Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (82 page)

Thursday, June 30,
2016 (T plus 100 days)

Jeff
connected the newly replaced number five solar panel array power cable. “Okay
Gabe, that’s it. How do we look?”

“Hold on,
give me a minute.”

“I’m exhausted,”
said Susan.

“Yeah,
big job. Hopefully we won’t have to do this again, or anything else like it.”

“Jeff,”
said Gabe.

“Yeah.”

“It’s
online, drive alignment checks, amps are 97.6 percent. Good job.”

“Hallelujah!
Okay, we’ll be inside in a few minutes.”

“What do
we do with this old panel,” said Susan.

“Chuck
it.”

“More
space junk?”

“At this
point I’m beyond caring. Here, hand it to me. Hang on to my tether and the
ship, momentum will carry me off when I toss it.” Jeff got some good footing
and gave the panel a heave away and behind them. “
Hasta la vista
, baby.”

As he
drifted off, Susan stopped him short and pulled him back to the ship.

“Hey,
Gabe?”

“Yeah.”

“I just
tossed the other half of the old panel. Mark our position and notify NORAD of
its location and probable orbit, not that anyone’s likely to be out here again
anytime soon.”

“Alright,
but those panels will probably follow us all the way to Mars, get snagged by
its gravity, and burn up on entry.”

“Their
velocity wouldn’t carry them past? Just like us?”

“I doubt
it. Their mass is negligible.”

“Works
for me.” He grabbed Susan’s arm. “Well, what do you think? Miller time?”

“Do we
have any Miller?”

“No.”

“Do we
have any beer?”

“No.”

She
groaned, “Some date you are.”

Jeff
chuckled. “Come on, let’s get back inside. I’ll buy you a squeeze bottle of
grape juice.”

“You must
have been a real hit with the girls in college.”

“No, not
really.”

“Jeff?”
said Gabe.

“Yeah, go
ahead.”

“Let me
know as soon as you’re back inside. Now that everything’s working again, I’m
going to have Abby put us back into a Passive Thermal Control orientation, and
start rotation.”

“Copy.
Come on Sue, let’s head for the barn.”

“Right
behind you.”

Friday, August 19,
2016 (T plus 150 days)

Jeff, Gabe, Abby and Susan stared
intently at
Magellan
’s telemetry.

“How’s it look Gabe?” said Jeff.

“Right down the pipe. So far so
good. Entry interface in three minutes.”

“She have
Pathfinder
’s
signal yet?”

“No, too far. But she’s right on course.” Gabe
pointed to the wide-screen TV. “There’s the Valles Marineris.”

“God, it doesn’t matter how many times we do this,
each one is more nerve wracking than the last.”

Abby groaned. “It wasn’t so bad when we were on
Earth, but now? God, it’s a long way home.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

“It’s a long way home.”

Jeff grinned at her and shook his head.

They quietly watched the seconds tick down.

“Entry Interface,” said Gabe. “125 kilometers
altitude, 598 kilometers from the landing site, four and a half minutes to
chutes, six minutes to touchdown.”

Jeff sighed aloud. “Come on baby, do us a great big
favor and get it right.”

Gabe again pointed at the video screen. “Pyrrhae
Chaos. Right on the mark.”

Jeff nodded.

“Come on you bitch,” said Abby, “I don’t want to
have to spend another year in space.”

Jeff gently grabbed her arm. “Now, be nice.”

Four minutes later Gabe pointed again. “Morava
Valles, 20 seconds, she’s got
Pathfinder
‘s signal; solid lock and on
course. Pyros armed.”

“Thank god.”

“Yeah.” A moment later Gabe pointed at the
telemetry. “There! Cargo door jett and… pyros and drogue chutes. Here they
come, right on target.” 9.6 seconds later the final load was ejected from the
rear of the lifting body. Gabe grinned. “They’re all in the air. 90 seconds and
they’ll all be on the ground.”

“One way or another. Spread?” said Jeff.

“About 270 meters.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Good
job. Guess we should have brought some champagne.”

Susan shook her head. “Do you know what that
carbonation would do to your GI tract up here?”

Jeff cringed. “Yeah. But we could’ve opened the
bottle a few days ago and let it go flat.”

Abby frowned at him. “Yuck.”

“Don’t you think maybe it’s a bit premature for
celebration?” said Gabe. “
Balboa
and the MAVs won’t arrive for another
five weeks. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Jeff nodded. “Good point. But at least with those,
unlike Newport, we’ll be close enough to deliver last minute instructions, if
necessary.”

“Yeah. Okay, we’ve got chutes and radar across the
board.
Andy
’s in powered descent, sky crane deploying. 40 seconds to
touchdown.” 50 seconds later it was all over. “That’s it, last one. All 15
loads on the ground and intact, so far as I can tell.”

He grinned. “Whew. I’d be jumping up and down… if I
could.”

Gabe chuckled. “So would I. There’s
Andy
’s
system check. He’s alive.”

“’At a boy
Andy
. Get to work. See you in 47
days.”

Wednesday, September
7, 2016 (T plus 169 days)

Jeff sat
down to breakfast, and smiled at Gabe. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank
you. You remembered.”

“Sure.
I’ll bet that ten years ago you never would have imagined that you’d celebrate
your 30
^th
birthday in space.”

She
smiled and shook her head. “Uh, no.”

He
glanced at Susan. “We gonna have cake and ice cream later?”

She
shrugged. “Well, we do have some freeze dried ice cream, but a cake? I don’t
think so. Even if we had the ingredients I don’t know how we’d make it in
zero-g without creating a horrible mess.”

“Pity. 30
^th
birthday is one of those landmark events that should be suitably celebrated.”

“We do
have some freeze dried brownies.”

“That’s
close.”

