by Zaslow Crane
“I thought I remembered some unusual stuff on the colonists’ manifest.”
She held the tablet up for her boss to read.
“What? I don’t see it.”
Rhonda, with two fingers, expanded the view so that an entire page of data was blown up on the tablet’s screen; blown up to focus on a single entry. All that was left to read on the screen, standing alone on a solitary line: “Ajax Cleanser 10 gross/ 16oz/ 12/case/cardboard wrapped.”
“Okay. I’m sleepy. Ajax? As in cleaning your shower?”
“Ajax is mainly sodium carbonate….”
“Yeah?”
“Bleach is sodium hypochlorite. Sodium Carbonate and hypochlorite are damn close. It might be close enough!”
Tonya brightened.
“And…Ajax is a powder. It contains no…liquid!”
Tonya’s eyes widened excitedly.
“It is a powder! I’ll bet you a walk to cargo, outside, that this will do it!”
“They wanted this ancient stuff on Mars, when they could have had NASA’s latest and greatest?”
“I remember reading something about them trying to keep whatever chemicals they import as simple as possible to mitigate Martian exposure to Earth ‘pollutants’….”
Tonya considered. “Okay, that makes sense. Okay we’ll go get some.”
lll “Oh boy. If you all think it’s bad at the ship, it’s worse back here with cargo.” Tonya’s comm sounded awestruck and sad at the same time.
“We’re going to need to park in orbit and figure out how to make our delivery.”
“After all this, we aren’t going to dock?”
“I’ve got to test every handhold and fasten point before I hook onto it. The rot these…Tartigrades caused is extensive. It looks like they eat everything!”
At this, a section of a strut came away in her hand. She could see Tardigrades writhing at both ends. Carefully she tossed it away from the ship.
“Listen up, people. We’re contaminated. The Mars Leap 4 will never make planetfall ever again. We can’t risk taking these voracious bugs anywhere. We can’t land. In fact, I hope we get her fixed enough to take her home. But this ship may be beyond saving. Anyway, after that, if it were me, I’d aim her at the sun and jump out after I set the rockets’ burn.”
“No!”
“I can’t think of any better ideas.”
“Aw, Cap. Your first ship…”
“Yeah, I know. Sucks don’t it? How’s it going in the repair department?”
“Oh, you know, tar and duct tape, scrape and scrape…”
“I remember it well.”
Tonya tuned her attention to moving purposefully but carefully toward Cargo.
Another strut section came off in her hand. Suddenly she saw dozens of black bugs, each the size of a ladybug or bee scrambling all over her glove.
Frantically, she brushed them off knowing that this was bad. She swatted and brushed them off, but because the contrast outside was so stark, she couldn’t tell how successful she was.
I couldn’t have gotten lucky and cleaned them all off. That would be asking too much.
She fastened herself to a sturdy section and pulled out her duct tape dispenser and wrapped her glove and sleeve around and around. Then she removed the duct tape, noticing a dozen or so black shapes slowly wriggling, trying to get free. She balled up the duct tape and gently pitched it off the ship.
She taped herself again and caught a few more, tossing that one away as well. She stifled a nervous giggle.
lll “Mars Leap 4, please be advised. I am now entering cargo bay 3. Gotta go get us some extra special cleaner.”
“Roger that, Boss.”
“Good hunting,” Arna spoke from Claudia P’s side.
“If it’s where it’s supposed to be it, shouldn’t take me long.”
lll “Mayday! Mayday!”
“Cap! What’s wrong?”
“I found it. I’m on my way back and the place I tied off broke
away! I’m floating. Drifting. There are loose bugs everywhere!” “Stay calm, Cap. I’ll come get you!” Rhonda volunteered. “No, Rhonda. There are already two of us out here. We can
get to her faster.”
“Claudia, you’ve already been tasked with something im
portant. We only have so much air. If you plug leaks, we get to
keep most of it. I have time and I’m going.”
