She cautiously crawled back to the crate. “I don’t trust you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She raised the lid about an inch. Gabe and Susan stepped back. Abby peeked inside.
Jeff laughed. “Ah for cryin’ out loud, just open it. There’s nothing in there that’ll bite you.”
Abby shrugged, tossed the hinged lid back, and sat staring at the multi-layer insulation blanket. “Insulation?”
“Yeah. It shouldn’t be all that cold in there. It’s heated.”
Gabe stared at the crate, frowning. “With what?”
“Radioisotope heaters.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think? There’s stuff in there that I didn’t want frozen. Come on, get on with it.”
Abby pulled off the insulation while Gabe and Susan got down on the floor on either end of the crate. “What the hell?” said Abby as she pulled out a five-foot-long bundle of plastic greenery.
Gabe stared at it for a moment, then gasped. “It’s a Christmas tree!”
Jeff laughed. “Very good. Some assembly required.”
They immediately dug into the crate and pulled out decorations, ornaments, strings of lights, boxes, and gift-wrapped presents.
“What is this?” said Gabe, holding up a bundle of long, narrow cardboard strips that looked like brickwork.
Susan shook her head. “I was right, he did have bricks in here.”
“Here, I’ll show you.” Jeff took the bundle from her, sat on the floor in front of the television, and began folding and assembling. The others watched with interest as the box-like frame slowly took shape. A couple minutes later he was finished. “There.” He stood the frame up and slid it around the wide-screen display.
Gabe frowned. “It looks like a fireplace.”
“Very perceptive.” He got up, walked over to the computer, selected a video, and hit PLAY. A moment later there was a crackling fire on the screen.
They all grinned.
Gabe clapped her hands. “Oh my god, it is a fireplace. Even sounds like it.”
“Uh huh. And we’re not quite done yet.” He looked over the boxes scattered around the floor and pointed at one. “Abby, hand me that box.” He opened the box, pulled out a dark grey pottery cup and set it on the computer table. Opened another smaller box, pulled out an incense stick, placed it in the holder on the edge of the cup, took out a BIC lighter, and lit it. Soon the commons began to fill with the aroma of burning cedar.
They all stared at the fire, soft smiles on each face.
Susan shook her head. “You thought of everything.”
“Oh, I don’t know about everything, but I did manage to think of this.”
“It’s lovely.”
Abby sighed. “Now this is something I never expected to see out here.”
Jeff grinned. “Well, we’ve gotta have Christmas. It’s a moral imperative.” He took a seat on the sofa. Abby and Sue joined him while Gabe sat on the floor and rested her arm and head on his knees, all quietly watching the ‘fire’.
“This is almost like Christmas at home,” said Gabe.
Jeff nodded. “Yeah. Except that your bathroom is bigger than this room.”
She glanced around. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Uh huh.”
She sat upright. “Eh!”
“What?”
“I need to pee.”
Abby groaned. “Well, thank you for that useful bit of information.” She pointed to the right. “It’s that way.”
“I know, but this is so nice.”
Jeff shook his head. “It’ll still be here when you return.”
She stood, and Susan along with her. At the hatch they exchanged whispers. Then Gabe headed into the bathroom and Susan returned to the sofa.
Jeff glanced at her and frowned.
“Girl stuff.”
“Great. I don’t want to hear about it.”
“I wasn’t going to explain it.”
“Thank you.”
“Wimp.”
“Sue, over the past four and a half years I’ve heard far more about ‘girl stuff’ than I ever wanted or needed to know.”
Abby chuckled. “Boss, sometimes I think you may be in the wrong line of work.”
“Really? Ya think?” They sat quietly for a moment, then Jeff sighed. “No, I’ve got the best job in the world.”
Susan glanced at him. “On this world, what other job might you have?”
He laughed. “Good point. Hadn’t thought of it that way.”
A couple minutes later Gabe stuck her head through the hatch, looking very concerned and sounding rather unhappy. “Sue, come here.”
