Glory on Mars (14 page)

"I see what you're saying. Then the bots could cut
away the upper frame to reach the rovers."

"And Ruby can lift them out. Brilliant."

"Can I go outside with you again?"

"Better let us handle things for a while."

Yin noticed her disappointment.

"Even we won't go close while the bots are cutting
off the knarr's top."

"Or while Ruby's thrashing around with her
grapplers."

"Let's go talk to her now."

Ruby had finished the last upload simulations, and
found what she was looking for.

"The jumpers were programmed to shut down," she said
grimly when they gathered for supper in the north habitat. "A timer
was embedded in their operating system. That's why Jumper One came
back online, too. The timer ran out."

"I don't understand," Claude said. "What was it
supposed to be timing?"

"Nothing. And it's not a bug in the last upgrade from
MEX, either. The log says the timer was inserted from here. From
Kamp Kans."

"Who inserted it?"

Ruby shook her head. "The identification field is
blank."

"What? No transponder ID? Governor must have a record
if anyone accessed the ships."

"You're welcome to look for yourself." Ruby glared at
Claude.

"Logs can be faked, you know. Has MEX confirmed your
simulations?"

"MEX." Ruby snorted. "They couldn't find a road if it
had red flags on it. I don't need them to tell me I'm right."

Claude glared back at her.

Emma was suddenly aware that she was sitting with Liz
and Claude, and Ruby had plopped down next to Yin on one of the
boxes dragged in for extra seating. Melina, with the cat squirming
on her lap, sat with Sanni and Daan. They wore the same striped
uniform, but each mission crew was sitting separately. That should
change.

"We found the tea, Ruby," Emma said, walking to the
tiny galley. "Let me make you some."

"Oh, I'd love a cuppa." Her expression cleared.

Emma dropped a pellet into a cup of hot water and
watched the leaves unfurl. Colony Mars sent them real tea, thank
goodness, but only powdered coffee and not much of that. Tea
contains theanine as well as caffeine - that was the reasoning. The
combination would produce a mellow alertness. Emma handed Ruby the
cup, but doubted this discussion would mellow out.

"If you're sure the timer program came from Kamp..."
Claude raised an eyebrow at Ruby. "Then we've got another problem,
don't we?"

"Yeah, if the log's right, it means one of us
sabotaged the jumpships." Ruby locked gazes with Claude.

"Well,
we
were still in space, so none of us
did it," he said. "Liz, you're a medic. Can you assess Luis'
medical files, see if he was depressed or..."

"He wouldn't need a timer, now, would he, if he
wanted to crash his own ship?" Yang asked. "He could dive straight
into the surface if he went nutter."

"Luis did
not
want to kill himself," Ruby said
sharply. "And he certainly didn't want to kill
me
."

"Maybe it was a mistake," Emma said, carrying a cup
to Ruby. "Maybe the timer was intended for something else,
something in life support maybe."

"Wait a minute," Daan said. "Are you accusing us?" He
flushed with anger and Melina's back snapped straight. A ridge of
hair stood up along the cat's spine.

"Stop this," Liz said. "It doesn't make sense for any
of us to damage a jumpship, much less kill anyone."

"Maybe someone wanted to keep us out," Claude said
darkly.

"Look, if Governor didn't record who uploaded the
timer, we don't have enough information to draw any conclusions,"
Liz said.

"In the meantime, let's have Governor keep the jumper
systems isolated," Yin said. "Say two of us have to authorize any
uploads from MEX or from Kamp."

Claude looked at him suspiciously.

"Okay, one person from each settler mission - so
three of us have to authorize any uploads."

"Daan, I didn't mean..." Emma said.

"Forget it," he said, getting up abruptly. "I've got
some boxes to unpack."

She felt unexpectedly lonesome as her left. Dammit.
So much for improving relationships.

***

Emma was happy when Liz followed her to the garden.
Her bruises had faded and she was ready for some exercise. The cat
dashed across the icy Spine and squirmed into the airlock as soon
as Emma opened the door a crack.

"I can use the help. Daan hasn't stopped by lately,"
Emma said. "The worms need more space. Let's take care of
that."