“Ay, Cap, uhh, Rhonda.”
Then three clicks: “Coming, Boss.”
“Not making any fast moves though they’re on me. It’s only
a matter of time until I suit-leak because of these…these….” In the comm background everyone could hear the null pressure alarm.
They could hear Tonya panting, trying to keep her head. “Get off me!” she shouted.
“Go ahead and vent boss. I’m coming with the winch and
line. One problem at a time. We’ll get the bugs off you, ASAP.”
With that, Rhonda stepped out of the airlock in her EVA suit and moved over to the winch mechanism installed next to the door.
She accessed her remote on her cuff, and clipped the winch end onto her suit, then began spooling line out.
So long as I don’t flail about too much, I should have plenty of line; hell, I should have enough line to reach all the way to the thrusters if I want—which I don’t!
She played out the line; the first section of the cargo gantry she touched with her boot, crumbled.
Tiny specks drifted away from the disturbed portion of the ship’s cargo structure.
Shit!
She found a solid spot and kicked gently while playing out more line.
“Boss? You still there?”
“Sure am. Where are you?”
“Right at the beginning of cargo.”
“Okay, I’m turning on all my suit lights. I’m a few meters forward of bay three, off to starboard a bit. Maybe four meters.” “Coming.”
Rhonda played out more line.
“Shit!”
“What?”
“Can’t you hear my suit?! Suit-breach. I’m betting that it’s one of many that’s in my future.”
“Coming.”
“My readings say that it’s small…Oh here it is.”
She unspooled some duct tape, burnished it on the semi-flexible fabric and the leak slowed to a crawl.
“I’m passing bay two. Almost there.”
She passed by a stabilizer-thrust unit and saw Tonya’s lights. The radiance seemed to waver and flicker. Rhonda unspooled more line. As she drew closer, she realized why the lights on Tonya’s suit seemed so odd. There was a swarm of bugs around her! Hundreds! Thousands!
Tonya saw the bugs as well; she was so close that it was more difficult for her.
“I see you. Don’t come any closer!” Tonya shouted into the comm. “It’s some sort of swarm. They are keying on me, not the ship. I have no idea why! You can’t come now. You’ll die too!”
More alarms rang through the comm system.
“Aww, dammit, another leak!”
Everyone could hear the dread and the acceptance taking over her voice.
Rhonda saw her hastily slap a duct tape patch on her leg and got an idea.
“Boss unspool a whole bunch of tape and wave it around— keep it away from you, but wave it around. Use it to catch those guys!”
“Love it! Old time fly paper!”
“I guess…”
She ripped off a two-meter length and waved it around trapping quite a few but leaving maybe a thousand, maybe more. It was impossible to tell.
Tonya gently tossed the tape away.
“Do it again Tonya, especially in front of you!”
Meanwhile, Rhonda carefully found a secure place to tie herself off.
“Clear out the area between you and me with the tape!”
“I will in a minute. Got another leak! Dang! They ate a hole in my helmet?”
“At least the tape will get a
good seal on that smooth surface.”
“Yeah. There’s that. You should be a politician Rhonda. Excellent spin control.”She tapped her helmet as she finished burnishing the tape on it.
“Okay waving more tape, capturing more hungry buggies.”
“All right, I think we’re out of time.”
“What?!”
“No. I meant…We need to get you inside. You have too many leaks to deal with. I’m going to throw this line to you. You’re going to catch it. Then you’re going to clip it on your suit and I’m going to pull you, fast, out of that cloud. We should leave most of them behind, wondering where you went!”
“Okay!”
Rhonda carefully threw the line at her captain. The first time it was wide. The second time it got hung up on a broken strut…
The fifth time Tonya caught it and wasted no time in clipping in.
“Okay, boss, on your way back- and this is important- since I will have no good way back, you’re going to grab me with your free hand. I’ll reel us in, you’ll hold onto me.”
Tonya laughed; a self-deprecating chuckle.
