“Yeah.”
“With CO2?”
“Yeah.”
“How’d you do that?”
“Suited up, hauled it and the air pump into the airlock, opened the outer hatch, and pumped half a dozen atmospheres into it.”
“Excellent. This planet does have its uses. How much did you make?”
“About fifteen gallons.”
Jeff laughed. “Okay, that’ll probably get us through at least one football game. Let’s go drink Martian beer and watch Navy beat the hell out of Army.”
“Works for me.”
Susan glared at them. “You’re just going to leave all this junk in here?”
Jeff nodded. “For now, yeah. It’s a matter of priorities. Besides, you won’t care.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re gonna come drink beer and watch football with us.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are.”
Jeff sat back and sighed with contentment. “Okay, 24-7 at halftime. That’ll do. And finally Navy has a place kicker that can occasionally put the ball through the goal posts. What was it, Abby, about four years ago?”
“Yeah.”
“What?” said Susan.
Jeff groaned. “Navy had a place kicker that reminded me of Charlie Brown in the Peanuts cartoons. Most of the time you had no idea where the ball was gonna go, if it went anywhere. Cost them a couple games.”
Susan shrugged. “Whatever.”
“You’re not much of a football fan, are you?”
“Not really.”
“I don’t understand. How could you go to both Cal and Stanford, and not be a fan of college football?”
“Wasn’t my department.”
He chuckled. “You need some variety in your life.”
“I’m a doctor of internal medicine sitting in a tuna can on Mars watching a football game that was played on Earth and drinking homebrewed Martian beer while my lab has been taken over by a disassembled space suit. How much more variety is there?”
Now he laughed. “Okay, good point. Hey, I’m hungry. It’s halftime and we need hot dogs and nachos.”
“We don’t have any hot dogs or nachos,” said Gabe.
Jeff shook his head. “Poor planning. Um, do we have any of that Mexican chicken and rice left?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, that’ll do. Let’s go make some.”
Twenty minutes later they resumed their seats with plates of hot chicken and rice. Abby shook her head. “This stuff sure tastes a hell of a lot better here than it did in space.”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, after a month in space everything tasted like cardboard unless you soaked it in Tabasco, Soy, or barbeque sauce.”
“And in about three months we get to do it all over again.”
“Yeah, but we’ll be on our way home. Ten months from now we’ll be back on Earth. The first thing I’m gonna do is find a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings.”
They all laughed.
“Sue? What are you gonna do?”
“Take a long damn vacation anywhere other than in space.”
“That sounds like a good plan. Abby?”
“Let you take me to dinner at Durgin Park, and eat prime rib until I can’t eat anymore.”
He chuckled. “Another good idea. Gabe?”
She sighed. “Wean Ghita so I can have my boobs back. By the time we get home she’s gonna have teeth. I’m not looking forward to that.”
Jeff howled. “Okay, sounds like a worthwhile endeavor.”
“I have a question,” said Susan.
“What?” said Gabe.
“It’s been reported that some women have orgasms when nursing.” She looked at Gabe questioningly.
Gabe reared back and frowned at her. “That’s kind of a personal question.”
“I’m a doctor. Asking personal questions is what we do.”
Gabe bit her lip and glanced at Jeff and Abby, then nodded.
“Really?”
“Uh huh.”
“Often?”
Gabe groaned. “No, just once in a while.”
“Okay, here’s a more personal question. Did you achieve orgasms the same way before you got pregnant?”
Gabe gasped. “What?! Are you planning on writing a book?”
“Maybe. This is a scientific expedition. And it’s not just about Martian rocks.”
Gabe slammed her eyes shut, grimaced, and after a moment she opened one eye and nodded. “Yes.”
Abby raised an eyebrow and peered at her. “Lucky you.”
Gabe grinned sheepishly, and shrugged.
Abby glanced at Jeff.
He returned her gaze. “What?”
“Nothing. Just thinking.”
