“I’m nursing Ghita.”
“Well, I don’t think she’s very particular about where she is when hanging on to one of your boobs, so bring her with you. I want to watch the rest of that football game. And I think we all need another beer.”
Abby chuckled. “Or six.”
Monday, January 1, 2018
MSD 51190.381 (Sol 440)
Gabe, holding Ghita, sat down at the breakfast table and glanced at Jeff. “Happy New Year.”
He smiled. “Happy New Year to you too. How are you this morning?”
“Fine. Ghita and I have been playing.”
“Playing? How so?”
“Watch this.” She leaned over a little and looked Ghita in the face. “Where’s Ghita?” She tickled her and Ghita laughed. “Come on, where’s Ghita?”
Ghita hugged herself.
Susan’s eyebrows popped up and her jaw dropped.
Gabe hugged and kissed Ghita. “That’s right. There’s Ghita. Can you say Ghita?” She waited for a moment. “Come on, say… Ghita.”
“Ida.”
Susan shook her head. “That’s amazing. She’s not yet five months.”
Gabe grinned. “Ghita, where’s mama?”
Ghita leaned her head on Gabe’s chest and hugged her.
“That’s right. Mama. Can you say mama? Mama?”
“Mumum.”
“There you go. Mama.” She chuckled and gave Ghita another hug, then glanced around the table. “That’s about as far as we’ve got.”
“That is astonishing,” said Susan. “Her cognitive and vocal skills are significantly advanced beyond her age. By the time she’s eighteen I wouldn’t be surprised if she has an IQ near yours. She certainly has all the factors in her favor.”
“Yeah, she’s a smart little girl, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ve decided to hold off starting her on the piano…”
Jeff sighed. “Thank god. It’s noisy enough around here as it is.”
“… until maybe next month.”
He hung is head and groaned.
“You can always go outside and collect rocks.”
“I think we have enough samples already to keep the scientists on Earth busy for the next fifty years.”
“So,” Abby said, “what are we going to do today?”
Jeff shrugged. “I asked Chrissie to send us videos of some bowl games. But since it’s just a few minutes past midnight on the East coast, they probably won’t get here until tomorrow. So why don’t we make more practical use of today. We’ve got ten weeks left here – 70 sols.”
Susan shook her head. “It’s gone by fast. A lot faster than I thought it would.”
“Yeah, it has. Nevertheless, it’s getting to the point where we need to start seriously looking at our readiness to go home. I think today we should pull up the flight plan and see what we’ve checked off, and what we haven’t. It’s been a couple months since we last did that. Also, since we do have ten weeks left, see if there’s anything we left off the flight plan that we might want to squeeze in. You know, last chance.”
Abby groaned and rolled her eyes. “Or we could just go out and play golf.”
Jeff shook his head. “Sorry, we’ve lost all our golf balls.”
“All twelve of them?”
“Uh huh. Hey, when your first hole is a 500 yard par three, and nothing but one giant sand trap, losing a ball isn’t that hard.”
“Harrumph. Maybe we should’ve stuck to miniature golf.”
Jeff chuckled. “Right. Let’s see, we’ve got the Dust Storm Hole, the Abby’s Crater Hole, and the Loire Chaos Hole. And if one of those doesn’t get you, I’m sure we can come up with something else.”
She sighed. “This place isn’t really suitable for golf, is it?”
“No, not really. To build a golf course up here I think we’d need about 150 acres of Astroturf.”
“That’d be the most expensive golf course in the solar system.”
He laughed. “Yeah, no kidding. Can you imagine what the green fees would be?”
“We should’ve brought one of those practice putting cups with us… and a putter.”
“Yeah. Well, maybe next time.”
Gabe frowned at him. “There’s not going to be a next time.”
He smiled at her and shook his head. “No, I suppose not. Well, we can play golf when we get home, so let’s concentrate on getting home. I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’ve had about enough of Mars for my lifetime.”
They all nodded.
CHAPTER 27
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
MSD 51260.228 (Sol 510)
Jeff stuck his head in Abby’s room. “Abby, time to get up.”
