John sat down in the navigation chair next to Stephanie.
“Don't forget to take off the parking brake,” he said straight-faced as he adjusted his chair.
“Oh you mean this?” asked Stephanie as she hit the emergency klaxon in the duck.
“Funny,” John replied quickly turned off the alarm. “Nothing to worry about,” he yelled to the back of the plane.
John pulled up the navigation panel and plotted a course along the high speed railway.
“Just follow the yellow brick road, Steph,” John pointed out the window toward the rail, “you know it as the railway. Keep it low over the rail and we'll use it as a natural nav marker.”
“Piece of cake,” Stephanie replied. “How soon do you want to get there?” she asked.
“Slow and steady wins the race kid,” John replied.
Stephanie looked mischievously at her father and said, “Those words aren't in my vocabulary. But if you mean drive at your speed, I'll try to channel my childhood.”
“Everybody's a comedian these days,” John replied. “Just get us there in one piece is all I ask.”
Stephanie switched the vidcomm to the back of the duck.
“Good afternoon passengers of the S.S .Compromise,” she began. “I'll be your pilot for this trip. Please make sure to fasten your safety harnesses and keep them on at all times. If you need any refreshments, just page my copilot and he'll be happy to assist you. Otherwise we should arrive at New China as soon as we get there. Thanks again for your patronage.”
“Very nice,” John complimented his daughter.
“Thank you,” she nodded in reply with a smile.
John stretched his arm to the cockpit door and closed it. He reached over to Stephanie and turned her in his direction. Pausing for a second, John quietly said, “Stephanie, I want to make sure you know there is one reason you are sitting in that chair.”
Stephanie worked to control her reaction, unsure where her father was going with this.
“You’re sitting there because you are simply the best pilot I’ve ever seen,” John said with a simple honesty. “Every time I see you flying I can’t help feeling a sense of pride. There are so many paths you could have travelled. I am so happy you’ve chosen the one that has brought you to that chair.”
Leaning over, John gave her a hug. He then reached back over to the doorway and opened the door.
“What’s that?” John asked as he saw Stephanie attaching her Ksync to the dash.
Turning her Ksync slightly so that her father could read the screen, she gave him a smile, “Just a little driving music of course.”
John didn’t have to read the song name that rolled across the Ksync’s screen. An all too familiar lyric filled the cockpit’s speakers, “All aboard, hahahahahaaa!” This was followed by a deep bass striking a defining rhythm and the scratch of a guitar.
John was about to say something about focusing on the task, but caught himself. He was not only confident, but proud of his daughter’s skills. Instead of a lesson, he leaned back in his chair and listened to vintage Ozzy Osbourne.
Stephanie exhaled and started the plasma engines. Adjusting the hovering height on the duck to match the railway, she timed the initial acceleration of the plane with the kick of Randy Rhoads’ guitar. As the rift launched into its fast moving chords, Stephanie gave a tap on the afterburners sending the duck flying down the tracks.
After the burst of g-forces from the afterburners had subsided, John reached down into his pack and pulled out the Ksync given to him by the admiral. He had been itching to review the device since she had given it to him, but the opportunity hadn't presented itself. More importantly it would take his mind off his daughter's flying.
Chapter 34 Crazy Train
The rail for the high speed transport followed what was once called Valles Marineris. The canyons that stretched for nearly a fifth of the planet were filled with water, making it the largest inlet on Mars. From the Great Sea of Mars, the rocky shores of the inlet transitioned into a tropical rainforest. As the inlet wound itself through the equator of the planet, it stopped to form bodies large enough to be called seas. Decades after the terraforming of the planet, scientists had yet to re-name many parts of Mars. Instead, the original names were often used even if the context no longer applied.
The Compromise was like a sailboat "nicely making way" down its path. Stephanie managed to keep the duck's average speed above eighty kilometers per hour regardless of the twists and turns. John had managed to keep the number of times he cringed and warned Stephanie of a hazard to under ten. It would have been closer to fifty if his eyes weren't stuck reading the admiral's Ksync.
From the small fraction he had read, the controversial reports would have caused quite the stir back home. The Ksync outlined thousands of directives the MARC program had issued since its conception. The directives were loosely organized by stages of the MARC program. John tried to get a quick overview, but the scope of the information made it nearly impossible to grasp without extensive research. There were maps, diagrams, schematics, and an absolutely daunting amount of theories to grasp. The Ksync was the admiral's personal encyclopedia of Mars. John salivated at the adventures contained within its secret pages. One thing was starting to take hold in his mind, however, the implementation of the MARC program and the intentions of his grandfather were not travelling down the same road any longer.
John had begun skimming the terraforming stage when Stephanie's calls brought him out of his reading trance.
“Commander, we may have trouble,” Stephanie was repeating.
John wasn't used to his daughter referring to him by his rank unless something was very serious. He looked out the cockpit window across the inlet. A lightning storm raged across the waters ahead of them. The blackness of the clouds swallowed everything from the ground to the heavens. It reminded John of the great dust storms that had swept across the plain states on Earth. Unlike the dust storms, this one was filled with an electricity that arced in all directions.
