First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (36 page)

"Yeah.
Unless you want to come out and get us," the woman sounded
tired.

“Yeah,
we'll come out in the morning with both rovers,” Mario replied.

"No
cracks about women driving yet?" Joyce asked.

Mario
chuckled. "Wouldn't think of it. I happen to have two women here
with me; I don't dare step out of line with them watching..."
Wanda grinned at Tess. She grinned back.

"Good.
Just remember, I'll be in arms reach tomorrow too," Joyce
replied. He sighed and shook his head.

...*...*...*...*...

The
next morning the trio had a quick breakfast and headed out to the
garage. "This sucks," Wanda muttered.

"Tell
me about it," Tess muttered. Tess took the first rover, Mario
and Wanda the second. Together they trekked out.

"Should
we have brought something? Tools? A fruit basket?" Wanda asked
Mario as he drove.

He
chuckled. "We can give them a fruit basket later. Somehow I
don't think a greeting gift is what they will have on their minds
right now," he responded. She sighed and hugged herself to him.

"Glad
we had a softer landing; can you imagine trying to get to the backup
hab?" he asked.

She
shivered. "Yeah." She looked over to the left. "Oh is
that an igneous rock structure? I wonder if it was kicked up here by
the asteroid impact? Slow down so I can see!"

He
sighed. "Get in the bubble Wanda, I will slow." He pulled
back on the throttle, slowing them down to a five kilometer crawl.

"What
is de hold up?" Tess asked.

"Oops."
Mario opened the channel. "Um, sorry Tess, wifey thinks she sees
something interesting and wants to get a peak. Why don't you take
lead for a moment?" he suggested.

She
grunted as she passed them. "Don't mind if I do." He smiled
then grimaced as he felt a jab on his calf.

"Owe!
What was that for?" He looked down at Wanda.

"For
the wifey crack," she growled. He rubbed his shin. "Slow
down!"

He
sighed. "This is going to take all day at this rate." He
slowed down even further.

"Oh,
no, I think... yeah, I cataloged this before, there is a boot print.
Never mind," she finally said, sounding disappointed. He sped
up. "Not so fast! This isn't a race."

He
groaned. "A reallly REALLY long day." He felt the jab on
his shin again. "OWE!"

"Tess,
next time she rides with you, my shins can't take much more abuse,"
he grumped. Both women laughed. "It's not funny their all
bruised and battered now!" He rubbed his aching shin. She'd pay
for that later he vowed.

Wanda
turned and gave him a lurking smile. "Want me to kiss it and
make it all better?" she asked. He grinned.

"Now
that you mention it..."

She
laughed. "Just watch the road mister chauffeur."

He
sighed. "Promises promises..."

...*...*...*...*...

They
crested a rise and stopped. "What's up?" Wanda asked
looking up from her view in the bubble.

"Damn,"
he murmured, eyes locked on the site outside.

She
looked at Mario staring out and turned. "What. Oh crap. Talk
about a bang up job," she muttered. She heard her husband sigh.

"Yeah,"
he said, gushing another sigh. The lander was listing to one side.
Two wheel trucks were tucked up under it, another was ripped off.

"Looks
like they have the rover out at least," Tess commented.

A
figure in a skin suit came around a rock and waved. "Yeah. Nasty
landing," Mario said, stating the obvious.

"How
did they get the ramp down?" Wanda asked.

"They
propped the end up so they could get it off I bet. Probably propped
rocks under her to keep it stable." Mario pointed to a few rocks
under the craft.

She
nodded. "Damn. Glad they aren't carrying any sensitive gear."

Mario
frowned. "Sensitive enough. Electronics don't like bumpy rides
even more than people. A good jolt and wires can break, or cross."

She
shuddered. "Yeah. Let's get down there and see what we can do."

Mario
smiled. "Now you’re starting to sound like a junk yard
specialist." He smiled as he started down the rise into the
bowl.

...*...*...*...*...

They
were met at the edge of the landing site by none other than Commander
Longfeather. She waved as they pulled up. Mario chuckled. The lady
had a not quite regulation paint job on her helmet, consisting of
what looked like an Indian feathered war headdress. He shook his
head. "Me likey!" Wanda giggled as she pulled her helmet
on. "Think we can get one like that for me? In pink?" she
asked. He groaned.

