Acts of Survival - Orbit the Sun – Part 11

by John Stevenson

Matt looked out of the open airlock. Several meters away hung the tractor; but it took him a while longer to locate the Explorer up ahead of them. “Can you see it?”

  Alisha didn’t sound as if she could. “I can see something?”

  “It looks like an umbrella?”

  “I know what it looks like.” She said in an agitated way.

  “There’s a crater at three-o’clock from it.”

  “Endurance.”

  “What?”

  “It’s the endurance crater.”

  “Oh… yea well that’s it.”

  “Talk about leaps of faith; it’d better be? How far is… no don’t tell me I really don’t want to know.”

  “It’s time; come on.” With a deliberate movement Matt stepped out into space. Immediately he felt his weight evaporate.

  Several seconds after Mathew had launched himself from Earthrise he was pulling himself along the one of the grabbing arms towards the anchor point on front of the tractor. “Are you coming?”

  “Not voluntarily…” Alisha muttered as she cast off after him.

  “How’s it going out there?” Andrews voice cut off the rest her comments.

  “Alisha's just strapping into the harness.” Matt replied in anticipation. “We’ll be ready soon.”

  “I’m not sure which is more stupid; this or piloting the shuttle?” Alisha muttered.

  “You just make sure you get back,” said Andrew. “There’s a lot of people here who want you to complete both journeys before you make up your mind?”

  Matt’s voice was firm. “Okay… you strapped on and ready?”

  “As much as I’ll ever be?”

  “Earthrise I’m switching tractor on… thrust set at five percent?”

  Andrew watched them as they slowly began to move. “We’re counting on you?”

  Matt looked over the Alisha beside him, but she wasn’t looking back. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

  “I guarantee I’ll know every second.”

  Mathew resisted the urge to look back at Earthrise as he increased thrust and sped to tractor across towards the Explorer.

  The awesome sight before him made it a little easier. Taking his mind off what they were doing he tried to put a name to all the features he could see on the Planet that now filled their view. There was little reason to have ever learned the names of all the canyons, plains and mountains: he like that overwhelming majority of the peoples of Earth could never have expected to have reason to. In fact all that did know the surface features could probably be seated in a lecture hall. He regretted now that he didn’t know more; and that a crash course in Earthrises electronic library had revealed all that he did

  His mind deliberately rejected the description crash, instead he tried to reassure himself on how much he had learned in the hardly more than days since Jennifer had drawn all their attentions to the possibility. He had learned a lot but the truth was that he still knew next to absolutely nothing.

  Most of the research had centered on the colony. It had been a strange, and almost disastrous start forced upon the authorities by the threat of suicidal private missions. In the end it was a global effort, allegedly to share cost, but everybody knew it was fear. Nobody wanted a single country to lay claim to the entire planet: unless of course that it was theirs.

  The first tiny outpost comprised of the eight who had arrived on the Mars Explorer for what had been intended as a three-year stay. Before that time was up another team had arrived from Asia, amoung them a couple that had volunteered not to return. Over the subsequent years of coming and going the numbers built up.

  “Talk to me?” Andrews voice brought Mathew back to reality.

  “We’re still here.”

  “I know that I just want to be reassured?”

  “Nothing much to tell; the Explorer doesn’t seem any bigger; life support is functioning.”

  “Same here,” added Alisha.

  “You’ve used fifteen percent of your fuel.”

  Matt tensed at the reminder of the fuel being used. “That’s what I see too.”

  “Your about a third of the way and traveling at around twenty-seven thousand kilometers an hour?”

  “Twenty-seven?” stuttered Matt; though it wasn’t really a surprise. “That must make me the fastest man alive?”

  “Don’t forget the fastest woman,” muttered Alisha.

  “Before either of you stat claiming any records I’m told Eva’s from the Space station back home traveled faster... Putting speed records aside I’m saying that because you need to loose some velocity or your going to slam into the craft instead of getting onto it.”

  Matt looked at the Silhouette; it seemed to have actually grown as they spoke. “Okay will do.”

  “It’s probably easier if you left us control the tractor; we can see that data.”

  “Okay; handing over control.” Matt had done hardly anything to the controls since they had left but now not being in control made him feel helpless, and that led to him feeling even more alone. “Are you okay?” he said looking over to Alisha.

  “No.” she grumbled. “I can’t get the feeling this is the last thing I’m ever going to see out of my mind?”

  She didn’t say anymore and Matt decided not to force conversation so his mind drifted back to Earthrise. It was curiosity that made him turn to look back for the first time.

  Coming up from Earth he had never had an unobstructed view of the hotel; it was always partly seen through a small window or on the large screen at the front of the shuttle bay. As he looked back it was breathtaking. It looked far smaller than he had expected and immediately it wasn’t awe that filled his mind: it was that it was so far away. He couldn’t recall anybody in the history of space travel who had ventured this distance from the safety of an airlock. He and Alisha were on their own: far from help if anything went wrong, yet still far from where they hoped to find safety. For the first time he had doubts and once he allowed one to enter his mind others flooded in. Could they get that far? Would they miss the Explorer? And if they did get there what would happen if the keys to the airlock were down on Mars?

  “Are you okay Mathew?” Again Andrews voice made him start.

