Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (31 page)

They moved to the
side of the carport and Gabe gave the rover the ‘Go’ command. The rover engine
started and a moment later it engaged its reverse gear, backed out of the carport,
turned and rolled across the drive to the edge of the embankment and stopped.

The group followed
along.

“It’s currently
surveying the slope, deciding whether or not it should go down that way,” Gabe
said. “This slope is well within its operating limitations, and it should start
down in just a second.”

The rover again moved
forward, slowly descended to the bottom of the ravine and turned toward the
trailer. About fifteen feet short of the trailer it stopped.

“It’s now looking
over the trailer with a combination of image recognition and laser
measurements, determining what it is and how to deal with it.”

The rover started
forward, turned and pulled up in front of the trailer, stopped, then very
slowly backed up to within inches of the trailer’s tongue and stopped again.

“It’s now adjusting
the height of its hitch to match that of the trailer. It’s an auto-latching
system.”

The rover inched
backwards, latched onto the trailer and immediately started forward, turning
back up the ravine.

“By default, the rover
will attempt to retrace it’s path, that being a known safe route.” When the
rover reached the base of the hill sloping back up to the drive it again
stopped. “However, in this case, it’s a bit concerned with the slope. It has a
strain-gauge on the hitch and it knows the mass of the load. We tossed about
600 pounds of rocks in the trailer and the rover is eyeing the slope and
scratching its head saying, ‘I’m not so sure about this.’”

The Senator grinned
and shook his head. “My gosh, that is remarkable. That thing is smarter than
some people I know.”

Gabe laughed. “Uh,
yes sir.”

“How does it know how steep the
slope is?”

“It has a gimbal-mounted laser
rangefinder. It simply surveys the hill then uses trigonometry to ascertain the
angle, compares that with its operating parameters and makes a logic decision.
It will decide against the slope, we gave it enough weight to ensure that, then
it will check its terrain map and search for a better alternative. It has a
very high-resolution topographical map of the property in its computer. On Mars
it will began with a considerably lower resolution topo map based on HiRISE
imagery of the landing site, but will enhance the map resolution as it surveys
the area. It can learn and it remembers.”

The rover continued moving forward,
slowly working its way up the ravine.

“It has decided to go around. Once
it locates a spot where the slope is manageable, it should come on up to the
driveway.”

Fifty yards up the ravine the rover
turned, went around a tree, rolled onto the drive and headed back toward them.

“Now Senator, this is the part I
really like. If you’ll look at that parking area, you’ll see it’s not very big.
If the rover pulls the trailer in there, it won’t be able to get out. So watch
what it does.”

The rover pulled around the drive
and began to make a wide sweeping turn into the parking area then stopped.

“It sees the house is back there.
On Mars, that could be a large rock or hill or, for that matter, a crater. So
it’s thinking.”

After a moment the rover backed up
a few feet, turned and continued forward a ways. Then stopped and backed the
trailer into the parking area, released the hitch, returned to the carport and
shutdown.

Senator Landers looked on with
astonishment. “That is amazing.”

Gabe glanced over her shoulder toward
Jeff, smiled and winked. “Yes sir, it’s a very capable program; a combination
of Wind River Systems, SRT and EAU Robotics software with, uh, some tweaking
here and there.”

The Senator turned around to Gabe.
“And you did this in four months?”

“Yes sir. SRT did most of the work.
We provided the base Mules, specifications and some of the software. We
understand they had a small army of Stanford engineering graduate students
working on it day and night so they could sign their names on the final two rovers
that will go to Mars.”

He rubbed his forehead. “It gives
me a headache thinking of what you people might be capable of in four years.”

Gabe smiled. “There’s a lot out
there in the commercial world, Senator. All you need to do is pick a bit from
here and a bit from there and put it together.”

After dinner that evening, Jeff
poured glasses of Croft vintage port for himself and Senator Landers and showed
him into the great room.

“Jeff, this really is a spectacular
place you have here.”

“Thank you sir. We like it.”

The Senator walked up to the
Bösendorfer. “And this, I believe, is the biggest piano I’ve ever seen. Do you
play?”

