First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (35 page)

"You
almost finished there ladies?" Wanda looked up and waved. She
was helping Tess unload on the other end.

"Almost
done," he sighed. "I'm going to need you to drag these out
Tess; no way can I pull them out on my own." He looked over to
her as she climbed into the rover and started toward him.

"What
are they?" Wanda asked.

"Looks
like the forge, some airlocks parts, another greenhouse, and a really
big package or two I can't identify."

He
motioned for Tess to turn and back up to the ramp. When she had
completed the maneuver she got out and hooked up a line to the rear,
then tossed him the free end. He bent and attached it to the bottom
hooks on the forge pallet. "We'll just drag these off to one
side for now; I think there are a lot more small packages to go as
well." He moved aside as she pulled the pallet down the ramp.

Once
the plastic pallet hit the dirt it dug in. "Crap, stuck, hang on
or you'll tip it," he cautioned. He went over to the pallet and
tried to dig the end out. "Nope. Okay, need another plan."
He looked around for a moment.

"What
if we lift end up, attach to rover?" Tess suggested.

"Yeah,
but we'd have to get a crane to lift it. This sucker is heavy,"
he sighed. "Okay, I know they had to put the stupid thing in the
center for center of mass, but damn!" He shook his head.

"Cargo
master just isn't your forte is it honey?" Wanda teased.

"Nope,"
he growled. He shook his head. "You know what, leave it, let’s
work on the smaller packages and then come back to it." He
climbed around the package and back into the hold. Tess unhooked the
cable from the rover and tossed it to the ground.

"You
know your only delaying the inevitable," Wanda replied.

"Yeah,
maybe, but this way we don't spend all day trying to get one
multimillion dollar paperweight to move," Mario replied. He came
out to the edge of the hold and started dropping small bags.

"What
are those?" Wanda asked.

"Fuel
bladders. We have a few, but it looks like we now have a whole lot
more." Mario tossed another bundle down. "There are some
more sand bags, looks like a couple packages, and a plastic extruder
as well." He hefted another package and dropped it to the
ground.

"Hey
watch it!" Tess called up.

"Oh
sorry." He smiled as he walked back into the hold. She was
moving packages to the rover.

 ...*...*...*...*...

"Luigi!
What's this all about? Why solar panels? You sent us paper thin solar
panels and wind turbines that will shred in this storm! What the hell
were you thinking?" Mario demanded and then hit send. He leaned
into the camera and tried not to snarl. After a moment he remembered
the time lag and just about threw himself into the chair to wait for
a reply.

"Sorry
Mario, but that's the best we can do. Powers on high nixed any more
reactors, the greens got their way." Luigi sighed. His image was
jumping and filled with snow and static.

Mario
finally switched it off but left the audio on. "Luigi, what are
we going to do with these? We can't use them for months, maybe years
no thanks to you!" He shook his head. He picked up a small panel
and looked it over.

"Well,
the good news is we can use them in the future. Mario, I am looking
at the long term here," Luigi replied.

"All
right," Mario replied sourly.

Wanda
came in, brushing her hair after her shower. "Read him the riot
act?" she asked.

"Not
exactly," Mario admitted and then shrugged.

She
shook her head. "Why the hell not? You and I both know we need
those reactors if we are going to expand!" She sat down across
his lap. He oofed.

"It's
complicated dear," he sighed.

"You
mean it's got politics written all over it," she replied,
wrinkling her nose.

Tess
nodded from the doorway. "Da. Smells from even here." She
wrinkled her nose too.

"I
thought that was just me," Mario smiled. Wanda poked him.

"Mario
probably told you politics are involved so I won’t belabor the
point," Luigi started speaking. "Fortunately we have enough
in the kitty for this MAV, two more cargo Landers that should be
landing just after crew two comes in; the SSTO's and the first two
plasma drive flights. After that things get a whole lot more dicey,"
Luigi sighed.

"That
bad huh?" Wanda asked. They'd been afraid of that happening. One
of the reason they had so many things that were self sustaining or
expandable.