“You make it sound so easy. Did I ever tell you that I got kicked off my baseball team when I was ten? I couldn’t even catch an infield pop-up.”
“Well, you’re going to prove them all wrong in about a minute.”
“I’m ready. Get me out of here!”
With that, Rhonda hit the ‘reel in’ command at nearly full speed. Tonya shot forward out of the swarm and at Rhonda who now floated free, waited like a defensive end, who has a runner coming at her.
They hit with a solid whump that partially knocked the breath out of both. Rhonda let up on the control. Tonya held on!
As soon as they knew that the plan had succeeded, Rhonda reeled them in, pausing just outside the lock. However, it was easy to see that the plan hadn’t been 100% successful; little black dots ambled all over Tonya and a few were now on Rhonda’s suit as well! And even more frightening, some little black dots on Tonya had become stationary. That told her some were burrowing into Tonya’s suit!
“Boss! They’re eating their way into your suit!”
“I know! Spin me around me, Rhonda.”
She did.
“Reach into the bag and get out a can.”
She did.
“If I remember right, these cans were made with cardboard sides. Grab one and twist counterclockwise. It should…explode, sort of.”
In moments, they were enveloped in a whitish powdery cloud.
“Christ, I hope this works!”
“If it doesn’t, we’re pretty much done, so pray while you make a mess with that stuff!”
“I’m praying! I’m praying!” With one hand, Rhonda kept a firm grip on a railing with the other, she dumped one, then, a second can on her boss. Then, just for good measure, Tonya dumped one on herself.
Tonya spun slowly and looked directly into Rhonda’s faceplate, unable to see her eyes.
“Do not open that airlock if you see any of these little bastards alive!”
“They’re all over you.”
Black dots the size of bees speckled Tonya’s EVA suit.
“You’re still covered, Boss.”
Tonya went silent. Rhonda could almost hear her sob. Then, her demeanor changed, and she was ‘The Boss’ again.
“Damn. Then we’re done here. I order you to take command of the ship. I’ll stay outside. I will not contaminate our one chance to live!”
“Wait. Boss?”
“Yeah?”
“The spots. They’re all over you. But they don’t seem to be moving.”
Rhonda tried to brush them off. Most were attached and partway through the suit’s fabric.
“Shit,” Rhonda said impressed.
“What?”
“Boss, I think they’re all dead.”
“Really? Really? Are you sure? That’s great!”
“Well, the contrast…I can’t see that well.”
Commander Saruwatari reached out and brushed some of the bugs off her Captain.
“Yeah. About thirty of them were partway through your suit. I can’t brush them off with my hand!”
While she was absorbing this, Tonya did a quick check of Rhonda’s suit brushing off all but one black spot.
She leaned her helmet against her commander’s, trying to look into her eyes.
“Thirty potential leaks?”
“I hate to guess, but I’m just estimating at the actual number. The light out here isn’t so good….”
Thirty potential leaks?
Tonya shuddered, then began a brittle and disbelieving giggle.
“Better get the bag of Ajax up to the girls…” She gestured to the top of the hull.
“I’m going to go inside, strip, jettison everything I’m wearing, take a shower and just for good measure, I’m gonna shave my head!”
“Can’t be too careful, Boss!” Rhonda grinned.
With that she tied off and clambered ‘up’ to find the tarand-duct-tape crew.
“Arna, Claudia, I have something that will brighten your day….”
“Is it Kryptonite?”
“Close enough.”
“Excellent!”
Rhonda imagined that she could hear a cheer from Tonya inside the ship as well.
lll Tonya opened the comm with the Red One, huge in front of them.
“This is Commander Tonya Grill, of Mars Leap 4. Mars Far station handoff Two, glad t’see your beacon in the dark! How has Mars been lately?”
“Cold and red, Ma’am, cold and red.”
“Understood, Mars Far Station.”
“Commander Grill, The Mars Base settlers will certainly be glad to hear that you’ve arrived!”