Susan jumped up, went into the bathroom and closed the hatch behind her.
Jeff glanced at Abby and grumbled, “Oh god, what now?”
She shrugged.
“Go find out.”
“I’d rather not. Jeff, patience.”
A minute later the hatch opened and Susan stepped into the commons followed by Gabe, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Jeff’s heart sank. Not again. He stood and stared at her. “What is it Gabe?”
She bit her lip and through the tears, smiled. “I’m pregnant.”
For a moment Jeff stood, stunned, mouth agape, then rushed to Gabe and, beaming, hugged and kissed her. “Oh my god!”
She nodded. “Uh huh. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
He lifted her off the floor and spun her around. “Oh yes, more than you’ll ever know.” He glanced at Susan, “Are you sure?”
Susan smiled and nodded. “About 98%. We’ll check again in a couple days but… pretty sure.”
Jeff, choking back tears of joy, leaned his forehead against Gabe’s. “And how do you feel about this?”
She kissed him. “Yeah, it’s good.”
He was breathing hard by now. “Oh god, I don’t know what to say.”
“Are you happy?”
“Oh yes, beyond words.”
Gabe grinned. “Then I did good?”
“Yes, you did very good. Do you feel pregnant?”
“I don’t know. I feel… something, but it may just be nerves.”
He kissed her again, then glanced back at Abby. “I’m gonna be a father,” and pointed at Gabe, “and she’s gonna be a mother.”
Abby smiled softly and nodded. “As a rule of thumb, that’s generally how it works,” and she walked up and hugged them both.
Jeff reached out, wrapped his arm around Susan’s shoulders, and pulled the group into a tight knot.
Abby touched Gabe’s belly. “Think of it, there’s a Martian in there.” She glanced up at Gabe and raised an eyebrow. “That’s a little spooky.”
Gabe wrinkled her nose in a grin. “Yeah.”
Jeff reached over and touched Abby’s belly. “And what about in here?”
She shrugged. “Too soon to tell.”
He nodded and kissed her cheek.
Abby smiled and leaned her head on Jeff’s shoulder.
He gazed into Gabe’s eyes. “Well, this has been some Thanksgiving.”
She nodded.
He glanced over his shoulder at the mess on the floor, then back at each of them in turn. “Um, anybody want to set up the tree and decorate this place with a little holiday cheer?”
They all smiled and nodded.
“Okay. Abby, you want to help me get that crate out of here, and make a little room?”
“Sure.”
Gabe grinned sheepishly. “Can we open the presents?”
Jeff frowned. “No, of course not. You have to wait till Christmas.”
She pouted. “Oh. None of them have names on them.”
He smiled. “Guess you’ll just have to wait for Santa Claus to sort that out. But you can open anything that’s not gift wrapped.”
“Cool.”
Jeff and Abby returned the crate to the suit room, then Abby joined Gabe and Susan on the floor opening boxes and unwrapping packages, while Jeff sat and watched.
>
Abby opened a box to find another box heavily packaged in bubble wrap. “What’s in here? The crown jewels?”
Jeff chuckled. “Not quite, but I think you’ll like that one.”
She opened that box to find another box. “Remy Martin XO! Oh my god!” She glanced at Jeff. “This won’t last till Christmas. Somebody get me a glass.”
Susan reached toward her. “Give me that.”
“What?”
“Give it to me. You can’t have any.”
Abby glared at her. “What! Did you suddenly find humor?”
“No. You might be pregnant and you’ve already had too much to drink today. Give it to me.”
Abby frowned, cocked her jaw, growled, and handed over the bottle. “Spoil sport.”
Susan smiled. “Maybe I’ll let you have sip later, for medicinal purposes.”
Abby pointed a finger at her. “You better start sleeping with one eye open.”
Susan took the bottle and promptly handed it to Jeff. “Here, you keep this.”
Abby’s eyes carefully followed the bottle as it changed hands.
Jeff groaned. “Ah, gee, thanks.”
Abby picked up the boxes and tossed them toward the utility room hatch. “Somebody’s gonna pay.”
