where no one
else has gone before, and there are no adequate words for it.”

“Glad to
see you again,
Ares
. Tracy Matson, USA Today. How is Ghita doing?”

“Hello
Tracy, long time no see. That sounds like a question for Gabe.”

Gabe
waved at the camera. “Hi Tracy, good to see you again also. Aside from being
sick and tired of space, like the rest of us, Ghita is doing fine.” She raised
Ghita’s hand. “Wave at the camera honey.” Ghita waved. “I think she has enough
memory of gravity on Mars that she finds weightlessness a little confusing. But
after seven months she seems to have the hang of it.” Gabe picked Ghita up and
placed her floating between she and Jeff.

Ghita
reached for her mother, but couldn’t get there. “Ahma.”

Gabe
chuckled and held out a finger. “Here.” Ghita grasped her mother’s finger and
pulled herself back into her grasp. “She’s learned to deal with the lack of
gravity, but I don’t think she’s real happy with it. And in three days we’re
going to confuse her again. Earth’s gravity will likely be a rude awakening.
She has the space sniffles like the rest of us, and her muscle tone is weak, as
she’s not adept at using our exercise equipment, but all in all she’s doing
well. I think once she adapts to Earth’s gravity she’ll be fine and catch up
with her peers fairly quickly.”

“Hello
Ares
.
John Leonard, National Geographic. Amongst your many experiences over the past
two and half years, is there anything that particular stands out?”

They all
looked at one another and chuckled.

“Hello
John,” said Jeff. “Oh, wow, that’s a tough one; probably different for each of
us. Aside from Ghita’s birth, which certainly has to be at or near the top of
the list, um, I think our landing on Mars was as memorable an experience as
I’ve ever had. When we touched down and I realized we made it and were still
alive, well, that was quite a moment.” He glanced at the others and held out
his hands. “What do you say?”

Gabe
nodded. “I’ll go along with Ghita’s arrival and the landing. Also our launch
from Earth and arrival in space is something I won’t be forgetting for a long
time.”

Jeff
looked at her and laughed softly. “But you never forget anything.”

She
shrugged. “Once we were in orbit, looking out the command module window at
Earth below us… it just took my breath away. That view is impossible to
describe.”

Abby
shook her head. “Um, I don’t have much to add to that highlights list. Uh, but
for me, even more memorable than the landing was climbing out of the lander and
setting foot on Mars. I remember so well the instant my boot made contact with
the sand. It was definitely a Neil Armstrong moment.”

Susan
nodded. “That’s a fairly definitive list. I would add one item, which Abby
won’t like, and that is the moment I first saw her broken leg. I thought to
myself, oh fine, we’re on Mars and the nearest hospital is 150 million miles
away, what am I going to do with this?”