"Wouldn't
show up right with the red background honey."

She
sighed as she shouldered on her rebreather. "Well you’re
no fun. We'll just have to change the color of the planet to match!"

He
chuckled. "I think my brother was already doing that remember?
And look how that turned out?" he asked. The air was still a bit
dirty; visibility was less than fifty meters. Anything beyond that
was lost in dust. The sky was still dark, the dust storms that had
been kicked up by the asteroid impact had blocked out the sunlight
for weeks forcing them to rely on the ultraviolet lights in the
greenhouse. It wasn't quite as bad as it was a week ago but it was
still annoying.

"Just
the one rover?" Wanda asked as he checked her seals then turned
so she could check his.

"Yeah,
they left out the open rovers so they could squeeze in another
greenhouse and a couple useful things for us to play with."

She
slapped his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "Good to go."
She hit the pump and watched as the interior gauges fell. "Another
greenhouse huh? Cool." They exited the lock and looked around.

The
commander was talking with Tess, motioning with her hands. Mario
nodded and waved. "Pilots." He looked the Hab over. "Sweet
mother of goo, what did you do?" he said in dismay. He kicked a
broken spar.

"Careful,
there are some sharp edges. Toshi ripped his skin suit a few minutes
ago," the commander cautioned.

Mario
grimaced. "Been there, done that. It isn't pretty. Is he okay?"
he asked. He turned to the commander. "Good to see you again
Joyce, though I was hoping under better circumstances."

She
shook his outstretched hand. "You mean if I hadn't bollixed the
landing? Okay I admit, I messed up..."

He
shook his head. "Not entirely your fault. The dust had a hand in
things," he sighed.

"Yeah
that. Remind me to have a nice long... Chat with your brother about
that when he gets here," Joyce growled.

Mario
chuckled. “Line starts behind me.”

"So
you’re a settler now?" Wanda came up and grabbed her
forearm.

"Maybe,"
Joyce replied. She nodded to Wanda. She looked the hab over. "But
if this is the way things are going to go..." She shook her
head. "Toshi cut his arm, went right through the suit and into
his arm. Nasty. It will teach him not to reach into dangerous places
though." She shook her head. "Oh who am I kidding?"
She shook her head as Toshi waved. His right arm was wrapped with
tape.

"You
all right Toshi?" Wanda asked.

The
small Japanese man waved again then tapped the tape. "Just a
scratch, I'm fine. Let’s get what we can and get out of here."
He was already moving boxes down the ramp.

"I'll
help," Wanda said. She went over to do just that. Mario nodded.

Most
of the second team was out unloading. "Doctor Waldecker isn't
here?" He looked around.

"Oh
he's here, over there getting a sample," Joyce replied dryly.
Joyce pointed to the German scientist chipping at a rock nearby.
"He's been at it since we landed. I had to frog march him in
when dusk fell last night," she sighed. "He's bound and
determined to prove Wanda and the others wrong so watch it," she
cautioned softly. He nodded.

The
scientist looked up and glared. "Das is not true!"

Wanda
looked over to them then to Joyce and Mario. "You two going to
talk or you going to help?" she asked plaintively.

Mario
smiled. "I always left you with the grunt work remember?"
he asked with a sweet smile.

Joyce
slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "I'll help."

He
waved. "Be with you in a minute, I want to check the bird out
for a bit," he said. He wandered around looking at the underside
of the bird.

"I
wouldn't go under it if I were you," The German scientist
cautioned.

"Naw,
it's okay, I am an engineer." Mario studied the legs. "She
has two legs supporting her weight, so I'm not worried." He went
over to the listing side and took out his camera. "Crap."
He carefully pulled off the lens protector then started snapping
photos. "Damn. Not good," he sighed, engineering training
taking over. "Let’s see, we could use two maybe three
trucks...hmmm...” He kicked the tires of the bent truck. "Okay,
maybe replace the spar?" He looked it over.

"Does
he always talk to himself?" Toshi asked.

Wanda
sighed. "Yes, yes he does. You get used to it."

Mario
ignored the banter. "Okay." He walked over to the ramp.

"Glad
you decided to finally join us," Wanda's sarcasm was cutting.

