Season of Passage, The (13 page)

'This is Columbia,' Gary said, opening communications.

'Major Wheeler,' the voice replied. 'This is Colonel Brent. Congratulations on your successful lift-off. We have you .531 kilometers Y vector down

from our projections. Over?'

'Affirmative,' Gary said. 'We wil adjust in approximately three minutes. Columbia out.' Gary flipped a switch on his control board and scowled.

'You were a bit short with him,' Lauren said.

'I know where we are,' Gary said. 'He doesn't have to tel me.'

'What does it matter?' she said. 'The computers fly this damn thing, anyway.'

'Listen, Doc, these computers only do what I tel them to do.'

'Gary,' Jim interrupted.

'What?' Gary growled.

'Maybe you'l get to talk to your parents once we're underway,' Jim said.

'Why do you say that?' Gary asked. 'Am I acting grouchy? I'm not grouchy.'

'It is my unbiased medical opinion that you are showing symptoms of being a pain in the ass,' Lauren said.

'I know about your unbiased opinions,' Gary said. He spoke to Jim. 'You real y think they'l let me talk to my mom and dad?'

'I do,' Jim said. 'They won't be so paranoid when they know they can cut you off when they want. Bil wil be speaking with the president. Have him

explain the situation for you.'

Gary nodded. 'I'l do that.'

Dawn came again, half an hour later, pouring through the open windows and turning everything to white. Lauren wished for a pair of sunglasses. Her

eyes had only begun to adjust when she spotted Space Station One, its two-hundred-yard-diameter wheel revolving like a giant polished ornament.

Floating nearby was the Nova, looking oddly insect-like in the harsh shadows of the vacuum. The three of them were not the shuttle's only cargo; the

cargo bay behind them was loaded with supplies for the space station.

There was a jolt as the shuttle's engine reactivated. Now came the fine adjustments. To climb to the higher orbit of the station, they had

paradoxical y to lose speed. Lauren was not surprised to see that Guy had disengaged the automatic pilot. He took any chance to fly that he could

get. Soon they were descending upon the station from above, the California coast the background canvas for their celestial maneuvers. The view

was staggering, but was slowly eclipsed as Gary throttled them into the station's axis, which rotated opposite the station proper and thus appeared

stationary. Instinctively Lauren gripped her seat.

'Your rotational vector is .073 cycles high, Columbia,' Colonel Brent said over the radio.

'Weez already know that, Bil y,' Gary said. He slowly rotated a flashing violet knob counterclockwise. There was a low roar as a thruster fired. Then

came a final hard bump and a gentle hiss as they locked onto the station's airlock. The first segment of their voyage was over.

'Good job,' Jim said, slapping Gary on the back.

'You sure know how to impress a girl,' Lauren agreed. She careful y unfastened her straps. Now weightlessness became a factor. Lauren

remembered her first experiences free of gravity. Half of al astronauts felt il for a day or two while their bodies adjusted to life without up and down,

and she had fal en into the unfortunate half. On her maiden voyage into space she had vomited in the pilot's face, an act she was stil living down at

Mission Control. But after her initial sickness, she had felt fine. In fact, she had come to love slithering around the cabin of the shuttle - and the

corridors of Space Station One - like a seal on wheels.

Lauren fol owed Gary and Jim as they floated out of the shuttle, through an airlock, and into a heavily padded circular green room. Slowly the wal s

about them began to rotate, regaining the spin they normal y shared with the remainder of the station. Faint, invisible strands of gravity reached up

from the floor as Lauren planted her feet, swaying with her companions like flowers dancing in a gentle breeze. The grief of her parting with Terry

and Jennifer lessened further. If she but shoved off the floor she could fly like a bird. The knowledge fil ed her with a sense of euphoria. Gary and

Jim shared her feelings. Suddenly, for no reason, they started to giggle. They were stil giggling when Jessica Brent climbed out of the ceiling.

'Jessie!' Lauren cried.

'Why if it isn't the queen of soul herself,' Gary said.

