Glory on Mars (15 page)

"Dark and cold," Ruby added with a grumble.

Yin and Yang built another new bay stretching out
from the Spine, but the connecting archways remained blocked
up.

The fabricator continuously harvested nitrogen and
argon from Mars' thin atmosphere, and the beetle-bots dragged the
tanks to an airlock where they released the gas into the module. As
soon as the nederzetting accumulated sufficient internal pressure,
Yang cut through. But a bay wasn't useful without utilities.

"I have more seeds I can plant, once another bay
warms up," Liz said.

"What do you want first, heaters or lights?" Daan
asked politely. He wasn't brusque with anyone but Emma.

"Most of the heaters had their connectors sheared off
in the crash, but I think we can repair them. Installing lights
will be harder. A lot of the heat sinks for the lamps are cracked.
The diodes were packed separately, but we have to assemble the
fixtures before I'll know how many lights we can get working."

"Heaters first, then," Liz said. "You can work on the
lights while the ice in the new ponds melts."

"That's another thing. Once the ice melts in the
Plaza pond I can start the water recycling system in the Spine. And
ramp up the air compressors. Melina, Sanni, and I won't be able to
keep up with maintenance and install new systems." He gave Claude
and Emma a crooked frown.

"We could use your help, like Colony Mars
planned."

"I can insert diodes into fixtures one-handed. And
the bandages come off soon." Claude held up his hand.

"And I can handle maintenance for the habitat
systems." Emma said. "Or installations. Whatever you want."

"Aren't you worried about working with saboteurs?"
From Daan's tone, he wasn't joking.

"Daan - what I said about the timer in the jumpers...
I never meant any of you'd caused the crash." Emma didn't know why
Daan wouldn't accept her apology. He was a pigheaded...

"The bays will warm up faster than you think, mate,"
Yin said, interrupting her thoughts before Daan could reply. "Those
stone blocks are excellent insulation."

"The wind's been sorting the Tharsis sands for eons,
so the grains we feed to the fabricator are within a narrow
particle size distribution," Yang added.

"It's slow going, but easy to laser-sinter together
into whatever shape we need."

"Three meters thick for the above-grade arch and five
meters thick for the floor."

"The bay's a tunnel built on the surface instead of
dug into the ground."

"And Mars is burying the bays for us in sand dunes.
Little by little, every storm season our shielding gets
better."

"I'll be happy when I can sit on your rock benches
without freezing my butt off," Ruby said. The words were grumpy,
but she smiled as she scooped out buckyballs flecked with
chives.

"After supper, let's do a group meditation. We
deserve some relaxation time." Liz smiled, hoping, no doubt, to get
them working together again.

Emma sighed. Maybe Daan would get over the unintended
insult.

Chapter Twenty:
Haboob

It was several sols before Yin and Yang cut the top
off the crashed knarr. First the beetle-bots had to drag stone
blocks over to brace the module, and then the loader was free to
scoop up sand. Once a wide sand ramp was packed against the module,
the bots fitted blades to their limbs and opened the knarr like a
can of soup.

Daan turned the north habitat table into a work bench
and everyone joined in, replacing broken diodes in lighting
fixtures. Each new diode snapped into place with a muffled pop. It
was tedious work, but not difficult.

It felt good to work together. Tensions eased while
they chatted. Melina kept watch on the cat as his eyes darted back
and forth, following their moving hands. He occasionally tried to
swipe a diode.

"I never thought sweet tea would be such a treat,"
Daan said, holding up his cup to the imager when he stopped for a
break. The Earth Scan sphere spun a warm, contented yellow at the
habitat ceiling. Filip had cajoled them into streaming feeds to
Earth for an infotainment special.

Everyone's mood lightened. Ruby's successful flight
and sugar for the tea - maybe all they needed was some good
luck.

***

An MEX transmission arrived as they cleared the table
for supper. Governor read the heading aloud: "We have an issue to
discuss."

"Oh, hell," Ruby said, and opened the transmission on
the habitat screen.