Emma shoved several slick-sided tubs through the
module hatch to the upper level and tossed up sacks of bedding.

"It's hot up here," Liz said happily. "Just what we
need for a good yield."

"Like a summer day." Emma laughed. "How do I do
this?"

"Spread the bedding out; mealworms only need a light
layer of wheat bran, and it has to last until we have garden plants
to shred. A batch of grown beetles will be ready to lay eggs in
three months. When those hatch, we can eat our first harvest."

"You make them sound like chickens."

"Mer-row." The cat was batting wildly at a clump of
wheat bran on the floor.

"Did he climb up here?"

Liz picked him up. He squirmed, reaching paws down
towards his clump of bran.

"He likes the worms, which is a good thing since
they'll be his primary food source. Watch."

She picked up a couple worms and dropped them on the
floor. The cat focused wide eyes on their wriggling and slashed his
tail back and forth. Liz let him leap out of her arms. He landed on
the worms, chewing and purring.

"See, we're both ready to assume our duties - me
growing and him eating."

They examined the gardens' progress. Potatoes had
sprouted, along with beans and squash. Duck weed floated on the
pond surfaces and bugs rowed their way through the water.

"A square of vegetables here, started with our
precious supply of fertilizer, then a square of nitrogen-fixing
alfalfa there," Emma said, gesturing to a patch of green threads
pushing up through the sand. "I've been sending a growth report to
MEX every morning. They say we're right on target."

"I think I'll recommend everyone spend some time in
here," Liz said. "The light and warmth, and greenery once the
garden is growing - it'll do everyone good."

"That makes me think of Claude. You changed his
bandages today?"

"He's not ready to go to work," Liz said. She
frowned. "I'll let him tell everyone after supper."

It was bad news.

"I'm going to lose three finger tips," Claude said.
"They're not healing. Liz will lop them off tomorrow."

"Once the dead tissue's gone, you'll heal quickly,"
Liz assured him.

"I'll finally be able to get some work done. I know I
owe you time on the utilities." Claude turned to Daan.

"That reminds me, we have a surprise in the Plaza.
Grab a blanket. It's cold out there." Daan led them out the habitat
module. He hopped to an electrical panel and threw a switch. Light
reflected off streaked beige stone throughout the arched
interior.

"Ta da! We used all the undamaged lights we could
find."

"I hadn't realized how big the Plaza is," Emma said,
admiring the arched walls and barrel ceiling fabricated from
Tharsis Plain sand.

"This is less than half the lights planned," Sanni
said. "But it's like spring after a long winter."

The Plaza was the widest and longest bay, designed to
be the nederzetting's town square. There was a narrow pond running
most of its length, still heaped with crushed ice. At one end
against the wall, worktables and shelves of fabricated stone were
the beginning of a community kitchen, and tables and short benches
of rock were arranged nearby like a cafe.

"Once it's warm and bright, I'll ask Yin and Yang to
fabricate pots large enough for banana trees," Liz said. "Some
greenery will soften the rusty color of the stone."

"So now you don't like our stone," Ruby said.

Liz started to protest, but Ruby waved a hand.

"Forget it. We left the power receiver from S-3 in
orbit. If we want to get it landed before the seasonal storms, I
need to fetch it soon. We'll want the power for Daan's new lights
and everything else from the knarr. Yin, Yang - help me refuel the
jumper tomorrow and I'll bring it down." She looked around at the
others' surprised faces.

"MEX has cleared the jumper and, more to the point,
I've cleared it. There's nothing dodgy in the AI programming now. I
can't cower down here like a rabbit in a hole. Once we hook up
another power receiver, we can pump some heat into this bay."

Chapter Nineteen:
Pressies

Jumpship One was at the south docking module, so
after breakfast Emma and the others walked down the Spine and
Plaza, and through the south habitat. Melina carried the cat and
set him on the stationary bike to claw at a thread hanging from the
seat.

"You removed the flexion machine here, too." Liz
frowned at the empty bolt holes in the floor where the exercise
equipment belonged.

"Give it a rest, Liz," Daan said. "I'm tired enough
without an extra hour of resistance training."