Jeff shook his head. “Only enough
to embarrass myself. This is Gabe’s domain.”

“Really. She’s not only a
physicist, but plays the piano as well?”

“Uh, yes sir. Let me see if I can
snag her.” Jeff waved at Gabe, caught her eye and motioned her over to them.
Gabe, seeing them beside the piano, grimaced and buried her face in her hand in
an articulated groan. Jeff called across the room, “Come on. You knew this was
coming.”

Gabe slowly walked up to them.
“That time, is it?”

Jeff smiled. “Might as well do it
and be done with it. Right?”

Gabe sat at the piano as Jeff
raised the top and motioned to the sofa. “Senator, have a seat.” He took a seat
beside the Senator and motioned to Gabe. “You’re on.”

Gabe grinned sheepishly. “Alright.
What shall I play?”

Senator Landers shook his head. “I
have no idea young lady. I’m afraid I’m not much of a musical connoisseur.”

Gabe peered at Jeff quizzically.

Jeff smiled back. “What are you
looking at me for? I don’t know. Uh, let’s see… Oh, how about the
Sunken
Cathedral
. Haven’t heard that in a while.”

Gabe nodded, turned to the keyboard
and played Debussy’s prelude,
La cathédrale engloutie
. As she played, the rest of the group slowly and quietly filed in and
took seats or stood behind the sofa. As Gabe finished the piece, the gathering
applauded enthusiastically.

“Jeff said you played
the piano,” said Senator Landers. “That was a gross understatement. You play
beautifully.”

Gabe bowed
graciously. “Thank you.”

Standing behind the
sofa, Debra, who had barely said a word all day, asked, “Do you know any
Chopin?”

Gabe nodded. “Yes.
Something in particular?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t
know the names. I just like his music.”

Gabe again turned to Jeff and
raised her eyebrows in question.

Jeff pursed his lips and thought
for a second. “Um, hmmm. How about the Opus 10, No. 3 etude. That’s pretty
Chopin-esque.”

Gabe nodded and began playing.

Senator Landers leaned toward Jeff
and whispered, “You seem to know your music.”

“I’m a fan of the classics… and I
know her repertoire.”

Again, as she finished there where
was thunderous applause that belied the size of the small group.

“Thank you. That was lovely,” said
Debra. “May ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How long does it take you to learn
something like that?”

Gabe winced and again looked at
Jeff.

“Go ahead,” he said, “tell her.”

“Um, about four and a half minutes.
As long as it takes to play it.”

“Huh?”

The Senator peered at her, tilted
his head to one side and said in a matter of fact voice, “You have eidetic
memory.”

Gabe nodded. “Yes.”

“Good lord.”

“May I burden you with one more?”
Jeff asked.

Gabe smiled and nodded. “One more.
Then I’m gonna need a drink. What?”

“I heard you play a bit of this a
while back, so I know you know it, and I love it.
El Corpus
Christi en Sevilla
.”

“You heard that, did you?”

Jeff nodded. “Sure.”

“Okay. It’s been years since I
played the whole piece, so give me a second.” She played silently atop the keys
for a minute. “Sorry. I remember it, but I’m not sure my fingers do. Some of
the fingering is a bit awkward.” Then she began to play from the first book of Isaac
Albeniz’,
Iberia
Suite, her long golden tresses swaying in time with
Albeniz’ Andalusian scented motifs.

A third of the way into the piece
the Senator muttered, “Oh, mother of God.”

Jeff glanced at him and smiled.

When Gabe concluded, Senator
Landers stood and walked over to her. “Gabriel, may I kiss your hand?” She
grinned shyly, stood and held out her hand. “I do believe that was the most
beautiful thing I have ever heard. Why are you not on the concert stage?”

“My mother was a concert pianist
and taught me to play, and that was originally the plan. I began college as a
piano major but changed my mind. Eventually ended up in applied mathematics.
And from there it was just a short leap into physics.”

“Music to physics. That’s
remarkable.”

“Not really. Music and mathematics
often go together.”