  “What… okay; yes I’m okay why do you want to know?”

  Andrew sounded concerned. “Your heart rate is getting into the red zone?”

  “It is… no I’m okay… I’m fine.” Matt could see Alisha looking over at him. “Almost there?” he said knowing he meant about half way. “Strange looking thing?” he said more to distract himself than as an observation.

  “Early attempts at self generated gravity?” Alisha replied.

  “Glad we didn’t have to go through that on Earthrise?”

  “I’m told it wasn’t even noticeable. One of my lecturers was in the development. They had it circling Earth for over a year before they came here. He was one of the test crew. The crew module is on the longer end of the cantilever.”

  “Mathew realized it was moving faster than he had expected.

  “Easier to leave it running than try and start it?”

  In frictionless space that made sense. “And all the store’s were in the other?” He knew they were but it was conversation.

  “My lecturer said it was weird going from gravity to weightlessness and back to gravity: both ways, each time they needed anything.”

  “Don’t they have the railway?”

  “He said that, that conj ours up images that are far from what it really is.”

  Mathew could make out the latticework projecting forwards and back. “The reactor looks closer to the crew module that it did from Earthrise?”

  “As long as it’s behind the counter rotation wheel. Your’ sure your okay with the radiation?”

  Matt’s attention was drawn to the colossal umbrella that was between the cantilever and the bulk of the spacecraft. “Yes; why?”

  “You did have a big dose?”

  “Yes; and if that shield t
he crew properly I don’t expect to get any more.”

  “No; I’m just a bit concerned that the reactor is completely exposed.”

  “It would never have flown if they needed a concrete containment structure, anyway being open to the cold of space helps with the cooling.”

  The static was almost as strong as Andrews’s voice. “While you are on the subject of the reactor I don’t imagine I have to remind you to make sure you don’t approach on the wrong side of the wheel?”

  “Thanks for reminding us,” mumbled Alisha.

  “I don’t expect you have, but we’ve got an elevated radiation reading registering here… Maybe we should try changing your angle of approach?”

  “We’ll be fine, it’s within the suits limits and the sooner we can get aboard the better for everybody?” Replied matt.

  “Whatever you do it looks like there’s going to be too much interference with your suit transmitters: we could lose contact so as soon as you are aboard use the communications on the explorer to let us know everything is okay?”

  “And if it’s not?” grumbled Alisha

  After traveling for what seemed like hours the retro rockets fired. It was what he and Alisha had been waiting for yet still he felt it unexpected. All the discussions, all the plans were now behind them and they had to really bring the old spacecraft to life. Matt realized he was anxious and spoke as much to cover any emotional change they may have detected on Earthrise as to confirm what had happened. “Retros firing.”

  “Fifteen second burst.” Came back Andrew.

  Matt didn’t reply but he silently ticked off the seconds.

  “Can either of you see the airlock?”

  “I cant: Mathew?” said Alisha.

  Matt was just as negative. “There’s not enough light from the planet?”

  Andrew sounded annoyed. “On the opposite side of the axis from the docking port.”

  “We know that,” Matt replied defensively. “We still can’t see it.”

  “I’m giving you an extra seconds retro; it should get you on course…” There was a hesitation in Andrews voice as the Retro besides Matt came briefly to life. “Your heading into intense radiation, we can’t be certain of your position. You will have to…” A surge in static smothered whatever else Andrew said.

  “Andrew… can you hear me?” But all Matt could hear was static. He looked across at Alisha; he could see her mouth moving through the visor but no words came over the radio. Alisha?”

  She lifted her hand and tapped the side of her helmet.

  Matt nodded; reached for the joystick and quickly switched over to manual.

  He looked at her and lifted his arms: moving them as if he was steering an auto; she raised her arm in what he assumed was understanding.

  Matt looked back at the Explorer. It was almost impossible to tell how far it was away. He cursed thinking it should have been obvious; scale meant nothing and he couldn’t judge distance without a reference frame, other than seemed much closer than it had just seconds ago. What did seem obvious was that they were still traveling at a high velocity. He pressed the trigger for the retro, hoping it wasn’t too late.

  When the gas jets stopped the explorer still seemed to be rushing towards them and Matt had to fight the compulsion to fire again. His finger tensed as he fought the almost overwhelming fear that they would scream by the spacecraft, and then he saw the airlock. It was still a long way away but he was sure he could see the tiny red circle; though it didn’t look red in the monochrome light that only just illuminated it.

  “Eighteen meters,” Matt muttered to himself. “Eighteen external diameter; Fifteen internal annular.” In the bulls-eye was the airlock. The airlock and docking port were on a section of the spaceship that was close to two hundred long, It wasn’t much but add that to the length of the arm between the pods and at last he had something he could gauge size by. Now he did fire the retro again.

 

  They were slowing and after a couple more bursts of the retro, and tense minutes later the tractor was heading straight for the airlock.

  Matt was so intent of reaching it that Alisha’s voice took him by surprise.

  “Matt.”

  “What… Alisha?”

  “We’re behind the shield.”

  “The shield… yes the shield.”

  “That was tense. I was worried there that we were going to overshoot?”

  “Me too; looks like we’re gunna make it.”

  “I still think this is a bad idea.”