It
went right over his head. "Oh huh?" He picked up a box and
hefted it, then carried it to the nearest rover.

"Over
to the other one, this one is almost full," Joyce said and
pointed.

"Right."
He carried it to Tess's rover.

"Gotcha.
I can take two more than we are out of room," Tess said. She had
bundles and boxes strapped to every conceivable place except the
front bubble. "We're going to crawl all the way there you know,"
she sighed. He handed her the box and then went back.

It
took another half hour to get the loading sorted out. Twice the
French Doctor had to be talked out of additional gear. "We don't
have the room, next trip I promise." Mario had to assure her.
She seemed a little rattled. Doctor Waldecker refused to help,
spending the time taking samples.

Wanda
leaned over to Mario and stage whispered. "Think I should tell
him we already went over this place? Twice?" she asked, knowing
Waldecker could hear her over the channel. Mario waved her to the
rover.

Waldecker
waved when they called him. "Twenty more minutes," he said.

Joyce
sighed. "NOW Waldecker." She pointed to the nearest rover.

He
sighed and got up, scowling. "Honestly I don't understand we are
here to do research," he grumped as he marched. Mario chuckled.

"I'm
not like that am I?" Wanda asked.

"No
comment. At least while you’re in arm and leg reach,"
Mario chuckled then dodged her kick.

“Okay,
let’s get this show on the road." The British pilot
circled her right hand over her head then pointed. "Let's move
em out!"

Mario
sighed. "Base camp is
that
way." He pointed back the
way they had come.

"Oh."
She turned. Wanda chuckled. "You sure? I bloody well can read a
compass..."

He
pointed. "There are our tracks."

She
looked. "Oh bollix, what did I do wrong now?" She looked at
the map.

"Figure
it out later. Inside ladies." He motioned them into the lock.

...*...*...*...*...

"Easy
there Joyce, follow Tess," Mario cautioned. The new team were
eager to prove themselves he realized. At least they were now
entering base camp.

Joyce
swerved back into line as they drove through camp. "What's the
big deal?" she asked.

"Well,
you were about to drive over the vaults," Mario replied.

"Oh
crap. I didn't see them in this weather," she sighed.

"No
problem. Almost to the garages." Tess had pulled up to the
first, did a three point U turn and started to back in.

"Where's
mine?" Joyce asked.

"Take
mine. We can go out again in a bit anyway." Mario waved to the
open bay.

She
turned and backed her truck in. "Remind me to make another
garage?" he asked Wanda. She chuckled. “Sure honey. You
need to get more heat shields though."

He
shook his head. "Not until the storm clears...which will be in a
couple months...or a year? No thanks to my idiot who thinks he's a
genius brother..." he sighed.

 ...*...*...*...*...

"Welcome
to Mars base. Me es su casa es su es casa," Mario waved
theatrically and bowed over his arm.

"Hon,
I know you like to stretch, but stick to Italian, your Spanish
stinks," Wanda teased. They laughed at that.

...*...*...*...*...

"Is
that a vase?" Joyce asked pointing to a cream colored plastic
object in the corner when they entered the Hab.

"VAAASe,"
Mario teased until Wanda elbowed him.

"Thanks,"
Joyce observed dryly.

"Anytime,"
Wanda smiled. "Yes, Mario made it with his fabricator thingy,"
she said. Mario rubbed his sternum.

"Fabricator
thingy?" Toshi asked. "You mean a Reprap? You have one?"
Toshi was suddenly excited.

"Three
actually. Two small, one twice as big. That was all the parts we had
at the time." Mario waved dismissively. "Now that you are
here, we can expand again."

Toshi
smiled. "I love it!" He turned to examine the vase. "Mendel
build or gen four?" He turned to Mario.

"Mendel
with gen six electronics and a one mil head. I wanted the robot arm
one but it wasn't debugged so we had to go with what works." He
waved to the vase.

"Looks
good," Toshi picked it up and looked it over.

"Nice."
Joyce looked over his shoulder. He handed it to her.

"Plates
and things as well?" Toshi asked.

Tess
nodded. "And brackets, silverware, all sorts of bits," she
said and then grinned. "Wanda has him making stuff for the lab
all the time. Melting polypropylene stinks though." She wrinkled
her nose. Wanda nodded.