He could see her nipples beginning to protrude beneath her sports bra. “Ahem. Yeah, right. Um, what say we watch some more football?” And as the 3rd quarter began, he reached for the remote and turned up the volume.
Just as the 4th quarter was about to begin an alarm sounded, the hatch in the commons that led to the utility room slammed shut, and a red light above it began flashing. They all glanced at one another and Jeff said, “What the hell?”
“A leak?” said Abby.
They all leaped from the sofa and ran to the main computer. Gabe brought up the environmental display, and checked the air pressure in the utility room. “Yeah, it’s a leak alright, but not a very big one.”
“Is the O2 purge actuated in the cross-connect?” said Jeff.
“Yes. The other hatch should close in about ten seconds.”
“How’s everything else look?”
“Fine. It’s isolated to the utility room.”
He groaned. “Oh, fine. That’s gonna make getting to the suit room a lot of fun.”
“Okay, there goes the other hatch.”
They all stared at the pressure display.
Gabe shook her head. “Wait a minute, that can’t be right. Pressure has stabilized in the utility room, but it’s still fluctuating in the cross-connect.”
“Kill the O2 purge to the cross-connect,” said Jeff.
“Okay. It’s off. Pressure in the cross-connect is now dropping. That’s where the leak is.”
“I’ll be damned.”
Gabe looked up at him. “We never anticipated that. The whole system is designed to isolate hab modules, not cross-connects.”
“That’s right. Son of a bitch.”
“Why did it choose to isolate the utility room instead of this room?” said Abby.
Gabe shook her head. “I don’t know. Most of our hatches are, well… were open and it probably sensed the decompression in the utility room before the rest of the hab owing to its proximity to the leak, and just made a logic decision.”
Jeff nodded. “Well, it made the right choice.”
Susan gave him a questioning glance. “So, what do we do now?”
“I don’t know. We have contingency plans for leaks, but none of them involve a leak in a cross-connect. How the hell did we overlook this?”
Everybody shook their heads.
“Gabe, what’s the pressure loss rate in the cross-connect?”
“About three psi per minute.”
“And what’s the pressure now in the utility room?”
“12.6 psi and coming up. Should return to nominal in a couple minutes.”
“Hmmm. Okay, I have an idea.”
Gabe groaned. “Oh god.”
“What’s the matter? You haven’t even heard my idea yet.”
“Yeah, but I’ve heard your ideas before.”
He chuckled. “Thank you for the glowing endorsement. Look, the O2 purge can fully pressurize that cross-connect to 14.6 psi in about a minute. That’s what it was designed to do. But the leak is only three psi per minute. So, once we’ve got it up to pressure and shut off the purge – no point in wasting a whole bunch of O2 if we don’t have to – we’ve got about four minutes of breathable air. As it’s pure O2, we can breathe in
it down to around 3.5 psi.”
“And…?”
“And… I’m gonna go get in my high altitude suit. Abby, Sue, you suit up as well. Then Sue, you come back in here and sit at the console and handle communications. Abby, you go into my room and standby the emergency hatch – it’s the closest to the suit room.”
“And what about me?” said Gabe.
“Go in your room, close both hatches, and stay with Ghita.”
“Why?”
“It’s just a precaution. We’ll all be fine, but do as I say.”
She started to cry.
“Now, stop that. Like I said, we’ll all be fine. Okay, now once we’re all set, we’ll open the purge and pressurize the cross-connect. Then open the hatch, I’ll enter, and then you close the hatch behind me. I’ll set off one of those little pink smoke bombs and see where the leak is. Then we’ll repressurize the cross-connect, and open the hatch into the utility room. I’ll go in there and close the hatch behind me, then suit up and figure out how in the hell to fix this.”
“Jeff,” said Abby, “two of us can fit in the cross-connect.”
“Not in Mark IIIs we can’t.”
“No, but we can in high altitude suits. And then once we’re suited up we can tackle the leak from both sides. One inside, one outside.”
