Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (98 page)

“Yeah, it’s been going down at the
rate of about 22 amps a day.”

“So another three or four days and
we’re in trouble.”

Abby looked at him and frowned.
“You don’t think we’re in trouble now?”

“Well, I guess that depends on your
definition of trouble.”

She shook her head. “Okay, how
about this: there’s a turkey in the fridge and the convection oven uses 62.5
amps. Any kind of surge will trip the circuit breaker. Are we in trouble now?”

Jeff chuckled softly. “Ah crap,
forgot about that. Bet you never imagined a turkey would be driving our power
management scheme.”

“Uh, no, not really.”

“Well, we’re gonna have
Thanksgiving dinner if we have to spit the damn thing and roast it over Sue’s
Bunsen burner.” Jeff sighed. “Alright, when it comes time to start cooking,
light up one of the generators and isolate the kitchen circuit on it. That’s a
pretty light load and won’t take much fuel.”

“Roger that.”

“In the meantime, come give me
hand. There’s another crate outside I want to bring in.”

“Oh lord, what now?”

“You’ll see. Trust me, you’ll like
it.” Jeff yelled to Gabe and Sue, “Abby and I are going outside for a minute.
Be right back.”

Stepping through the airlock Abby
stopped abruptly and looked around. “Good god! Now I know what hell looks
like.”

Jeff put his hand on her shoulder.
“Yeah. Next time somebody says, ‘When hell freezes over’, you can say, ‘It
already did, and I was there’.”

Abby laughed, “We’re definitely not
in Kansas anymore.”

“I dunno. I remember seeing some
photos of the Dust Bowl back in the thirties. It didn’t look a whole lot
better. Come on, let’s grab this thing and get back inside.”

Jeff located the case he wanted and
they each picked up an end and carried it toward the airlock.

Abby groaned, “Jeez! What have you
got in here? A cow?”

Jeff laughed, “No. But prime rib
does sound pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, don’t do that. What I’d give
for dinner at Durgin Park right now.”

“Note to self: As soon as we get
back take Abby to Durgin Park.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“It’s a date. Okay, let me turn
around and get this end in first. We’ll need to stand it on end to close the
airlock.”

They managed to lever the case into
the suit room and shove it up against the wall.

“What now?” Abby asked.

“Uh, clean it up and leave it here
for now. Let it thaw a bit.”

“What’s in it?”

“You still haven’t learned.”

“Crap. You and your damn
surprises.”

“Eh, you love it. You know you do.”

She grinned and nodded. “Yeah, I do. But
you
,
I’m not so sure about.”

A little past 1400 local mean
standard time, Jeff, Gabe, Abby and Susan sat down to their first Thanksgiving
dinner on Mars. Outside it was nearly dark, the atmosphere heavily laden with
dust, the wind blowing at over 100 miles per hour and the temperature 110
°
F below zero. But inside they were warm and
comfortable and the air was filled with the aroma of baked turkey – except for
granola bars and dried fruit, the first non-rehydrated food they had had since
the night before they landed. As Jeff carved the bird, there was only silence,
no one finding any words appropriate to the occasion; they simply sat and
marveled and savored the aroma.

With an ample supply sliced and on
the platter, Jeff took his seat. “If it’s alright, I’d like to say grace.”

The women nodded and bowed their
heads and they all took one another’s hands.

Jeff closed his eyes and reached
into his memory.

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O
Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst
brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

“Amen!”

Gabe sat silently, her head still
bowed, arms wrapped around her belly. Jeff gently reached over and wiped the
tears from her cheeks. “It’s gonna be fine. Let’s eat.”

They passed around turkey,
dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, green beans with slivered almonds, and
two liters of 2010 Hans Lang Riesling that had survived the trip reasonably
well, frozen solid in a Ball freezer jar. And, for a time, set aside all
thoughts of what they had always known as home – now 130 million miles away.

Abby winked at Gabe and gave her a
thumb up. “I take it all back, everything I’ve ever said about your cooking.
This is great!”

Gabe beamed. “I think that’s the
nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Abby grinned. “Yeah, well, don’t
let it go to your head.”

“I’ve never cooked a turkey
before.”

Jeff reached over and squeezed her
wrist, “Well, I can’t imagine a better start.” He turned to Susan, “How’d your
pumpkin pie turn out?”

“I think it turned out good. A
little weird making it with powdered eggs and milk, but I think it’s fine.
We’ll see.”

“Most excellent. My favorite.”

“Also, after considerable
experimentation we believe we have come up with a serviceable formula for a
reasonable facsimile of whipped cream. It has a half-life of about 30 seconds,
but at least it doesn’t taste like something we dug up in the crater out back.”

Jeff choked down a laugh. “I’m sure
it’ll be great.”

Abby added, “And if we run it
through the centrifuge, we can isolate the green glow.”

Now Jeff laughed aloud. “Ah, that’s good, really
good. I was actually more interested in eating it than reading by it.”

Supper finished, the table was
cleared and, following a few minutes of what sounded like an organic chemistry
lab session, Susan’s pumpkin pie was brought forth with… whipped cream. It was
wonderful.

Gabe sighed. “Oh my. What do you
suppose they’re eating on the ISS?”

Jeff shook his head. “I dunno.
Reconstituted tofu with a side of soy beans?”

Abby laughed, “Eat your hearts out
NASA.” She
poured herself another glass of wine and
looked across the table at Jeff. “So, are you gonna tell us what’s in that
crate now?”

“Now? Um,
probably the same thing that was in it this morning.”

She
glared at him. “Gabe, would you please punish him for me?”

“My
pleasure.” Gabe reached over and rapped Jeff on the back of the head.

He winced
and frowned at her. “Ow. Keep that up and I’ll drag it back outside and not let
you have it.”