She stirred. “Go away.”
“Come on, time to get up.”
“What time is it?”
“About 0430.”
“God, I haven’t been up this early since we launched.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve got another launch today, so get your ass out of bed and turn to.”
She rolled over and pulled the covers over her head.
“Abby! Get up, or I’ll set off the decompression alarm.”
“You do and I’ll kill you. We don’t need you to get back to Earth.”
He laughed. “Abby, get up. We have a lot to do.” He closed the hatch and headed for Gabe’s room. As bad as Abby was, he really wasn’t looking forward to waking Gabe at this hour.
Twenty minutes later they all met in the commons. “Good morning,” said Jeff. “I guess maybe we stayed up a little late last night celebrating our last night on Mars.”
They all groaned.
“Yeah, well, be that as it may, big day ahead of us, so everybody suck it in. Time to go home.”
They all nodded.
“Everybody know what they need to do?”
They each nodded again.
“Alright then, let’s get to it. Launch is in three hours.”
While Jeff and Abby suited up, Gabe and Susan carried Ghita and her transport module into the Genesis. The second module was already in the Genesis along with bags of things they planned to return in it. They’d test both modules, then decide which one to use for Ghita. Before donning his helmet, Jeff stuck his head through the Genesis inner hatch. “You three ready?”
“Yeah,” said Gabe, “all set.”
“Your suits in there? PLSSs charged?”
Gabe groaned. “Yes, mother. Three days ago.”
“Just checking.”
“You’ve already checked six times.”
“Forgive my redundancy, Gabe, but this isn’t like walking the dog, and we don’t have a crew from USA to oversee this. We, just the four of us, need to make sure we’ve done everything right.”
“Understood.”
“Alright. We’re gonna button you up, then put on our helmets, get in Andy and head to the MAV. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Jeff took a deep breath and sighed. “Alright, Abby, final checks. Water pipes drained?”
“Yes.”
“Fuel and O2 valves closed?”
“Yes.”
“Waste recycle system drained, valves closed.”
“Yes.”
“Computers off?”
“Yes.”
“Comms off?”
“Yes.”
“Cryogenics running?”
“Yes.”
“Sabatiers running?”
“Yes.”
“All solar panels online?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, then laughed. “Did somebody remember to put the cat out?”
Abby chuckled. “Oh, crap.”
“Go get it.”
She went back into the hab and emerged a moment later with the cat.
“Very good. Is that it?”
“God, I hope so.”
They emerged from the airlock, Jeff closed the outer hatch and patted it. “Good luck. Hope to never see you again.” Abby set the cat on the
airlock step, and they headed for Andy. Jeff climbed into the driver’s seat. “Alright, old boy, one more trip.” He punched up ‘Destination’ on the NAV computer, and selected MAV-1. Andy, towing the Genesis, slowly accelerated and headed for the MAV. “Hey, Gabe?”
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you swing a camera around and put it on the station, start a video and get some last pictures of it as it disappears over the horizon.”
“Okay.”
“Well, Abby, get a good a look around. We won’t be seeing this place again.”
“No. It’s sure been an interesting year and a half. Can’t say as I’m looking forward to another seven months in space.”
Jeff chuckled. “No, me neither.”
“Jeff,” said Gabe, “filming.”
“Roger. Let’s transmit all these last pictures to the orbiter’s buffer before we liftoff, just in case something happens to Andy and the Genesis during the burn.”
“Okay. What about the video of the liftoff?”
“Have Andy relay it live.”
“Okay.”
“Abby, how’s your leg?”
“Fine. It gets a little sore from time to time, but a couple Norco do the trick. I’m looking forward to getting home and having this hardware removed.”
“Why? Think of the hours of fun you’d have every time you went through airport security.”
She groaned. “No thank you.”
“You should put the plate and screws in a shadowbox and hang it on the wall. Just a little memento of Mars.”
“Yeah, right. Just the kind of keepsake I’d want.”