Ruby was already onboard, running checklists, when
Yin told Governor to open the live stream to MEX.

"Yang and I will suit up and walk to the maintenance
bay. We'll monitor the bots refueling the jumper's hydrogen and
oxygen tanks from there."

With full fuel tanks, Ruby rose out of the atmosphere
on translucent blue flames. No one made a move away from the
screen. It would be hard to do anything else while Ruby was in
orbit.

"Shall we make tea?" Liz stood by the galley
uncertainly. Yin, Yang, and Ruby bunked in the south habitat and
she was seldom in their galley.

"I don't want to intrude."

Sanni hopped over to help.

"This galley is laid out exactly like the north
habitat." She handed cups to Liz.

Yin and Yang were back inside by the time Ruby
reached the power receiver's orbit.

"Everything looks good for retrieval," Ruby said.

She above the receiver, so the mesh dish of its
antenna was pointed straight at the ship's imagers, a lacey white
rectangle floating over a terracotta planet mottled with gray.

"The atmosphere's very clear right now." Yang sipped
his tea. "It's a good sol to bring the receiver down." They quietly
watched the approach.

"I hate to do this..." Ruby sounded sour. "But manual
operation isn't delicate enough for the grab."

Ruby turned the grappler operation over to Governor.
The AI coordinated telemetry from the ship and the receiver,
closing the grappler tips gently on the receiver's capture
lugs.

"See, I told you the ship is fine," Ruby said. But
she ran an extra diagnostic before reentry.

They watched the screen, focused on the receiver
dangling below the jumpship. Emma recognized the Tharsis Plain pass
below with its distinctive pattern of huge shield volcanoes.

"I'll land on the next pass."

Governor switched to the nederzetting's outside
imagers.

The receiver touched down gently on a stone pad sixty
meters east of the Plaza, engulfed in the dust raised by
intermittent engine firings.

"Brilliant," Yin said.

"We have time to hook it up before supper," Yang said
as they headed to the docking module.

"You've got to drag cables awfully far," Emma
said.

"Next jaar we'll build a medical bay connected to the
Plaza, and we'll hook the receiver to it directly then," Yang
said.

"To provide redundant power for the hospital and
labs."

Oh, yes. Emma flushed. She had studied the
construction plans and should have remembered.

***

In celebration, Liz and Sanni volunteered to prepare
the meal they'd missed when Jumpship Two crashed. They headed to
the north habitat to get started while Ruby was docking. In honor
of the special event, Governor left the imagers on in both
habitats. Ruby's welcome home was streamed live. They waited for
Yin and Yang to return and repeated the welcome.

"We can relax now," Liz said after Yin waved goodbye
to Earth.

"I've signed off for the sol."

"Cracker good," Ruby said. "Are these chives?" She
sniffed at a bowl of beige carbohydrate mush dotted with bits of
green.

"Yes," Liz said. "I harvested some thyme, too."

"I'm looking forward to supper for a change," Claude
said, sitting down next to Emma. He waggled his bandaged hand. "I
may have lost some fingertips, but it doesn't hurt to hold a spoon
anymore."

"I bet your wife was upset about your hand," Emma
said.

"I didn't tell her, and she promised not to watch the
Colony Mars feeds." Emma was sorry she'd brought up Claude's wife.
His face fell as he answered.

"We agreed not to contact each other so she can move
on with her life."

Emma gave his arm a squeeze and glanced around the
table. Melina was picking at her mush, searching for bits of metal
with a single tine of her fork. Sanni had stirred her nutrients
into a pinwheel swirl. Daan had dropped his daily micronutrient
blob on top of a single pile, like snow on a mountain. No one was
paying attention to them.

"Look, even the cat wants to nibble something green,"
Melina said. The cat was clinging to her lap and chewing on a sprig
of thyme she dangled. "Ow. Watch those claws."

"Governor, send the new receiver's coordinates to the
power station," Yang said as he carried tea cups to the table. "And
run the system diagnostics. If everything pans out, we can run
utilities to the new gardening bay - install lights and start warm
air circulating."

"Good. I get the willies every time I walk past that
yawning dark arch," Melina said.