Gabe
grinned and furrowed her brow. “What’s in it?”

“I’m not
gonna tell you. But…” he smiled, “… you’re welcome to go open it and find out
for yourselves.”

Gabe,
Susan and Abby glanced at each other, grinning, leaped from the table and
headed for the suit room.

Jeff
called after them, “Bring it into the commons before you open it.” He got up
and stood in the hatchway sipping his wine, watching with amusement as they
struggled with the six-foot-long, 36-cubic foot transport case.

Susan
frowned. “What have you got in here? Bricks?”

He
chuckled. “Whiner. It was a lot heavier on Earth when I packed it.”

They
finally got it situated in the middle of the room. Abby knelt on the floor,
reached for the latches, then paused. “Um, wait a minute.” She glanced at Jeff.
“This isn’t full of liquid nitrogen, is it?”

Jeff
shook his head. “No.”

She undid
all the latches but one, then slowly twisted the last and jumped back. Nothing
happened.

Jeff laughed. “What’s the matter? Nervous in the
service?”

She
cautiously crawled back to the crate. “I don’t trust you.”

“Gee,
thanks.”

She
raised the lid about an inch. Gabe and Susan stepped back. Abby peeked inside.

Jeff
laughed. “Ah for cryin’ out loud, just open it. There’s nothing in there
that’ll bite you.”

Abby
shrugged, tossed the hinged lid back, and sat staring at the multi-layer
insulation blanket. “Insulation?”

“Yeah. It
shouldn’t be all that cold in there. It’s heated.”

Gabe
stared at the crate, frowning. “With what?”

“Radioisotope
heaters.”

“Why?”

“Why do
you think? There’s stuff in there that I didn’t want frozen. Come on, get on
with it.”

Abby
pulled off the insulation while Gabe and Susan got down on the floor on either
end of the crate. “What the hell?” said Abby as she pulled out a five-foot-long
bundle of plastic greenery.

Gabe
stared at it for a moment, then gasped. “It’s a Christmas tree!”

Jeff
laughed. “Very good. Some assembly required.”

They
immediately dug into the crate and pulled out decorations, ornaments, strings
of lights, boxes, and gift-wrapped presents.

“What is this?” said Gabe, holding up a bundle of long,
narrow cardboard strips that looked like brickwork.

Susan
shook her head. “I was right, he did have bricks in here.”

“Here,
I’ll show you.” Jeff took the bundle from her, sat on the floor in front of the
television, and began folding and assembling. The others watched with interest
as the box-like frame slowly took shape. A couple minutes later he was
finished. “There.” He stood the frame up and slid it around the wide-screen
display.

Gabe
frowned. “It looks like a fireplace.”

“Very
perceptive.” He got up, walked over to the computer, selected a video, and hit
PLAY. A moment later there was a crackling fire on the screen.

They all
grinned.

Gabe
clapped her hands. “Oh my god, it
is
a fireplace. Even sounds like it.”

“Uh huh. And we’re not
quite done yet.” He looked over the boxes scattered around the floor and
pointed at one. “Abby, hand me that box.” He opened the box, pulled out a dark
grey pottery cup and set it on the computer table. Opened another smaller box,
pulled out an incense stick, placed it in the holder on the edge of the cup,
took out a BIC lighter, and lit it. Soon the commons began to fill with the
aroma of burning cedar.

They all
stared at the fire, soft smiles on each face.

Susan
shook her head. “You thought of everything.”

“Oh, I
don’t know about everything, but I did manage to think of this.”

“It’s
lovely.”

Abby
sighed. “Now this is something I never expected to see out here.”

Jeff grinned. “Well, we’ve gotta have Christmas.
It’s a moral imperative.” He took a seat on the sofa. Abby and Sue joined him
while Gabe sat on the floor and rested her arm and head on his knees, all
quietly watching the ‘fire’.

“This is almost like Christmas at home,” said Gabe.

Jeff nodded. “Yeah. Except that your bathroom is
bigger than this room.”

She glanced around. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Uh huh.”

She sat upright. “Eh!”

“What?”

“I need to pee.”

Abby groaned. “Well, thank you for that useful bit
of information.” She pointed to the right. “It’s that way.”

“I know, but this is so nice.”

Jeff shook his head. “It’ll still be here when you
return.”

She stood, and Susan along with her. At the hatch
they exchanged whispers. Then Gabe headed into the bathroom and Susan returned
to the sofa.

Jeff glanced at her and frowned.

“Girl stuff.”

“Great. I don’t want to hear about it.”

“I wasn’t going to explain it.”

“Thank you.”

“Wimp.”

“Sue, over the past four and a half years I’ve
heard far more about ‘girl stuff’ than I ever wanted or needed to know.”

Abby chuckled. “Boss, sometimes I think you may be
in the wrong line of work.”

“Really? Ya think?” They sat quietly for a moment,
then Jeff sighed. “No, I’ve got the best job in the world.”

Susan glanced at him. “On this world, what other
job might you have?”

He laughed. “Good point. Hadn’t thought of it that
way.”

A couple minutes later Gabe stuck her head through
the hatch, looking very concerned and sounding rather unhappy. “Sue, come
here.”

Susan jumped up, went into the bathroom and closed
the hatch behind her.

Jeff glanced at Abby and grumbled, “Oh god, what
now?”

She shrugged.

“Go find out.”

“I’d rather not. Jeff, patience.”

A minute later the hatch opened and Susan stepped
into the commons followed by Gabe, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Jeff’s heart sank. Not again. He stood and stared
at her. “What is it Gabe?”

She bit her lip and through the tears, smiled. “I’m
pregnant.”

For a moment Jeff stood, stunned, mouth agape, then
rushed to Gabe and, beaming, hugged and kissed her. “Oh my god!”