Pulling up the vidcomm for the duck, John announced, “Everyone get strapped in, were in for a bit of rough weather coming up.”
Next John activated the small energizers that had helped the plane survive its epic plummet to Mars. He then turned his attention to helping his daughter keep her cool under fire.
“The Compromise has come away from a lot worse than a storm without a scratch,” he related to Stephanie. “Just put on your lights and keep the nose pointed down the trail. We'll be just fine.”
Stephanie nodded but John could see that all the simulators in the world couldn't replace real life. The vidcomm signaled a page from the back compartment. John flicked it on.
“Hi Daddy,” Jessica came across the screen with a greeting. “What kind of storm do we have? Is it a tornado or a hurricane?”
John smiled back to his youngest and said, “Just a little storm with some lightning, that's all. We'll get through it just fine and keep on going don't you worry.”
“Okay, let me know if you see a tornado though,” Jessica added. “I want to see one of those.”
“We're going to try to steer clear of anything like that, but I'll take a vid of it if we see one,” John told her. “I have to go now, Jess, we have to look sharp up here.”
“OK, love you,” Jessica told him and then signed off of the vidcomm.
“Take the kids along, have a good time, it'll be a vacation,” John muttered sarcastically, recalling the compromise conversation. “Thanks, Captain.”
“What was that?” Stephanie asked.
“Oh nothing, I’ve just realized how much I was bamboozled,” John replied as he brought up the duck's scanners.
The storm ahead was roughly two hundred kilometers in diameter and was growing in intensity as it sucked up moisture from the inlet. Wind speeds were reaching one hundred fifty kilometers per hour in several parts of the storm. John wasn't a weather expert by any means, but this was an odd looking thing. Th
e plane raced along the rail, keeping inside the bars that would guide a transport. As the storm finally hit them, Stephanie had to fight with the controls to keep the duck on course.
The initial wind shear jolted the plane, but after several seconds they decreased to random bumps and bangs. The light show offered by the storm was spectacular. John had to close the window due to the blinding lights flashing more than a room full of paparazzi. As a result, Stephanie navigated exclusively with the vidscreen.
“Just like the simulators back home in D.C.,” Stephanie remarked regarding the vidscreen. A smile returned to her face as the familiarity relaxed her nerves.
A loud crack filled their eardrums as the vidcomm screen flashed pure white. The controls froze. Stephanie lost all control of the duck as it ran off the rail. Crashing through the jungle it smashed trees and shook with each impact. Yells to "hold on" and cries of shock echoed through the plane as it violently decelerated. The duck came to rest on its belly. A path of destruction through the jungle lay hidden by the darkness.
Holding a PhD in crashing, John was able to shake off the shock quickly.
“Stephanie,” he patted his daughter's arm, “you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” she replied.
Pulling off his harness, John moved to the back of the plane to check on his family and friends. He surveyed the compartments and crew members. Both were shaken up, yet everything was in one piece. Meanwhile, Stephanie tried unsuccessfully to reboot the engine and navigation systems. Internal systems were online, however, so she paged the passenger compartment over the vidcomm.
“How's everyone back there?” she asked.
Glennay gave her a thumbs-up.
“I may need a good masseuse after this, but everyone looks OK,” Glennay informed her.
“Good,” Stephanie replied. “I'm coming back there.”
Having rearranged the jumbled supplies, the crew of the S.S. Compromise squeezed into the main compartment of the duck.
“How do we know where we are?” asked Kyle. “It's not like we're going to open up a hatch and peek out, not with that lightning.”
“Good question,” John confirmed. “We're likely knee deep in fallen trees, a half-kilometer or more off track. The good news is we're not moving, so wherever we landed it must be stable.”
“We've internal power then?” asked Glennay.
“From what I could tell, the internal systems were all online,” Stephanie answered. “The external systems, engines, sensors, etcetera were all offline.”
“We must have been hit by lightning like no other,” Ashley chimed in. “The duck's shielding kept the internal systems on, but an ordinary lightning strike couldn't have taken out the externals.”
John wanted to pace and think, but there wasn't any room.
“The last I saw of the storm data, it was moving pretty fast and it wasn't that large,” John added to the conversation. “I think if we hang tight for an hour at most it should blow by us.”
“I can still hear the pounding,” Jessica said curled up next to Ashley.
“That's a good thing Jess,” John tried to put a spin on the noise. “We can use the pounding to know when the storm has passed.”
John gave the crate next to him a good pat and said, “Let's put this time to use. Double check the supplies and get any loose items secure. After that, we have power so let's eat!”
The crew seemed to buy into John's plan, anything to take their minds off the pounding noise from outside. It helped that lunch had been several hours ago, and they needed a break.
#
Roughly an hour had passed before the sounds of thunder faded. Jessica took it upon herself to make sure the crew noticed.
“Eight o'clock and all's well!” Jessica announced in various compartments of the plane.