"We
knew public attention was going to drift away sooner or later. Your
staying has riveted their attention for a while, but there is a
growing undercurrent of resentment and anger over it," Luigi
continued. Wanda grimaced.

"The
time lag," Tess reminded her.

"I
managed to squeeze in some gear for your vault Mario, and some care
packages to help expand the base. I am hoping you can spruce up that
vault so we can get a better view of it, the first well... you know
how first impressions can go..."

Mario
sighed. "Yeah, Home and garden special edition it wasn't. You
caught us with our pants around our ankles little bro," he
sighed.

"The
next cargo lander will have construction equipment, just a
multipurpose vehicle with a lot of attachments and parts. Also some
medical and science supplies. Also the electronics for more
fabricators. I understand your Reprap is providing plastic parts, so
we should be good there." Luigi continued on.

"Okay,
my time is limited so I will end this with wishing you a good
evening," Luigi finished and the signal was cut.

"Hmm,
funds must be tight if they are sending in packets," Mario
observed, looking over the radio log. "That entire conversation
was a one second squeal; he sent some data along with it though."
He checked the data logs. "Damn, we really need to upgrade the
computers; they are getting kind of full," he said tiredly.

Tess
nodded. "We compress but data is too much," she said and
then shrugged.

"Can
we find another medium?" Wanda asked biting her lip.

"Nyet,"
Tess replied with a head shake.

"Crap,"
Wanda sighed.

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

"Still
blowing?" Mario asked. Tess nodded. She was curled up by the
window, sipping a drink. A blanket was wrapped around her legs.

"Is
like blizzard," she sighed. "Even builds up," Tess
said. Mario nodded. Wanda came in and looked out the window.

"Still
going. We're into the fourth week. Most of the heavy particles should
have fallen by now, but they will kick up the fines and microscopic
dust," she sighed.

"Where
did you hear that?" Mario asked. "NASA climatologist?"

She
shook her head. "No, they concur though. No, I remembered a show
I watched on the dust bowl in the twenty's. Erosion due to over
farming and poor land management." She shook her head. "Drought
was a major factor and wind of course. Dust storms blanketed the
country for weeks. In some areas of the Midwest, for nearly a decade.
Entire towns were buried," she explained.

Mario
groaned. "Please tell me this won't last
that
long?"
She shook her head.

"I
hope not. Solar cells are about useless. Reactors, ethylene
generators, wind turbines, and fuel cells are all we have for power.
I lost the signal from the distant sensor stations," she sighed.

"Glad
we have the nukes, we'd be up a creek without them," Mario
muttered as he hugged his wife to his side.

"Yeah,"
she sighed. "So, hopefully it will be over with by the time the
crew gets down here," she murmured. She didn't envy the crew in
orbit. They sounded like they were going stir crazy up there. So
close yet so far.

He
shook his head. “But don't get my hopes up. Right. Gotcha.
Joyce has her hands full, I bet they are pinging off the bulkheads,”
he said wryly. He shook his head.

She
snuggled deeper into his arms. "Yeah," she sighed. They
clearly weren't the only ones he thought.

"Just
so long as it ends by the time the third team is supposed to get
here," he added.

"Why
then?" she asked looking at him in confusion.

Mario
chuckled. "So my darling little brother can land so I can
strangle him," he replied.

She
chuckled. "Can we help?" Tess asked looking up with a
smile.

“Line
starts behind me, I bet Joyce's crew and a lot of politicians will be
in it too,” Mario laughed.

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

“Wow!”
Mario sat with Wanda in his lap as Joyce performed the marriage
ceremony. Apparently he and Wanda weren't the only ones having fun.

“Do
you Dr. Richard Waldecker take Dr. Majorie Jordan as your lawfully
wedded wife?” Joyce asked. The Doctor nodded.

“Glad
they stuck with English, it would be hell for Joyce to try to get the
lines out in German and French,” Mario murmured.

Wanda
shushed him. “First wedding in space zip it!” she said
softly picking up the remote and turning the volume up. He sighed and
looked over to Tess. She was sitting on the edge of her seat,
clutching a pillow to her chest.

