by Gary Weston
'Yes, you do. And you'll get it. Fawn. You've already learnt heaps on this trip. You'll never fly on a ship on your own. Two minimum. And they will have had to have passed basic training, like you did. You've a good head on your shoulders. Just always keep calm and think things through. Besides...'
'Besides what?'
'Nothing.'
'Out with it, Craggy.'
Cragg sighed. 'I didn't want to bring all this up again. Fawn. If I pass you, it's because you deserve to pass. And I really want you to pass, because the sooner you can get back to Mars, the better.'
'Fine. But if I fail, I fail. I can accept that. I can't accept you passing me for any other reason.'
Cragg wagged a finger at her. 'You just do what you've been trained for, you'll pass. Go take a break. I'll drive the bus.'
'Thanks, Craggy.'
With the deck to himself, he sat at the controls. He closed his eyes and listened to the ship. The ship was happy again. Just as well with three months to go. He mentally patted himself on the back for doing his second out of ship walk in forty five years. 'Not too shabby for an old fart, Craggy.'
He liked Fawn. A bit up herself to begin with. And with a father he wouldn't want to tangle with, she was an interesting young woman. Fawn was the future of the human race. If planet Earth keeled over, it would be up to Fawn and the other young ones to save their species. His immediate intention was to keep her alive and teach her as much as he could so that she would be a capable pilot with the confidence to handle anything thrown at her.
'And good luck with that, Craggy.'
Chapter 13
Cragg had set up his artists easel on the deck where he would hear the radio should it hail him, if the solar storm abated and reliable contact could be resumed. There was no such thing as artists materials on either Moon or even Mars. It hadn't been considered a priority to those who made the decisions. But Cragg was resourceful and inventive if he had to be.
His easel he had cobbled together from scraps of wood and scavenged wire. Brushes he made from his own hair taped to a few twigs, pruned from the Base Three jungle. Paints were from synthoil, mixed with anything that made a colour. His “canvas” was any discarded flat material that he could get his hands on.
As he daubed incongruous shapes and colours into what would look like a flower only to a half blind mad man, he was confident in the knowledge he was the greatest artist on either Moon or Mars. He ignored the mute point that he was the only one who painted.
He would give his works of dubious art to people he liked for birthday presents. They were strangely popular, used to break up dull plain walls. Misty had three in her rooms. The computer played Brahms in the background and he lost himself in his solitude, Dillow asleep in her room.
The freighter sailed across the heavens with its precious cargo of marsillium. What Earth was supposed to be doing with it was anyone's guess. Pottsy had hinted at some kind of energy thing. Cragg had tested some with a radiation monitor when nobody was looking. He got no read out. One thousand tonnes of it was a big order.
The plan was to land the pods on the Moon. The ship and the freight pods were not designed to pierce the Earth's atmosphere. It was okay for Mars and the Moon. The pods would then have to be transferred to Earth by a different type of ship. Craggy was pleased about that. Passing the baton to someone else when he got to the Moon suited him just fine. He'd made his mind up, he would never set foot on that sad sick planet Earth ever again.
He'd sounded Pottsy out about maybe settling on Mars. As a good friend Pottsy had been tactful. “It's a hard life out here, Craggy. That storm nearly finished you off, remember? We're building all this for the future, the young blood.”
Fair enough. Mars had been a long shot, anyway. The Moon was a different thing altogether. Youngsters sometimes didn't stay long on the Moon, either transferring to Mars at the first opportunity, or even back to the hell hole of Earth. It was the grey brigade that kept the Moon running like a Swiss watch. He had friends in low places in the grey brigade. Many of them doing all the shitty jobs nobody else wanted to do. The sanitation department was a big drop from being a freighter pilot, but it was still preferable to being Earthside.
But, if the Earth suddenly took a turn for the even worse, where was the first bolt-hole? Moon. And who would be first to abandon Earth? The toss pot politicians who screwed it all up in the first place. Imagine being elbow deep in politicos. Just that had almost happened once before.