“But no
candles.”

Gabe
sighed and shook her head. “And I was so looking forward to seeing 30 candles
on a reconstituted freeze dried brownie.”

Monday, September 12,
2016 (T plus 174 days)

Jeff
pulled through the truss into the commons, and found Gabe, Abby and Susan
gathered around the table. “Ah, the gang’s all here. What’s up?”

Gabe sat
wringing her hands, appearing very nervous.

Susan
glanced up and smiled softly. “Um, it’s time we had a talk.”

He
frowned. “About what?”

“About
conceiving a Martian.”

“Ah. Um…
okay.” He drifted over to the table and pulled into a chair. “You have my
undivided attention.”

Susan
looked at Gabe. “Gabriel?”

Gabe
grudgingly grinned at Jeff. “Hi.”

He
chuckled. “Uh, hi.”

“I
suppose it will come as no surprise that I’m the chosen one for this, um…
undertaking.”

He smiled
softly and shook his head. “No, no surprise.”

She
nodded and glanced at Susan. “Your turn.”

“Alright,”
said Susan. She turned back to Jeff. “It’s time.”

Jeff’s
eyes opened wide. “Now?”

“Well,
not necessarily right this moment but, today.”

“Um,
we’re still 23 days from landing.”

“Yes, but
we’ve talked about that. Gabe’s periods have been surprisingly regular since we
left Earth, and if she stays on schedule, she’ll ovulate in five days. So, it’s
time to get on with it.”

Gabe
frowned. “Can we try to make this a little less clinical?”

Susan
smiled apologetically. “Sorry, but there it is. This is how we maximize our
opportunities.”

Gabe bit
her lip and, staring at her hands again, nodded.

Jeff
reached over, clasped her hands in his, and squeezed gently.

She
didn’t look up.

Abby
shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re problem is, girl. I mean, think of
it, you’re gonna be the first woman – that we know of – to have sex in space.
Not to mention, if all goes according to plan, the first to conceive.”

Gabe
shrugged. “This isn’t exactly how I ever figured on getting into the record
books.”

“Okay,
then just forget about that and enjoy yourself.” She looked at Jeff. “I would.”

Gabe
glared at her.

Jeff
glanced at Abby and Susan. “I wonder if perhaps Gabe and I could have a minute
alone?”

Susan
pushed away from the table. “Sure. Abby, come help me with laundry.”

Abby
shoved up from the table, got her feet on the chair back and launched herself
toward the truss hatch. “No problem.”

Jeff
squeezed Gabe’s hands again. “Hey?”

She
nervously looked at him.

“Do you
remember the first time Abby’s folks came to visit us at Wrentham House?”

She
nodded. “Of course.”

“Do you
remember our kiss by the hot tub?”

Gabe
smiled softly and whispered, “Yes.”

“What
were you feeling then?”

She glanced down and bit her lip. “My heart was
beating so hard I thought it was going to burst out of my chest, and I couldn’t
breath. All I could think of was how much I loved you and wanted you.”

Jeff nodded.
“Yeah, that’s about how I remember it too. Do you still feel that way?”

She
glanced into his eyes, and nodded. “Yes.”

“Me too.”

She
reached over and caressed his cheek. “You could have taken me right then, I
wouldn’t have struggled.”

Jeff
sighed. “We had a houseful of people.”

“Yeah.”

“So, what
are you so nervous about now?”

She
looked into his eyes. “I’m just afraid.”

“Afraid?
Of what?”

She
whimpered. “That I won’t please you.”

“Good god
Gabriel, why would you think that?”

“Well,
because.”

He shook his
head. “Because… what?”

Gabe
looked puzzled. “You don’t know?”

Jeff
shook his head. “Know what?”

“Sue
hasn’t told you?”

“Told me
what? What are you talking about?”

“I
thought you knew.”

He shook
his head and frowned. “Knew what? Gabe, get to the point, you’re making me
nervous.”

She
glanced down for a moment, then back into his eyes, and then whispered, “Jeff,
I’ve never had sex, I’m a virgin. I don’t know what to do.”

Jeff
stared at her, wide eyed. “You’re kidding.”

“No.”

“Never?”

She shook
her head.

“Not even like, you know, making out in the front
seat of a car?”

She shrugged. “The closest I ever
got was parked in front of the house after my high school prom. My date started
kissing me, which was… kind of okay, I guess. But then he started groping me. I
slapped him, jumped out of the car and ran into the house.”

Jeff
looked askance at her. “Huh. Gabe, you are devastatingly beautiful, incredibly
talented, extremely well educated, intelligent beyond measure and, dare I say,
very desirable. So, pardon my curiosity but, how’d you make it to 30 without
ever having sex?”

She
looked away and shrugged again. “Well, in high school I was a good girl. And in
college and grad school I was busy, and nobody ever came along that lit a fire
in me. Then one day you appeared and took me out of circulation and… here we
are. So it’s partly your fault.”

He
smiled. “I’ll be damned. Sorry about that.”

“I’m
not.” She looked into his eyes longingly. “You’re the only man I’ve ever loved,
the only man I’ve ever wanted.
You’re not, um, disappointed, are you? I
mean, that I have no experience?
”

Jeff smiled softly at her, “No,
Gabe, I’m not disappointed.”

“You’re not going to go bragging to
your buddies at the bar about how you conquered a virgin?”

“Uh, no. In case you haven’t
noticed, the nearest bar is about 90 million miles from here.”

“No, I mean later.”

“No, I’m not going to do that.” He
paused and gazed her into her eyes.

“What?”

“Oh, I was just savoring the
moment.”

She frowned. “Savoring
what
moment?”

“Well, I’ve known you for four and half years and
we finally found a subject that I know more about than you do.”