Lieutenant Jessica Brent was thirty-two years old, a tal thin dark-skinned woman with thick lips, a short afro, and dizzy expressions. The latter were

a cause of some humor at Mission Control, but there was absolutely no truth to the rumor that the reason she had been chosen for the mission was

her husband's influence. Jessica was one of NASA's finest biochemists, and although her friend Gary insisted she had never graduated from high

school, she had in fact

published almost as many scientific papers in prestigious journals as Jim had. She had uncanny instincts when it came to research. At the age of

twenty-six, while stil completing her graduate studies, she had traced the HS-9 virus - the latest and vilest form of herpes (it affected the whole body

with cold sores that lasted as long as warts and looked like yel ow-headed pimples) - back to the smal pox vaccine. The discovery had

consequently led to the development of a new smal pox vaccine free of side effects, and a national reputation for Jessica. Yet she had no ego about

her astounding work. Always upbeat, Jessica was one of Lauren's favorite people. Soon she would be the only other woman around for two

hundred mil ion miles.

'I missed you al ,' Jessica said, gliding down the curved wal s and into their greeting arms.

'Are al systems stil green?' Gary asked.

'We're stil going to Mars, that's for sure,' Jessica said. 'But we'l be leaving on the next orbit instead of the one after that. Don't take off your

helmets.'

'The next orbit,' Lauren gasped. 'Why?'

Jessica shrugged. 'Don't ask me. I'm just a lowly lieutenant.'

'But we've only just begun to blow the nitrogen out of our systems,' Lauren said.

'They're moving us up because of our last instructions,' Jim said. 'They don't want us shooting our mouths off in front of the space station's

personnel.'

'But Jessie's been here a week,' Gary said.

'I didn't tel anybody about the footprints,' Jessica said.

'What do you think of them?' Lauren asked.

Jessica rol ed her eyes. 'I'l believe the Martians when I see them. They just looked like holes in the ground to me. I don't see what the president and

his people are al shook about.'

'Shh,' Jim cautioned. 'It's me in particular they are worried about. The president probably felt I asked too many questions.'

'That's ridiculous,' Gary said.

'I thought the same thing myself,' Lauren said, agreeing with Jim.

'What about Lisa?' Gary asked. 'I wanted to talk to her. Does this mean we have to go straight over the Nova, Jessie?'

'We're not to leave here until Bil arrives,' Jessica said. 'But yes, then we're to go right over. None of you is al owed out of the axis.'

'Who's Lisa?' Lauren asked.

'I have equipment stowed here that I was supposed to col ect,'Jim said.

'It's been taken care of,' Jessica said.

'Where's Mark?' Gary asked.

'Aboard the Nova,' Jessica said.

'Who's Lisa?' Lauren asked again.

Gary studied the passageway from which Jessica had emerged. 'She's a friend of the male species,' he said. 'Jessie, are there guards on the

other side of that door?'

'Gary!' Jessie said, shocked.

'I thought you were in love with Kathy,' Lauren said.

'So I have a big heart,' Gary said. He turned to Jim. 'What do you think, buddy?'

'The worst they can do is have you shot,' Jim said.

Gary laughed and asked Jessica, 'Tel me, any guards?'

Jessica sneered. 'I'm not saying nothing.'

Gary poked her in the stomach. 'You just said it, mama.' He launched himself towards the exit. 'Catch you kids in a few minutes. Don't worry about

my nitrogen, Doc. Lisa knows how to pop bubbles in the blood.'

'I do, do I?' a young woman with a ten-year-old's voice

asked. Lisa poked out of the chute and floated into Gary's arms. She looked like Kathy from California, only she had long red hair and longer legs.

Not that Lauren cared. However, she did think it was disgusting of Lisa to embrace a grown man on the ceiling.

'How did you get in here?' Gary asked. 'I was told we were off limits.'

'You are,' Lisa said, her face flushed red. 'But the moment Colonel Brent dismissed the guards, he was cal ed back to the control room to speak

with Houston. He..."