Jeff nodded and sighed. “Yeah, okay. Sounds like a plan. Sue, Abby, go get suited up.” As he turned for his room, Gabe grabbed his arm. “What?”
She wrapped her arms around him. “And what if you and Abby don’t come back?”
“Well, you don your high altitude suit, put Ghita in her transport box thingy, you and Sue make your way around to the suit room, suit up, retrieve Ghita, hop in a rover, and make your way to the MAV. When the Sundancer makes its next pass, launch. Spend three months in orbit waiting for the TEI window, then go home.”
Gabe blubbered. “Oh god!”
“Gabe, stop it. Nothing’s going to happen, we’ll be fine. See you in a bit.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise. Now, go to your room and take care of our daughter.”
“Okay,” and she turned and walked off.
“Abby, Sue, suit up.”
Susan and Abby met Jeff in the commons. Abby shook her head. “We look like Mercury astronauts.”
Jeff chuckled. “The right stuff.”
She nodded. “Hopefully.”
“Okay Sue, man the console and pressurize the cross-connect.”
“Roger.”
“Abby, when it’s up to pressure I’ll open the hatch and you go in. I’ll follow you and close it behind me.”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Give me the bomb, and you go in first.”
“Why?”
“I’m smaller. Once we’re in, open the hatch into the utility room, and you go in there. Then I’ll set off the bomb and see where the leak is. Then I’ll hit the REPRESS, and follow you. Jeff, it’s the logical thing to do.”
He sighed. “Okay. Sue, how we doing?”
“Almost there. Maybe another ten seconds.”
“Rog. You call it.”
“Okay.”
“Sue, close and lock your visor.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?”
“No, I think I’m being a lot paranoid. We have a leak and as soon as we open that hatch this room will be exposed to it. Let’s not take any chances.”
“Alright.” She closed and locked her visor. “Okay, you’ve got pressure. Go ahead and open it up.”
Abby pulled the hatch open. “After you.”
Jeff ducked in.
Abby followed him and pulled the hatch closed. “Alright, get out of here.”
He opened the hatch to the utility room, hopped in, and closed it behind him. “Okay, Abby, let her rip.”
“Fire in the hole!”
Jeff waited for a minute. “You have anything?”
“Hang on a second. Yeah, I’ve got smoke leaking out in about a three inch space in the northeast quadrant of the cross-connect’s mating to the commons. Looks like a leak in the seal.”
“Okay. Sue how’s the pressure in there?”
“It’s holding.”
“Alright. Abby, get out of there. Sue, as soon as Abby’s out, cutoff the purge.”
“Rog.”
Abby came through the hatch into the utility room and closed it behind her. “Hi.”
Jeff pointed toward the suit room. “Come on, let’s suit up and get this fixed.”
“Right behind you.”
They removed their high altitude suits and donned Mark IIIs. “Alright,” said Jeff, “grab some epoxy sealant and head back in there. We’ll want to seal this thing from the inside first. As the pressure drops it’ll suck sealant into the leak, and make for a better seal.”
Abby nodded. “Got it.”
“I’ll go out, grab the ladder and get on top of it. Once you’ve got the inside sealed, I’ll reseal the outside. With all that pink dust it shouldn’t be hard to find.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“I will. Make sure you thoroughly wipe the dust off before applying the sealant.”
“I know.”
“Sue? You hear all that?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Well, that’s the plan. Once Abby is suited up and at the hatch, REPRESS the cross-connect and keep it pressurized so Abby can move back and forth between it and the utility room. And so that once I’m outside I can see if there’s any more leakage. Okay?”
“Got it.”
He turned to Abby. “Let’s do it,” and he closed and locked his visor, stepped into the airlock closing the inner hatch behind him, depressurized it, opened the outer hatch, and stepped out onto Mars’ surface. “Sue, I’m outside.”
“Rog.”