But he was between a rock and hard place. Or in his case, Moon and Mars. He might squeak in to a Moon job; never in a million years on Mars. He had no choice. His old age was to be spent scrubbing toilets on Moon. The relative peace on the ship for a few weeks would seem like a slice of paradise by comparison. Making the most of the rest of the trip suddenly became a top priority.
Chapter 14
'Oh, come on Moon. Talk to me. Captain Dixon Cragg, of the freighter XB7FG6. Now, I always wanted to give her a name like Starlight. Against company regulations to humanise inanimate objects. Bloody stupid. So, damn well talk to me. Hello? Is it something I said?'
'Craggy. Who are you talking to?'
'Hmm? Nobody. Myself. I've been trying for hours. Can't get past the static. Damned solar storm.'
Dillow said, 'Maybe when we get closer to the Moon, we'll get somewhere. Go take a break.'
Cragg got up and stretched. 'Yeah...'
'Calling Captain Dixon Cragg. Are you okay, Craggy?'
'Yes. Is that you, Carlos? You're a bit scratchy.'
'Yeah. Carlos here. Feeling lonely were you?'
Cragg laughed. 'Just a little. Hey, Carlos. In case we lose you again. We have a little problem. We lost locks on a pod. It was slipping out and I had to weld it together to bring it home.'
'What? What are you telling me, Craggy? The pods are not lined up?'
'That's right, Carlos. We can't land on the cradle, at least not all of it. We will have to disconnect in space from pod five onwards and let the rest orbit until we can get it down. You may wish to give it some thought while we are on our way.'
There was a pause as Carlos considered the situation. 'This is a new one. I'm sure uncoupling pods has never been tried in space before. We'll figure it out, so don't worry too much. Dillow okay?'
'I'm here, Carlos. I'm fine, thanks.'
'Good. Have a safe trip. I'll try you again in a couple...days. I'll...engineering...do about...'
'You're breaking up, Carlos,' said Cragg. It was just static now. 'At least they know our status. The bus is all yours. See you later.'
Chapter 15
'Hi. Any more radio contact?'
Dillow said, 'Nothing. I made you a feed. Just a salad. It's in the fridge.'
'Thanks. I hope they are getting their heads around our arrival. You are certainly getting plenty of experience on this trip.'
'Just glad I have you to hold my hand.'
'No worries. I'll have that feed and I'll be right back.'
Cragg got the salad from the fridge. Not a huge fan of salads, he ate it without enthusiasm. Talking to Carlos had cheered him up. He could imagine the pandemonium on Moon. Taking a pod train apart in space had never been tried before. Then they had to get five pods onto the cradle from space. That would get them scratching their heads for sure. Him and Fawn would be okay. They would just land and settle the first five pods on the cradle, their job done.
The days turned into weeks. They were finally only two weeks from the Moon. Radio contacts had been few and far between. “Have you got a plan of action?” he'd asked Carlos on one short opportunity.
“Getting there, Craggy,” came back the reply. “You should know something. Things are getting kinda heated on Earth at the moment.”
“Global warming?”
“I'm talking military heat. On the grapevine. The crazy bastards are about to slug it out again.”
“Shit. Stupid idiots. Any fighting yet?”
“Just name calling and gesturing. So
far at least.”
“Great. That's all we need.” The signal had broken up. “Shit. Cleaning toilets on the Moon is sounding better all the time.”
Chapter 16
Three days out and radio communication was still down. The blue of Earth was clear and bright, the Moon on the far side.
'It still looks pretty even if it is sick,' said Dillow, looking at the screen.
'It's the people that's sick, not the planet,' said Cragg, sourly. 'Once the humans have finally wiped themselves out, the Earth will heal itself. Maybe that would be a good thing.'
'Craggy. Some of my family might still live down there. Would you mind not wishing them dead?'
'I never...sorry. I forgot. I didn't mean...'