The tech in the Mars space station awaiting them paused a moment. Then- “I heard from Canaveral that you had a bit of a difficult transit this time.”
Tonya smiled and rubbed her smooth pate. She looked around the cabin at three other cleanly shaved heads.
“Yeah. Yeah, you could say that. We’re here with your supplies, but the settlers not going to be able to scrub their showers, though.”
“Excuse me, Commander?”
“Never mind. Please put me through to your on-duty station manager.”
BY ZASLOW CRANE
T
hings went to hell pretty fast. I think events caught pretty much everyone by surprise. In retrospect, I wonder that it did. Me above anyone else. My name’s Mike. I invent things, and I’ve created dozens of things that have made your life better; easier. I’ve made a very nice living inventing things.I’m gonna have to re-think all that going forward, though.
It all started when I saw a news/org/vid segment on “old people.” I lived mostly outside, almost constantly moving, like everyone of my generation. A long weekend on Mars colony? Why not? Jump over to the moon for a party? What should I bring? I make a mean carnawan salad!
I had no idea that there was such an impacted segment of our population; one that was virtually confined to their beds. People were regularly living to be 120, 130…even in some cases 150 years old. The rub was that while their minds were generally still sharp, their bodies were used up.
Now, I don’t have any sort of genetic or medical background, so I couldn’t do anything to strike at the root cause, but my degrees are all in engineering and related fields.
“Surely,” I thought, feeling a great deal of empathy. “Surely, there is something I can do to help these poor souls.”
I can still recall the segment I watched, showing these old folks…pathetic. Still sharp, still mentally vibrant, confined to beds awaiting the brilliantly cold finger of Death. It really touched me and I resolved to do something; anything that would make their lives a bit better.
Hah! What a mistake. I’ve learned my lesson.
After a few months I’d developed a bed that articulated easily and “levitated” utilizing simple magnetic repulsion. In effect, the beds could…“fly.”
> In V.2, I also added other invaluable features, like: a built-in food snyth unit, better catheterization, higher power motivation, and better guidance controls. And, since the hovering beds had caused no incidents, I also removed the governors on altitude that I’d built into V.1.
For a short time, I was hailed as some sort of hero. I’d liberated all of our parents and grandparents. Stories showing that they were happy and joyous, while still measured and careful, cavorting in the skies made the news almost daily. They were free! They were happy! I was happy to help. It’s what I do.
They soared in the skies outside, like the rest of us, basking in the sun.
They were happy.
The Ancients were no longer bed-ridden or confined to their homes for fear of injury and death.
Beds and old people were now soaring into the skies, happily going wherever they pleased.
Most of the beds didn’t even resemble beds any longer. Their design was dictated by the owner and his or her needs and foibles. It was a Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade everyday (I’d seen footage of this event on old archives).
Then, they organized.
The good feelings didn’t last. The first fly-in-the-oinment was a new organization that sprung up almost overnight. It was: AYRO “Advanced Year Response Org.”
Their thing was to insure that Ancients as everyone referred to them now- had all the advantages that we, healthy young and…independently mobile Americans enjoyed.
There was a little bit of pushback, but everyone eventually agreed that fair is fair and if the Ancients wanted to do all the stuff that we wanted to do, well, why not?
Then, they started turning up at stadium concerts, with bullhorns. Loudly and obnoxiously declaring that: “This isn’t music! It’s noise!”
It was generally agreed that capping the age of people who actually could purchase tickets would fix this problem, until the Ancients demanded that acts such as The Cars, and Boston, who had gone from stadiums to concert halls and finally to Holiday Inns and second rate Indian casinos begin touring again (as this was music, we supposed archly); forget the fact that of the ten people, ten band members mentioned in this example, only three were still alive. And they demanded Joe Walsh go back onto the road, despite that he was now happily retired in Monte Carlo with his fifth wife.
Adam Ant was by now using a walker, but being courted nonetheless to do a return tour of all of his hits from the 80’s.