Jeff closed the outer hatch and made for the storage yard. He grabbed the folding ladder and a leak repair kit then squeezed between his room and the suit room to the leaking cross-connect. He knocked on the side. “Abby, how you doing?”
“Hang on a second. Sue, turn the air off in here. The air pressure keeps forcing this pink shit into the leak, and I need to get it cleaned up before I can apply the sealant.”
“Roger, it’s off. It’ll be about four and a half minutes before you’re equalized with atmospheric pressure outside.”
“Rog. Jeff, I’ve finished inspecting both ends of the cross-connect for additional leaks. Didn’t find any. Now I’m trying to wipe all this pink crap off the frame and bulkhead where the leak is. God, what a mess. This is like setting off a smoke grenade in your closet.”
“Yeah, but since we have gravity here it’s the only way to do it. It’s easier to find leaks in space. And by the way, my closet’s bigger.”
“That’s a fact. Your closet’s big enough for ballroom dancing.”
He chuckled. “It’s not as big as your folk’s closet. They should turn that into an indoor tennis court.”
She laughed. “Yeah, but then where would mom put all her clothes?”
“She does have quite a wardrobe.”
“Uh huh. Besides, they just built a tennis court there.”
“Really? Where?”
“Up in back, where we shot trap.”
“Cool.”
“Do you play tennis?”
“No.”
“Me neither. But mom does, and she’s teaching Brad.”
“Well, good for them. Staying active keeps you alive.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know how they do it. Between the books and the movies and all their other traveling… I think they travel more than us.”
Jeff chuckled again. “Um, I don’t think so.”
Abby laughed. “Yeah, sorry, forgot for a minute where I am. Okay, I’m about to apply the sealant.”
“Okay. Run it a couple inches beyond the apparent leak on either side.”
“Rog. How long’s it take for this stuff to set?”
“About
ten minutes. But it takes about twenty-four hours for it to fully cure.”
Jeff glanced at his watch and stood on the ladder waiting.
“Sue, REPRESS,” said Abby. “Whoa.”
“What?” said Jeff.
“It’s all being sucked into the seal.”
“Okay, Sue turn the air off. Man, this is a pain in the ass. Abby, I’ve got this plastic grout stuff in the repair kit. I’m gonna put some over the leak, then press a piece of cellophane over it. Then you can apply another coat, and we’ll see what happens. Give me a minute.”
“Rog.”
“Sue, what’s the air pressure in there?”
“About eleven psi.”
“Alright, let’s leave it alone and let the pressure continue to drop. We’ve already got some epoxy in the seal, so let’s see if we can just get this thing stopped up.”
“Rog.”
He laid a bead of grout over the leak and pressed it in, then covered it with cellophane. “Okay Abby, try it again.”
“Okay, here goes.” A minute later she came back. “I think that’s got it. It seems to be holding.”
“Alright. Sue, bring the air pressure up very slowly, maybe one psi per minute.”
“How do I do that with the purge system? It’s an O2 flood. It’ll send in fourteen psi in one minute.”
“Turn it on for a couple seconds then shut it off, and watch the pressure in there. What we’re looking for is a seal of the leak. Once the pressure is holding, stop pressurizing until I’ve got another permanent seal on this side.”
“Okay, I understand.” After a couple minutes Susan said, “Jeff, the pressure is holding steady at ten psi.”
“Outstanding. Abby, apply another coat of epoxy. I’m gonna clean this side off and do the same. We’ll give it time to set, then see if we can bring it up to full pressure.”
Fifteen minutes later Susan said, “Jeff, the cross-connect is holding at 14.6 psi.”
“Hallelujah! Alright, looks like we’ve got it. Abby, how’s it look from your side?”
“Looks good, except that everything in here, including me, is covered with this pink shit.”
“Okay, I’m coming back in. We can take a vacuum to it once we’re out of these suits. Let’s try and keep it out of the commons, and isolate it to the cross-connect and the utility room. Gabe? You have ears on?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, you can come out now.”
Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) Page 96