John had been reading more from the admiral's Ksync when Jessica popped up front.
“You’re a first class watchman,” he told Jessica as he gave her a quick hug.
Glancing over at Stephanie, who was still sitting in the pilot's seat, John asked, “Any luck on the system diagnostics?”
“We’re going to have to complete the analysis from outside I'm afraid,” Stephanie reported. “I can tell what systems aren't communicating to the interior, but not what's wrong with them from here.”
“Okay then,” John replied as he headed to the back of the duck. “It's time the techs earned their pay.”
The MARC mission was timed to give the colonists the maximum amount of “summer” weather possible. Since a Martian year is almost double that of Earth's, this meant the colonists would have roughly five months of summer (and then need to endure five months of winter later on). The majority of the colonists also planned to settle around the equator providing for the most even distribution of daylight. A Martian day was almost identical to an Earth day. Mars spins slightly slower creating a slightly longer day. By eight o'clock, however, the Sun had set along the equator and nightfall had taken hold.
“Well the good news,” John began, “is that our chief watchman has announced the lightning has stopped. The bad news is that it's dark out there now and we need to find out what kind of spot we're in.”
“I'll round up some lights,” Glennay pitched in.
“And I'll work on setting up a defensive perimeter,” Kyle jumped in as well.
“Sounds good,” John agreed. “Tyler and Ashley, you want to get out your stethoscope and some Band-Aids? We need to find out what's wrong with our duck and fix it.”
“Right mate,” Tyler confirmed before heading off to gather his gear.
“Jessica, I want you to keep Stephanie company in the cockpit,” John encouraged his youngest. “If we get the scanners up and running, then she'll need your eagle eyes to see what's out there.”
Jessica gave her father a salute and ran up to the cockpit area. John looked around the area that was once crammed full of people. With everyone scattered throughout the duck he suddenly felt alone. He eyed the weapons locker that was on the wall beside him. Entering the security code to the locker, he reached in and pulled out a plasma rife. With a fluid motion he slung the rifle around his back.
“Just in case the natives aren't friendly,” he told himself. “Better paranoid than sorry, like my training sergeant used to say.”
Chapter 35 In Search Of
Lieutenant Jennings had set up a defensive parameter around The Compromise as they were still calling the plane. At the same time, Lieutenant Mercedes had rigged a series of lights around the duck to spot damage and rig repairs. Ashley and Tyler were standing platforms that extended from the duck. The built in supports glided over the plane in every direction, allowing the techs to assess damage with ease.
“Our main power converter was blown clean off the duck,” Ashley yelled down to John. “That would have taken a heck of a punch to knock it off.”
Glennay overheard them talking and joined in, “We can try to get a message out, but it's going to be a long time before anyone can get to us.”
John thought a moment about their situation.
“Can you fix it?” John yelled up to Ashley.
“If you can find the converter, we might be able to.”
John shined his Ksync's spotlight behind the duck revealing an endless path of broken trees.
“Tracking through a Martian jungle in the dead of night sounds like something out of a B-horror movie,” John joked.
“Do I want to know what you're talking about?” Ashley questioned John.
“I doubt it's your cup of tea,” he replied. “Let's do a thorough once over and call it a night. It looks like we’re sitting in a safe enough spot, and I'd rather trek around during the daytime.”
The crew completed their assessments and retired to the duck for the evening. Tyler was the surprise entertainment of the evening with his “Songs of the Outback”. They turned out to be a strange combination of singing, drumming, and bad jokes laced in between choruses. By the end of the
evening anyone with a hint of musical talent was joining in, playing a real or fashioned instrument.
John had joined the group, but he resisted the calls for him to join in with his guitar. Instead he listened to the group's antics while he continued to read from his newly acquired Ksync. At one point between songs he leaned forward and called to the group.
“Hold up a second,” John asked them to pause, “I want to show you something.”
John synched his device to the vidcomm in the room. He pulled up what looked like a map on the Ksync and displayed it over the vidcomm so everyone could see.
“What's this,” Ashley inquired as he zoomed in on the map.
John pointed at the vidcomm and said, “This is a map of Mars back in early stages of the MARC program. This is way back before the ecosystems were fully developed, but after the construction of the dome cities.”
Tracing his finger along a trench he continued, “This is the inlet of water we've been following. Before the great rainstorms, Valles Marineris was a gigantic version of the Grand Canyon.”
John tapped several points on the map as he outlined. “At these points on Mars, the dome cities constructed several weather stations and outposts. These small facilities were manned by MARC scientists who were working to develop the atmosphere and ecology of the planet.”
Jessica stirred in her seat a bit and spoke up, “Do you miss being a history teacher, Dad?”
John, caught a bit off guard, stopped, smiled, and continued, “A bit. But what I'm getting at is... look here on the map.”
He zoomed in the screen on the vidcomm and then brought up two flashing points.
“This is our position,” John said as he pointed at the red flashing point. “And this is where a MARC outpost was built.” John pointed to the blue flashing point.
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