Instead of Filip Krast, the lead controller who
usually messaged them, the Settler Four mission manager was seated
at a desk. He cleared his throat and spoke directly into the
imager.

"We've been running some scenarios, and we're worried
about the lack of redundancy for landing S-4 on Mars," he
began.

"If there was a problem with the one remaining
jumpship, S-4 could be stranded."

Ruby swore. The cat's eyes snapped open wide and he
scurried into a bunk room.

"Now, I know you're going to say they have months of
extra supplies and we'd fix any problem by then... and the
consensus here agrees. We're going full-bore ahead with the
schedule. This message is just to keep you informed. MEX will
revisit the issue before authorizing a launch."

"Well, damn," Claude said when the transmission
ended. "Why bring it up if they're going full-bore ahead? Would
they really cancel the launch?"

Sanni gazed down at the floor stoically, but Melina's
eyes widened.

"They can't do that to us," she said. "S-4 is
bringing medical supplies."

"How badly damaged is Jumper Two?" Emma asked.

"Piss awful," Ruby said.

"We could probably beat the frame out straight enough
to use," Yang said. "But two of the engines are pretty much
smashed."

"We don't have high-precision fabricators to build
new parts," Yin said.

"We've got other engines, don't we?" Emma had an
idea. ""Salvaged from the transport ships?"

"Well, yeah." Yang rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"We've got all nine of the thruster engines that brought the
transport ships to Mars - stored in the maintenance bay."

"It's still no good," Ruby said. "The jumper's cabin
split wide open in the crash."

"What about the hull from the knarr?" Emma asked.
"Can't we cut strips to weld over the split?"

"Maybe. I'd hate to send someone into space
jerry-rigged like that."

"We can use remote control." Emma waved a hand
enthusiastically. "The rovers have telepresent capability - you can
operate the manual controls from your pad. I could pull a unit out
and tie it into the jumpship."

"That's an idea," Ruby said, a smile spreading across
her face. "How long before I can lift the rovers out of the
wreck?"

"Before planning surface projects, please check the
weather alerts," Governor said.

"Hell. We're cursed."

A storm had popped up in the southern hemisphere,
emerging from the deep Hellas Basin, lofted upwards from the
sun-warmed crater floor by winds rushing along a canyon in the
wall.

"Governor. Tell MEX to make themselves useful and run
some supplemental models to check the forecast."

That was a poke at MEX. Despite a large weather team,
they didn't understand how an updraft from Hellas could envelope
the whole planet within a few sols.

"I'll send the bots for some ceramic-wool blankets
from Maintenance," Yang said.

"Brilliant idea you had." Yin smiled. "Printing those
blankets with the fabricator."

"They can wrap the knarr to keep out most of the
dust. Then I'll bundle them off to Maintenance until the storm
clears."

"The forecast doesn't look so bad, and the storm
season's only just started. It shouldn't shut us down for more than
a fortnight."

"That gives us time off for a solstice party."

"Do you always celebrate the first storm of the
season?" Emma laughed. A plan to fix the jumper lifted her
spirits.

"Or are you just looking for an excuse to open the
party boxes again?"

***

For two weeks they worked repairing lights and
heaters from the crashed knarr. When the storm cleared Yang and Yin
hauled in more boxes of components, moving everything away from the
walkabout suits in their plastic crates.

Sparkling ice crystals from the jumpship exhaust
mixed with blown dust as Ruby's jumpship hovered. She lifted a
walkabout crate from the knarr, set it on the ground, and grappled
the second one. Next she lifted a mule, a miniature walking habitat
designed for a single settler to camp on the Martian surface.
Hovering used a lot of fuel and she had to retreat to the
maintenance bay to refill her tanks. As soon as the jumpship left,
dust obscured the knarr and drifted into the open top.

"This will take longer than I expected," Yin said
when they were back inside.

"Ruby can only make a few lifts a day. The jumpship
stirs up so much dust it ruins visibility."

"We'll need to electrolysize more hydrogen and oxygen
to fuel the jumper before we try again."