An hour later, the tree was assembled, decorated, and lit. The presents were stacked beneath, the commons was warm and smelled of burning cedar, a virtual crackling fire ‘burned’ on the TV, and the four of them sat cozy on the sofa.
Gabe leaned her head on Jeff’s shoulder. “It’s not Christmas at Wrentham House, but it’s very nice.”
He gently rubbed her tummy. “Yeah, very nice.”
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
MSD 50804.169 (Sol 54)
Jeff rolled over and glanced at the clock: 0300. Ugh. It wasn’t bad enough that he needed to use the bathroom, but it was freezing. They had been turning the heat off at night to conserve the batteries but, as well insulated as the station was, it couldn’t hold off the 120 degrees below zero outside for long. By dawn it would be down in the twenties inside. Enough, this is ridiculous. He decided to use the bathroom then light the gas heater. They had plenty of gas and O2, for now.
He pulled on some socks and sweats and headed into the commons. He was surprised to find Abby wrapped in a blanket and curled up on the sofa staring at the virtual fireplace. “Hi. What are you doing up?”
She shrugged and said softly, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Cold?”
“Uh huh.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m gonna use the bathroom, then light the gas heater.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Well, given the choice between freezing to death now or later, I choose later.”
She smiled and nodded. “Sounds reasonable.”
“Besides, the Tau was down again today; 3.9 and a bit over 450 amps. That’s five days in a row. Maybe this thing has broken, and we can afford to splurge.” On his return, Jeff went to the computer and brought up the environmental panel. Burning methane would produce water and the water tanks were nearly full. Besides, the generators only burned methane, so he decided to save it and switched the heater fuel mix to CO. It was a little less efficient but, at this point, a small matter. He set the thermostat to 68º and the blowers to LOW, then took a seat beside Abby. “Want some company?”
“Sure.”
“It should start warming up in just a minute.”
She nodded and took a sip of a drink.
Jeff put his arm around her and pulled her close. “What have you got there?”
“Brandy.”
He took the glass from her and took a sip. “Should you be drinking this?”
She shrugged.
Jeff peeked into her eyes. “You’re looking a little gloomy. What’s the matter?”
She just stared at the fire.
“Abby?”
She sighed, took the drink back and took a gulp. “I’m not pregnant.”
Jeff winced and let out a soft cry. “Oh god, I’m sorry.”
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“It might be.”
She whispered. “It doesn’t matter. It’s better this way.”
“Oh, Abby.”
“Jeff, it is better this way, you know that. There should only be one, it’s a lot less complicated.”
He nodded.
“It’s just that I got to where I was looking forward to having your child in me.” She began to cry. “And now I know that’s never gonna happen.”
Jeff winced at the terrible ache in his heart. “I’m sorry, Abby. God, I’m so sorry.”
She sniffed, wiped her eyes, then caressed his cheek. “Don’t be. Like I said, it’s better this way.” She laughed softly. “After all, can you see the Bitch as a domesticated housewife?”
He smiled. “Yes, I can.”
“Then you’re more demented than I thought. Nobody else can, including me.”
He grasped her hand and kissed it.
“Oh Jeff, thanks to you, when we get back I’ll be rich and famous and will have more suitors than the law allows. And eventually some fool will come out of the pack and marry me, and boy will he be sorry.”
Jeff chuckled. “Oh, I doubt that.”
“Yeah, he will be, because he won’t be you.” She glanced into his eyes. “And I’m gonna remind him of it every damn day.”
Sunday, December 4, 2016
MSD 50808.361 (Sol 58)
Jeff untangled himself from Gabe’s grasp and looked at his watch, 0740. With the alarm clocks unplugged to conserve battery power, he was a little surprised that he didn’t sleep until 1000. He didn’t want to get up. Snuggled alongside Gabe he was warm, but knew that the moment his feet hit the floor he wouldn’t be.
As he started to slip from beneath the covers, Gabe grasped his shoulder and whispered, “Don’t go.”