Jeff chuckled. “Oh, just think of all the stories you could tell.”
“Uh huh. Every time somebody visited, they’d say, ‘What’s that?’ and I’d have tell the whole damn story again. Screw that.”
Now he laughed.
Half an hour later they drove past the Columbus and Magellan drop lines. Jeff looked around at the scattered descent stages and deflated airbags. “We made quite a mess, didn’t we?”
Abby chuckled. “Yeah. The environmentalists would have a fit. On Earth don’t they say something like… pack out your trash?”
“Yes, well, fortunately there aren’t any environmentalists here. That’s one nice thing about this place – there’s nobody here to complain. And if they want our trash removed, they’re welcome to come get it.” Ten minutes later they arrived at the MAV. “Okay, boys and girls, we’re here. Gabe, Sue, are you suited up?”
Gabe responded, “Yes, we’re ready to go. Hurry up, it’s really crowded in this airlock.”
“On our way.” The MAV was covered with a staked-down descent stage ballistic parachute to keep dust off it. “Abby, why don’t you pull that parachute off the MAV and get the door open, and I’ll help them out of the airlock.”
“Okay.”
Jeff walked around to the back of the Genesis. “Gabe, open the outer hatch.”
“Alright, just a minute. Like I said, it’s really crowded in here and we’ve just barely got room to get the hatch open.”
Jeff waited. A moment later the hatch swung in. He chuckled. “I see what you mean. A regular sardine can.”
“Shut up,” said Gabe, “and drag that returnables canister out of here. Give us a little room to maneuver.”
“I’ve got it.” He pulled the canister out and set it on the ground. “Alright, hand me Ghita.”
“We should have made these piggyback environmental lines longer. So don’t pull. Let me follow it out as close as I can.”
“Roger.” Jeff eased the canister slowly out while Gabe followed closely behind with O2 and coolant water supply and exhaust lines from her PLSS attached to it. “Is she asleep?”
“Oh yeah,” said Susan. “I gave her a little sleeping pill. She’ll be out for a couple hours. Hopefully long enough for us to get into space and pressurized, at which point I suspect she will not be very happy.”
“No kidding. Okay Gabe, you have her?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you go set her on the back of Andy until were ready for you.”
“Okay.”
Jeff took Susan’s hand and helped her out of the airlock, then closed the hatch. “Okay, let’s carry this thing over to the MAV. Abby? How are you doing?”
“I’m opening the hatch right now.”
“Alright. Sue and I are on our way with the returnables canister.” The returnables canister contained an assortment of items, personal and scientific. Susan’s tea set, Abby’s dangle earrings, the lady’s gold bracelets, Abby’s black diamond, Jeff’s Rolex, several pounds of gold nuggets, an assortment of samples that would prove invaluable to Earth’s scientists if for some reason MAV-2 failed to return, and most importantly, 42 thumb drives and compact flash cards containing all of their notes, scientific analysis, photos, videos, and personal logs.
“Okay, hang on a minute. Let me get in here and turned around. This is like trying to maneuver around suited up in a Mini Cooper.”
He laughed. “It wasn’t designed for comfort.”
“Yeah, well I hope it works for what it was designed for.”
“Amen to that.” Jeff climbed the ladder and waited for Abby to get situated.
“Okay.” She stuck her hand out. “Hand it to me.” Susan pushed the canister up while Jeff guided it through the hatch. “Okay, I’ve got it. Let me get it seated and strapped down, then I need to move around to the front side of the MAV.”
“Take your time. We’re in no hurry.” He turned to Susan. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes. It’s been interesting. It’s actually been fun. Well, most of it. But it’s been long enough.”
“Uh huh. Well, just seven more months and instead of coveralls and space suits, you can start wearing those lavishly embroidered silk mandala blouses again.”
She laughed softly. “I’m looking forward to that.”
“Alright,” said Abby, “I’m up front in the left seat, such as it is. Sue, climb on in.”
“Coming.” She climbed up into the MAV and the rear left seat. They weren’t actually seats, just places to stand.