Dillow couldn't face him. She stared at the Earth. Craggy was right, but she didn't want to hear it. Even before they had taken off from Mars, the jungle drums had been banging. Another famine in the West had the East refusing to help them out. They could hardly feed their own people. The West threatened to go get what they needed anyway. The East had said, in your dreams, West. It was the West that wanted the marsillium.
Dillow told him, 'I'm on the first run back to Mars I can get.'
Cragg said, 'That's a smart move. I wish I could join you.'
'Then why not? You said it yourself, it's mandatory to have at least two on board. I could sound out Pottsy for a job. If he said yes, I could stay and you could fly the ship back to the Moon. That would keep you for another few months.'
'Can't fly back by myself. I'd need a passenger with a pilots licence. They'd never let me do it anyway.'
'I'm going to miss you, Craggy.'
Cragg laughed. 'For all of five minutes.'
'Moon calling Captain Dixon Cragg. Moon calling Captain Dixon Cragg.'
'Carlos?'
'Big brother Mario. We think we have a plan. We've fitted lifter grabbers to a tug ship. It seems to work okay.'
'Impressive,' said Cragg. 'Can it handle five pods in one lift?'
'We've gone up to six in a trial. It worked well until the pods were lowered to the cradle. Not quite how it would be done with an experienced freighter pilot like you standing by. We should have the damage to the cradle repaired by the time you arrive.'
Dillow said, 'Jeez. That's nice to know, Mario.'
Cragg said, 'Dare I ask what the hell is happening on Earth?'
'At the moment, not too bad. The East has reluctantly agreed to help the West with food supplies. The East has been almost as badly hit by droughts leading to famine, so it isn't as if they have much to share. A dozen new diseases have sprung up all over the world, and even the latest super antibiotics aren't doing much.'
Cragg said, 'Let's hope it doesn't get to the Moon.'
'Not if we can help it,' said Mario. 'There's a total ban on people from Earth coming here, and vice versa. That's had a real bad impact on trade, as you can imagine.'
'What's the food supply situation on the Moon?' Cragg asked.
Mario said, 'Same as always, Craggy. Like Mars, we are reasonably self sufficient. Not much choice, but we won't go hungry. Our problem is getting hardware supplies from Earth. We needed another ten years to further develop our manufacturing facilities, especially the laser powered steelworks. They have a good old one they haven't skilled people to run and have promised us we can have that in exchange for the marsillium, so we can make our own steel. We have the iron ore deposits, but can't do much with them.'
'Right. I was just thinking. If there's a ban on people going to and from Earth, how is this marsillium going to be delivered?'
'Computer controlled ship. No pilot.'
'Are you kidding me?'
Mario said, 'It's the latest thing, Craggy. We ordinary mortals have only just found out. We all knew our engineers were building a huge new ship, but we didn't know it flew itself. But if you think about it, the ships practically fly themselves, anyway. The pilots are only there for the landings and take off.'
'Yeah?' snorted Cragg, testily, having heard it all before. 'I always thought of those two things as being fairly important.'
'It's just a natural advancement, Craggy. It had to come eventually. What are you worried for? You're retiring.'
Cragg sighed. 'So I've been told. You just be ready to meet us when we get there. Later, Mario.'
'Great,' said Dillow as Mario signed off. 'My career as a pilot is over before it has even begun.'
'I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet. It will take years before they send ships back and forth to Mars without pilots. It may never happen at all.'
'It certainly clarifies things for me, Craggy. I couldn't get to Earth even if I wanted to, and pilots will be redundant before I'm fifty. I have to get myself a job on Mars and sooner rather than later.'
Cragg sighed. 'I think that sums it up. I'll be thinking of you as I clean toilets on Moon.'
Chapter 17
The uneasy peace between East and West held with only minor skirmishes. As a trade off for the food, the West had agreed to share medical experience to fight the new diseases. It was a fragile coexistence with only a few hundred killing each other on a daily basis, rather than tens of thousands.