Lisa didn't finish. Suddenly her high-cheeked face went bone white. Colonel Wil iam Brent climbed into the space-station axis. He stood on the

ceiling like an ominous shadow, regarding Gary and Lisa with his usual stoic expression. He was a big man, powerful y built like Gary, with a

roughly hewn handsomeness that gave the entirely correct impression of inner strength. Bil was the boss, no questions asked, and an expert in

propulsion systems. He was also one of a handful of people in the world who understood the inner workings of Friend. He was a stern, seemingly

emotionless man, and seldom spoke. However, when he did talk, Lauren listened.

'Why, Bil ,' Gary said. 'Fancy meeting you here.'

Bil ignored the remark and addressed trembling Lisa. 'You are to return to your post immediately, young lady.'

'Yes, sir,' she whispered. She started to say something to Gary, but thought better of it and turned and fled.

'Catch you in a couple of years,' Gary cal ed after her.

'Hopeful y she'l be legal by then,' Lauren muttered.

Bil gathered them into a group in the center of the axis. 'I am pleased to see you al here and safe. As Jessie has told you, the Nova is departing

approximately ninety minutes early, on the next orbit. We wil taxi over and begin final systems checks.'

'AH my equipment has been transferred?' Jim asked. 'That is correct, Professor. Lauren?' 'What about my review of the hibernaculums?' 'You wil

do that after we break away,' Bil said. 'But what if there is something wrong?' Lauren asked. 'There wil be nothing wrong. Gary?' 'You won't report

Lisa, wil you?' Gary asked. 'No,' Bil said. 'Not if you taxi us over now, Major.' That was agreeable to Gary. They re-entered the airlock and climbed

aboard a low-powered rocket that resembled a golf cart that had been turbocharged by a mad scientist. Lauren studied the Nova through the ferry's

windows as they drifted across the two hundred yards of space that separated the ship from the station. At the front was attached the Hawk, the

spider-legged vehicle that would land them on Mars. In the Nova's center was the main body of the ship, where they would eat, sleep, and perform

the various duties not specifical y related to the exploration of Mars's surface. A multi-spoked wheel set on the most sophisticated bal bearings

ever devised by man, the center section revolved around the spine of the ship every five seconds, creating a gravity at the rim of the wheel equal to

one-third that of Earth's, which just happened to match Mars's gravity. They would reach the red planet with their bodies ful y adjusted.

At the rear of the Nova were the fuel tanks and propulsion systems, comprising the bulk of the ship's weight. The powers that would hurtle them

towards Mars were simple chemical reactions, the burning of liquid hydrogen in combination with liquid oxygen. Already additional fuel tankers

were speeding towards Mars. When Project Nova had begun, many felt an efficient atomic engine could be developed. But the weight of the

necessary lead shielding, and the uncertainty of working with new technology, had led NASA to chose the more basic chemical system. Their

choices were more understandable in light of what the president had shown the night before. NASA had been in too much of a hurry to come up

with something better.

Another outstanding feature of the Nova was a large antenna bowl located between the revolving wheel and the rocket engines. It was, of course,

responsible for maintaining communications with Earth. It had no backup, but its builders swore the odds against its failure were astronomical - not

the most comforting of expressions, Lauren thought, considering the astronomical distances they were about to travel.

In the Nova's airlock, fresh air gushed from the floor in welcome. Immediately Lauren noticed pain in her left knee and bent and massaged the joint.

It was nothing but a slight muscle pul caused by the high G's of the shuttle blastoff, and she was not worried.

'I feel the same in my chest,' Jim said, noticing her discomfort.

'In your chest?' Lauren snapped her head up. 'Are you having any difficulty breathing?'

Jim smiled. 'Not at al . Just some tightness. I always have that after leaving Earth. It wil go away soon.'

Lauren nodded. 'It should.' Because Jim was fifty-two, she always kept a special eye on him. 'Tel me if it doesn't, though. Be sure to.'

'Of course,' he said.

They left the airlock and floated down a narrow tunnel that was the equivalent of the space station's axis. Soon they reached the outer hub of the

ship, moving once again within the domain of gravity. As they stepped into the control room, Mark Kawati, the final member of their crew, glanced

up from a computer screen and smiled.

Mark Kawati was of Japanese descent, as short as Lauren's five-three, with a smal round face and extremely crooked teeth. He was pleasant and