“So
much for the angel’s game,” he said and then chuckled as
they both shushed him.

Second crew:

"Here
they come," Wanda observed. It had taken a month since the last
window when the MAV landed but they'd finally had a window in the
storm long enough for the crew to land. Hopefully they'd do it
safely.

"I
can't see them." Tess ran into the room and craned her neck and
body, trying to glimpse the falling Hab. "No I still can't see
them. I bet they are itching to get out of that thing, they were
stuck in orbit for two months until the dust cloud wound down."

Mario
chuckled. "You two didn't see the MAV landing until it released
its chutes and did a retro burn. Have patience ladies." He
rested his hand on Wanda's shoulder. She reached up and squeezed his
fingers.

"I
think, no, not it," Tess grumped shading her eyes and craning
her neck.

"Check
the feed, they might be off course," Mario said as he handed her
a tablet.

"Da,
Is good idea as any." She pulled up the camera feeds. "Nothing
here,” Tess said after a moment of study.

“Try
the telemetry feed. Or the cameras on a passing satellite,"
Wanda suggested. She looked up to see Tess and Mario staring at her.
"What, just because I have a rock collection doesn't mean I have
one in my head."

Tess
chuckled. "Checking, I am getting a feed. You're right, they are
off course, wind is blowing them south east," she reported and
then frowned. "Wow, they are twenty kilometers off already! They
will have a long trip here!" Tess looked up.

Mario
sighed. "No helping it. Unless they leave their Hab where it is
and move in here." He shook his head.

"What
and use the Hab as an outpost?" Wanda asked.

He
shrugged. "Be a pain in the butt to get supplies back and
forth," he mused unhappily.

"We'll
see." Tess tapped the feed and fed it to the big screen on the
wall. "I have it up,” Tess reported. Mario turned to the
screen. Wanda looked then looked out.

"Chutes
have been cut; she's falling, okay retro fire. Too bad we missed the
aero brake falling, that would have been cool to see," Mario
said softly.

"As
long as you weren't under it when it fell," Wanda commented
dryly. They had moved a few of the beacons to create a safer landing
zone. Come to think of it, that might be why the lander is off
course, she thought.

He
chuckled. "Good point. Uh oh, looks like they are trying to use
the retro's to move closer this way." Mario watched as the feed
changed.

"Yeah,
not good though they are eating into the reserves fast." He
watched the fuel gauge fall fast. "Give it up gals, some things
cannot be changed." He watched the Hab stop drifting. "Yeah,
someone figured it out. The Hab's fall stabilized then began to speed
up. Oops, spoke too soon." The retro's fired and kept firing.
"Crap, not good." Mario watched as she set down hard. He
winced. "Well any landing you can walk away from," he
muttered.

"Tess
check in, see if they are okay," he ordered. She was already
tapping the communication channel.

"Mars
base to Team two, are you guys okay? That looked like a hard
landing," Tess called.

After
a moment there was a squelch of static. "Mars base this is Hab
four we are on the ground. A bit banged up but otherwise okay,"
British pilot Latisha Sominall reported.

Mario
sighed in relief. "At least everyone survived."

"From
the way we are listing, I'd say either we are on a slope or the
landing gear is toast," Commander Longfeather called. Mario
groaned.

"So
much for moving it," Tess sighed.

"Not
necessarily. We can move her, but we will have to use the wheels from
our habs, maybe entire truck assemblies," Mario replied and
shook his head.

"Yeah.
I see," Tess nodded.

"Mission
control wants us to do an exterior check base; we'll do that and get
back to you with a report," Longfeather said. Mario nodded.

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

An
hour later Hab three called back. "Doesn't look good base, we
have two trucks tucked up under, and another that is broken off. This
thing teeters when we move around inside. We're propping her up with
gear now. We have the rover out; we're about twenty four kilometers
away from you. We will head out first light tomorrow."

Mario
nodded. "You’re going to take four in the enclosed rover?"
he asked. Team two had just one semi enclosed rover with them. Tess
came over cradling a cup of tea and holding up a bunch of carrots. He
smiled and nodded.