No love was lost, but the alternative to all out war, was a scrappy understanding. If it would last or how long it would last, would be anyone's guess. With a multinational community, Moon stayed deliberately out of Earth's bickering and took no sides.
The solar storm had finally abated and the freighter was able to communicate constantly with the Moon. Dillow put the ship into a slow orbit around Moon.
'Carlos? Craggy here. Is that damn cradle ready?'
'It should do the job, Craggy.'
'What do you mean, it should do the job? Come on, Carlos. Will the damn thing work or not?'
There was an uneasy pause. 'We're reasonably sure it will be okay. The engineers did what they could, but they're flat out on that new ship.'
Cragg rolled his eyes and looked at Dillow. 'Hardly fills me with confidence. Who's the pod lifter?'
'Angus McGee.'
'Angus knows what he's doing. I can't understand a bloody word he says, but he gets the job done.'
Dillow asked, 'Carlos. When can we unload the pods?'
'About forty-eight hours. We're making a few adjustments to the tug so we can take off the last five pods.'
'Right. But I insist we make a landing on the cradle with the ship before the tug brings the other pods down, just in case it gets damaged again.'
'Well. I suppose that makes sense,' said Carlos. 'I'll see what I can do.'
'No, Carlos,' said Dillow. 'That's the way it's going to be, end of.'
Carlos chuckled. 'Consider it done. Over.'
Cragg looked at Dillow in a new light. 'Good for you, Fawn. That's how a proper captain acts.'
'Thanks, Craggy.'
'You're welcome. We need to think about the first issue. It has never been attempted before to remove pods in orbit. There's a lot that could go wrong.'
'I know. The tug not only has to take off the rear five pods, but must keep pace with us in orbit. We can slow down substantially to help with that. But if there is any damage to the five attached to the ship, landing on a patched up cradle will be interesting, to say the least.'
'Yeah, but...'
'What?'
'Dunno. Not sure. An idea keeps going around in my head, but I can't quite get a handle on it.'
'It'll come to you.'
'Yeah. Maybe.'
Chapter 18
'You look pleased with yourself,' said Dillow.
'That idea I was on about. I figured it out last night. So simple.'
'Good ideas usually are. Go on.'
'Pods six and seven are welded together and are not exactly lined up. We need to cut five and six free from each other.'
'We know that.'
'True. Once pod six has been taken off pod five we can safely land, if the cradle is safe. But the tug can't land with the last five pods connec
ted with the misalignment. That would be a disaster.'
'Agreed.'
'So. If the tug takes off pods eight to ten, then seven and six, we can land one to five, then get straight back up there. We can get the last three pods and bring them down, leaving the tug to deal with six and seven. Does that make any sense whatsoever?'
'In Principal. Let's tell Carlos.'
'Want me to talk to him?'
Dillow said, 'We'll do it together. Come on.'
'After you.'
'Freighter XB7FG6 calling Moon. Carlos?'
'Carlos here. We're on track for you.'
'We've been thinking,' said Cragg.
'Unusual for you, Craggy. What were you thinking, exactly?'
Dillow said, 'Pods six and seven are the troublesome ones. If we take eight to ten off first, secure them with safety line to six and seven, the tug can wait while we land the first five pods. We go back up, we reconnect with the last three and bring those down. You get the cradle cleared while we do that. We go back up again, connect up with pod six, bring that down, and the tug can bring number seven down.'
Impressed with Dillow's fine tuning of his idea, Cragg said, 'It's a little convoluted, but it maximises the chances of a completely successful delivery.'
'Leave it with me. I'll call with the details later. Over.'
'Over,' said Dillow. 'What are you grinning at?'
'The future of the human race, and I like what I see.'
Chapter 19
Four hours later, Carlos came back with the approval of the plan.
'We agreed it was the best plan. We'll need to undo the welding between six and seven. Any volunteers?'
'I can do that,' said Cragg.
'I should do it,' said Dillow.
'I want you driving the bus. I did the welding, I'll undo it.'