He patted her hand. “I’ll be back. I just need to see how we’re doing.”
She nodded and pulled the covers up over her head.
Jeff quickly climbed out of bed and dressed as warmly as he could: three pair of socks, coveralls, and sweats. He was still cold. He hurried into the commons and stared at the environmental display. It was 34ºF inside and the batteries were reading 60% charge. He shook his head. Enough, but barely. He set the thermostat to 60ºF and switched on the floor heaters in the commons, the kitchen, and the utility room. At least the water pipes wouldn’t freeze today. He quickly surveyed the other readings, then returned to his room. He gently shook Gabe. “Gabe? Come on, honey, wake up.”
Gabe peeked out from beneath the covers. “Huh? What is it?”
“Batteries are at 60% and Tau is up to 4.34.”
She gasped. “4.34? Oh god, that’s going to put us below the tipping point.”
“I know. Come on, get up, get dressed. I’ve got the heat on in the commons. Come in there, it’ll be a little warmer. I’m gonna get Abby and Sue up. We’ve got to talk about what we’re gonna do next. Okay?”
She whimpered, “Okay.”
The four of them gathered in the commons. “As I told Gabe,” said Jeff, “Tau is up to 4.34, and still rising. Solar cell capacity is down to 26%. That’s 329 amps. Below 340 amps we can’t maintain life support and keep the batteries charged above 60%. Below 60%, sometime during the night we get a low-voltage trip and we’re without power until we can get enough charge in the batteries to get the voltage back up. Not a happy situation.”
Abby frowned. “No shit. Do we have any idea how much longer this may last?”
Jeff shrugged. “Gabe?”
“Difficult to say. Up until the 1950s, no one knew these dust storms even occurred, and it wasn’t until the MERs in 2007 that we got a really good close-up look at one. So data on these storms is sketchy, at best. Based on the Viking and MER experiences – and these storms are by no means consistent – where the Tau is and it’s rate of change over the past week would suggest that it will peak in perhap
s four or five days, and we’ll be back over the tipping point three or four days after that. But that’s just a guess.”
“So, seven to nine days?”
“Jeff, it’s just a guess.”
“Understood. Okay, in the absence of any better information let’s plan on nine days.”
Gabe shook her head. “We don’t have nine days.”
“Why?”
“Not enough O2.”
“Huh?”
“If the Tau keeps going up at its current rate, we won’t have enough power for the floor heaters beyond tomorrow. If we run the furnace, we run out of O2 in about three days, and suffocate. If we don’t run the furnace, we freeze to death in a day or two.”
Jeff, staring at the floor, sighed and scratched his forehead. Then he suddenly had a thought. “What if we move into the Genesis?”
Gabe shook her head again. “It only has enough O2 for all four of us for about five days. Besides, it has the same power problem the station has. It can’t recharge its batteries.”
“Crap! There has to be some way. Wait a minute. What if we effectively shutdown the station and transfer all available power to the Genesis? We’ll still have 200 to 300 amps. That’s not enough to run the station, but it’s more than enough to power the Genesis.”
“Yes, but we’ll still run out of O2 in five days.”
“No we won’t! We can electrolyze enough to breathe.”
“Not if all the water that we have here in the station is frozen. You can’t electrolyze ice.”
Jeff gently banged his forehead with his fist. “How many days’ worth of O2 do we have left if we don’t run the furnace?”
“In here? Maybe four.”
“Okay. And how much power would it take to operate this module, the kitchen and utility room? Including the floor heaters?”
She shrugged. “If we shut down all other nonessential equipment, about 200 amps.”
“And in a worse-case scenario, with a Tau of, say… 4.8, how many amps would we have?”
“Probably about 200.”
Jeff smiled. “Well, there’s the answer. We all move in here and close off the other six modules. That gives us four days. Then we transfer all power to the Genesis and move in there. That gives us another five days. That’s nine days.”
Gabe sighed. “That’s cutting it awfully close.”
Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) Page 81