Over the course of a week, they removed the top cargo
layer. Emma took every chance she could to hop into the docking
module and look out the airlock porthole, craning her neck to see
the top of the knarr.

"Tomorrow we disassemble the frame and expose the
rovers," Yang said over scoops of protein and carbohydrate mush one
evening.

"We brought you something special, Emma," Yin said.
"Take a look in the dock."

Emma hurried to the module before the evening
meditation began. Two sleek plastic capsules, waist high and two
meters long, occupied half of the floor.

"My walkabouts." Emma turned to Yin, who'd followed
her.

"We thought it would be easier to unpack them here
instead of Maintenance."

"How'd you get them in here?" Emma laid both hands on
the closest capsule, making sure it was really there.

"The beetle-bots slid them into the airlock - one at
a time - and we used hand jacks inside."

"Thanks, Yin." She hugged him. He grinned and patted
her back.

"Just don't get me in trouble with Ruby. She wants
you to concentrate on fixing Jumper One before anything else."

"No problem. I know the priorities."

Self disciplined, Emma thought. That's me.

Another few sols and the boxes from the middle layer
were unloaded. Yang's blanket hadn't been a perfect cover. Even
after vacuuming with the airlock system, the burnt-metal smell of
Martian sand followed the cargo inside. They all coughed and
sneezed as they carried boxes to the Plaza and stacked them by an
air return filter. Daan and Sanni had to change the filter twice
before the smell faded.

Fortunately, dust fell through the middle layer for
the most part, down to the bottom of the knarr. Yang was able to
brace Rover Two and remove the storage brackets without further
trouble.

Emma got a message over her pad to meet Yin at the
north surface airlock, the one closest to the wreck. She unplugged
the pad from the wall, excused herself from dragging rolls of wire
to the Plaza, and hopped to the docking module.

Yin and Yang were standing at the open door to the
surface-level airlock, already in their suits, grinning.

"We've got a rover upright," Yin said. "There's time
to test it out."

"Let's unpack it and test the controls," Yang
said.

"Come on and suit up. We won't peek."

Emma hung her shirt and khakis in the airlock and
began working her way into a compression layer. She was pulling on
the thermal layer when Ruby arrived in a surface suit.

"I keep my suit in the south habitat's dock," she
said by way of explanation as she watched Emma stomp into boots.
"I'm coming along to help."

Emma felt a tingle of excitement when Yin sealed the
inner airlock door. She was about to activate a rover on Mars -
something she'd planned with her father for a long time.

"I'll stream the exterior imagers to MEX, shall I?"
Emma said. "My Dad will be watching for news about the rovers."

"Okay, helmets on everyone," Yang said. "Check your
air systems and power levels."

Emma sealed her helmet with a twist-click. Its
plastic smell faded as air began to circulate.

"Communications okay?" Yin's voice sounded in Emma's
helmet.

"I..." Emma stopped, cleared her throat, and tried
again. "I hear you loud and clear." She tried not to fidget while
the airlock pumped down.

Yang opened the outer door and Emma stepped onto Mars
once more. She was determined to get a better look around this
time.

She stomped a foot, kicking up fine burnt orange dust
that hovered around her blue boot and clung to her leg. She tipped
her head to look straight up. There were no dry ice clouds - the
Sun had the featureless terracotta sky to itself.

We really need more words for shades of orange, Emma
thought.

Behind her were the modules and to her right sand
dunes piled against the Spine blocked her view. Emma turned
left.

Peacock Mons was half hidden below the curve of the
planet, but its peak was visible, the highest point of a broad,
gently sloping lump of a mountain with a collar of shadow at top.
Emma felt tears well up in her eyes. It was beautiful, even with
most of its features softened by dust in the thin, cold
atmosphere.

"Guys, forget the rover for a minute," Ruby said.
"Let's take a tiki tour and show Emma around."

Yin, or maybe it was Yang, shouted agreement. The two
of them charged off across the sand, racing each other with loping
kangaroo-hops.

"You better go slow. Don't lean forward too far,"
Ruby said to Emma. "Practice inside doesn't get you ready for how
slippery the sand is on these foundation stones."