“I’ve heard that. And you’re
certainly living proof. You play magnificently. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, sir. And
thank you.”

“Senator? Another glass of port?”
Jeff asked.

“Yes. Thank you. That is some great
wine.”

“I wonder, sir, do you smoke?”

“No, I don’t. Though, uh, I have
been known to enjoy a fine cigar now and then, though I didn’t bring any.”

“That, sir, is something I can
fix.” Jeff led him back to the bar, poured a couple more ports and retrieved a
cigar box from beneath the bar.

“Good lord,” said the Senator.
“Genuine Cuban Montecristos? You do know these are illegal?”

“Yes sir. I won’t tell anyone if
you won’t.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“Perhaps you’d care to accompanying
me onto the back patio.”

“My pleasure.”

On the patio, Jeff lit his and the
Senator’s cigars.

Senator Landers held the cigar in front of him.
“Now
that
is a cigar.”

Jeff smiled. “Yes sir. The Cubans
don’t have much, but they do know how to make a fine cigar.”

The Senator puffed slowly, savoring
the forbidden fruit. “This is some view, even in the moonlight.” He paused for
a moment, thinking. “Jeff, let me ask you something.”

“Of course sir.”

“You have more money than most
people can comprehend, and a lifestyle to die for. Not to mention the fact that
you live under the same roof with four of the most incredible women I’ve ever
met.”

Jeff interrupted. “They’re
employees, sir. They live in the east wing, and I live in the west. And
upstairs there’s kind of a ‘Thou shalt not cross’ line between the two, which
we all recognize and obey.”

“Be that as it may… tell me, why
are you doing this? Why do you want to give all this up and take off for a
planet that’s probably going to kill you?”

“Well sir, first of all, I don’t
plan on giving it all up. Except for a lot of money I don’t need, I expect most
of it to be here when I get back. As for Gabe, Abby, Susan and Chrissie, well,
when the mission is complete I fully expect them to go on their way and get on
with their lives. But to answer your question… in 1923 a New York Times
reporter asked the famous British mountaineer, George Mallory, why he wanted to
climb Mount Everest. Do you recall Mallory’s reply?”

“Yes, ‘Because it’s there’.”

“And there you have it.”

“That’s it? Just because it’s
there?”

“Well, that, and the fact that
nobody else seems to have much interest in doing it, at least not for several
more decades, if even then. Senator, I don’t know about you but, personally,
I’d kind of like to see man’s footprints on Mars, preferably within my
lifetime. And, given the current state of manned space flight in this country
and, for that matter, the rest of the world, the only way it appears that is
going to happen is if they are my footprints.”

Senator Landers nodded. “Didn’t
Mallory die on Everest?”

“Yes sir. He’s still up there.
Tragic perhaps. On the other hand, what more fitting end for an explorer that
pushed the edge of the envelope?”

“Well I’ll say this much, it would
sure put those silly television reality shows in proper perspective.”

Jeff laughed. “Yes sir, that it
would.”

“Okay Jeff, assuming that it can be
done and you can do it, what do you want from me? What can I do to help?”

“Senator, there is but one thing we
ask of the United States government: cooperation. And that comes in two forms.
First, we would appreciate usage of certain space related assets that the
taxpayers, myself included, have already paid for. And by the way, I paid $135
million in federal income tax this year. I’d hope that’s deserving of at least
some consideration.”

“Well if it isn’t, I’d ask for a
refund.”

“Would I get it?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so. Sir, we’d appreciate
access to things like the DSN and available satellites, particularly for
communications, though some additional images of the Margaritifer Basin from
the MRO’s HiRISE camera would also be very helpful. But most importantly, we’ll
need access to launch facilities above and beyond those available to commercial
launch providers. We will undoubtedly have the need to launch several vehicles
essentially simultaneously. We’ll need pads that NASA owns and only NASA uses.”

“Hmmm. That could be sticky.”

“I understand. But I’m going to ask
anyway. There’s one other thing that may be a bit stickier still: we’d like to
borrow an Apollo command module from NASA.”