Jeff followed her and peered through the hatch.
“Sue,” said Abby, “I’m connected to MAV environmentals. Go ahead and pull off my PLSS.”
“Okay. Hang on.” She disconnected Abby’s PLSS and passed it through the hatch to Jeff. Each PLSS weighed approximately 70 pounds. Discarding them saved around 280 pounds of launch mass.
“I’ve got it,” said Jeff. “Okay, Sue, get yours off. I’ll be back in a couple minutes.” He walked over to Andy, dropped the PLSS in back, then turned to Gabe. “How you doing?”
“Fine.”
“And how’s the little one?”
“She’s fine. Sound asleep. Her vitals look good.”
“Great. Okay, just hang on. We’ll be ready for you two in a few minutes.”
“Okay. This was a lot easier at Kennedy.”
“Yeah. Well, we had all the help in the world there. Here, we’re kind of on our own. Back in a few.” He returned to the MAV, climbed the ladder, and stuck his head in. “PLSS?”
Susan handed it to him.
“Got it. Okay, get ready for Ghita.”
“Okay.”
He returned to Andy and again dropped the PLSS in the back. “Okay, Gabe, your turn. I’ll take one end of this.” They carried Ghita in her canister to the MAV. Jeff stood beside the ladder and helped Gabe lift the canister through the hatch and onto the MAV floor as she climbed the ladder.
“Okay, that’s it. She’s in,” said Gabe.
“I’ve got the MAV connections,” said Susan. “Can you unplug yours?”
“Yes,” said Gabe.
“Okay, I’ve got her plugged into the MAV. Hang on while I get her situated.” While Gabe and Jeff waited, Susan hoisted Ghita’s canister atop the returnables canister in the center of the MAV, and strapped it in place. “Okay, she’s comfortably placed and secured. Come on
in Gabe.”
Gabe climbed into the MAV and took her place at the NAV console beside Abby. Then disconnected her PLSS and connected her suit to the MAV. “Okay, Sue, take it off.”
Susan removed the PLSS and passed it through the hatch to Jeff.
“Got it. Back in few.” He dropped the PLSS on the back of Andy, then climbed into the driver’s seat and drove some 150 meters away from the MAV – about 50 meters outside the landing blast circle – then focused Andy’s mastcam on the MAV, started a video, set it for real time relay to the orbiter, and returned to the MAV. He climbed the ladder, trying to kick as much dust off his boots as he did, then crawled inside, stood, disconnected his PLSS, connected to the MAV environmental system, and turned around. “Okay, Sue, you want to pull this thing off me?”
“Sure. Hang on.” She removed his PLSS and held it until he could turn around and take it.
“Got it.” Jeff tossed the PLSS out, then closed the hatch. “Well, I don’t know about the others, but that one’s gonna be toast for sure.” He took his place beside Susan in back, with the two canisters, one containing Ghita, between them and Abby and Gabe. “Gabe, what’s our round trip comm time to Earth?”
“About 21 minutes.”
“Great. Light speed is too damn slow.” He switched radios to Newport’s channel. “Newport, Ares on UHF. We are all in the MAV and about to start the launch checklist. We anticipate launch as scheduled at 0200 UTC.”
“Look,” said Abby, “ sunrise. The last one we’ll see here.”
“Uh, Newport, hang on a minute, we’re looking at our last Martian sunrise.”
They all sat silently, looking out the window.
“No one else has ever seen this,” said Susan.
Jeff patted her on the shoulder. “And who knows? May never see it again.” He took a deep breath and sighed. “Gabe, time to ignition?”
“Uh, one hour, eighteen.”
“Do we need to do a P52?”
“No. We’ve been here for a year and a half. The platform needs to be aligned, not realigned.”
“Oops. You gonna do the P57 platform alignment?”
“Doing it right now.”
“Rog. Newport, Ares, we have one hour eighteen to ignition, and we’re gonna do a P57. And we’re gonna go with TIG of 0200 and set the rendezvous radar transponder to OPERATE at that time.”
Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) Page 97